okay i will start this off with some good news my top bar hive is almost done this sunday i have a friend who i have been helping out me and him are going to do a cutout and transfer the bees into my top bar hive now for the questions one will i need empty top bars for the transfer two how many if so three do i need to drill a hole in the bottom of the barrel the put screen around it for ventilation or do i put those opposite of the entrance?
I don't do top bars, but I will give you one tip. Transfer brood comb only. DO NOT put honey combs in the hive. Keep the honey out and feed it back or feed sugar water. That's any cutout, lang or top bar.
iddee, why don't you put the honey from a cut-out into their new hive? I'm not questioning your wisdom, I believe you! Just trying to understand.
They will drown from the stickiness.
SHB will invade and destroy them.
It will attract ants from a mile away.
Gotcha, iddee.
So, what's the best way to feed their honey combs back to them?
When you go into a hive and totally disrupt it, the bees are working so hard to repair the hive that they do not pay any attention to the beetles and moths. I learned this after rebuilding my observation hive. The beetles walk around in the like they own it. No attacks and they are able to lay there eggs in the brood. On the third day, the bees were pulling hundreds of eggs and larva and dropping them in the clean out trays. The reason it survived this is I did not return any honey to the hive. It happens every time I take the OB hive apart.
Jim
I only have a few hives, so I set it out for all the hives to rob, 200 feet from the nearest hive.
PS. There are better ways to do it.
thanks for the tip iddee