EMAILED QUESTIONS - looking for your replies

[beemaster]

Every so often I get an email that JUST requires multiple inputs - here is the lastest where I think more ideas are needed and looking for your help. I sent a link to the writer to follow this post.

Hello there,  This is not an emergency, just a bunch of questions I have because I am unsure of what I am doing since I am so new to beekeeping.  By the way, your website is great and I have learned a great deal from it.  This email has turned out to be quite a novel so I highlighted my actual questions.  The rest is background and lead up info.

Background info:  Got 2 hives last Fall from the neighbor.  As I learn more about bees I find that he doesn't know as much as he should.  He doesn't seem to be able to answer my questions.  One of the hives was completely dead by Spring.  I found hundreds of bees with their heads in the empty comb and tons dead at the bottom of the hive.  My guess is that they starved since it would appear that they were looking for food in the empty comb.  Neighbor replaced that hive with a what appears to be pretty strong hive this Spring.  He helped me treat both hives with Mite Away II, Terramyacin and menthol in April. After treatment I added one medium super to each hive.  So the first hive had 4 medium supers total and the second had one deep super and 3 medium supers total at that point.   I checked them in June and the first hive had not filled the added medium super but the second one was almost full.  I added a shallow super to the second hive.

When I checked the hives in June I really looked through both hives.  My biggest concern at that time was that when I took the supers off there was a lot of comb being built between the supers and frames.  Made it extremely difficult to get them apart.  And I ripped apart brood comb and honey comb doing so.  It was over an inch thick, sometimes approaching 2 inches.  This tells me that there is too much space between the frames/supers which brings up my first question:

How do I fix this???  I am thinking about buying new equipment and slowly exchanging it for what is there. Tell me what you think.....

Also, some of the plastic foundation seems to have melted.  In places it is warped and in other places it has no comb-like structure for the bees to build comb on so there is a space between the foundation and the actual comb.  The comb is attached to the top and bottom of the frame but not on the foundation itself.  Is this further indication that new equipment is needed?  The foundation appears to be a plastic with metal frame. 

The Bee Inspector came 2 weeks ago and said my hives look good and that they are raising brood.  He said I should treat the hives now for 21 days, then put on 2 supers and take honey in October.  I just met a man who has 700 hives in West Virginia.  He was appalled that I was told to treat the hives before taking honey.  He said to take the honey now and then treat so the honey isn't contaminated.  That made more sense to me so yesterday I opened the second hive.  This is what I found:  The shallow super I added in June was unoccupied, no drawn comb.  The next super down contained 4 or 5 frames with brood in it.  My next question:

What was brood doing all the way up there???

The next super down was almost all honey comb with a few frames with some brood.

I exchanged frames between these 2 supers putting the brood in one and honey in the other, took the honey and put the brood super back on the hive.

Was that the right thing to do???

This hive has a medium super in the bottom and a deep above it.  I have never seen this configuration. 

Does that matter?

I was going to change it around but the medium super is screwed to the base. 

[/b]Is it supposed to be screwed to the base?[/b]

I was also going to add a queen excluder but with brood all the way up at the top I didn't know where the queen was.

How would I go about adding the queen excluder?

Final question:  How do I prevent squashing bees when putting the supers back on?  I tried to go slowly to allow the bees to move out of the way but still killed some.  I don't like that.

I haven't attempted the first hive yet.  What I did yesterday took all afternoon.  Then extracting went into the evening.  But I got over 2 gallons of honey!!!  Yippee, my first honey!

One of the biggest problems I have is with conflicting information.  I guess somethings are a matter of opinion or experience.

Well, sorry this is so long.  I don't need an answer right now.  When you get to it.  Thanks so much!

[buzzbee]

This tells me that there is too much space between the frames/supers which brings up my first question:

How do I fix this???  I am thinking about buying new equipment and slowly exchanging it for what is there. Tell me what you think.....

Clean up the edges of the frames where they butt together.If it is a standard box,make sure there is 10 frames per box.Make sure the group of frames is centered in the box.With more frequent inspections you can keep the burr com cleaned up.You may have to trim the combs down with a large knife so the frames fit back together.
The foundation you mention is called duragilt.I have read it gives some people this problem.
If these frames have honey,i would extract them and replace the foundation with new foundation.The foundation that has had the wax removed down to the plastic will not have comb drawn on it again.If they have brood,I would situate the brood into a box with other brood and place a couple frames with honey to the outside of the box.Remember,it takes a frame of honey to raise a frame of bees so don't rob it all.
As far as brood all the way up there,sometimes a queen will work verical instead of horizontally.
If you do decide to use a queen excluder ,be sure to leave a top entrance for the bees eo gain access to the honey supers.
As far as treatment,remove the honey before treating,your instincts were correct.

[buzzbee]

Just a bump for more responses!!

[BenC]

Sounds like what is called Duragilt foundation.  Once the plastic is exposed the bees will never draw comb on it again.  Start rotating it out or service, replace it with all wax foundation or starter strips.  I'm in Western MD and have a few colonies made up of 1 Deep+ 1 Medium for a broodnest.  It works fine for wimpy colonies although most of my colonies are 2 deep.  Where are you located, who was the apiary inspector?  Can you be more specific concerning the treatment they recommended- What to treat for and how?  Squishing bees?  You can use a smoker to "drive" bees away from hazard areas. 

By the way, your website is great and I have learned a great deal from it. 

Beemaster.com is certainly a great resource for aspiring or beginning beekeepers, but forum.beemaster.com is "where it's at" :-D  Join up, let us know more about you and your apiary!

Got 2 hives last Fall from the neighbor.  As I learn more about bees I find that he doesn't know as much as he should.  He doesn't seem to be able to answer my questions. 

None of us know as much as we should.  I think one of the best things a beginner can do is to find a mentor.  Even if the lesson you learn is "what not to do", it's still a lesson.  Don't write this guy off because he couldn't answer a few of your questions.

[KONASDAD]

sometimes bees just make funky comb. this year there seems to be alot of this going on. I suspect that it has to do w/ an uneven flow. Some days wwere awesome, then rain and no flow, then flow, stop, start etc. The bees just dont do a gtood job(in our eyes) If your foundation is plastic, in the spring, scrape it off and return to hive. Make sure all the frames are pressed tightly together, this helps w. drawing straight comb.
Yes bees will "bridge" between boxes. yes it makes inspections hard. You can scrape or leave it. I used to scrape it, now I do not. I would check out the
BEE-BIBLE for me and many other beeks on this site for more info


www.bushfarms.com

If after you have mastered this info, get back to us!!!! See you in a few yrs ;) and of course become a forum member. trustme, you will learn a boat load here. Combine this w/ a beek club and you will be well on your way to becoming a great beekeeper.