Wanted to say hello to the forum . My bride and I took a beginner beek class last fall and now are in it. I picked up two hives last Tuesday which consisted of two full hives to split and two extra queens to go to the splits. I believe all went well after a bit of a shaky start. I did get eyes on the one queen but not the other after the split. I took brood from the existing hive and put in another brood super and put on top separating with a queen excluder to get my separation. The next day I took the excluded box and put on another bottom making the new hive. The new hives (splits) are moved 4 miles away to keep from re-joining. These new hives then got the new included queen in her cage to get introduced and set free by eating the candy plug. This I plan on checking the status of today to make sure she is freed ok.
I do have a question though. I started feeding right away of a 1 to 1 sugar mix. The seem to be very ravenous! How much should I expect for them to consume weekly/ or even daily till the nectar flow starts? they each have consumed two quarts (two splits, so 4 hives total) since Thursday and the ones here on my property are empty again!
Welcome :)
Welcome to Beemaster!
Total noob here, but it my understanding that it takes roughly 8lbs of sugar or honey to make a lb of wax. If they are drawing comb, they need wax. Throw the syrup to them. My 2lb packages were taking a quart every two days. They've slowed down a bit, but I'm expecting them to pick back up soon when the first brood starts emerging.
Welcome