package of bees outgrowing their hive

bulldog · July 11, 2011, 12:46:07 AM

in less than 3 months since hiving the package they have drawn out comb in the entire hive and it was packed to the rafters with honey and bees. i did a split just they won't swarm on me. is this a rare occurrence for them to build up this fast ?

VolunteerK9 · July 11, 2011, 10:32:42 AM

My question would be how many full hive bodies of bees and brood did you have before the split?

bulldog · July 11, 2011, 11:36:36 AM

22 bars full of brood, of course there is some honey on top of each bar also

VolunteerK9 · July 11, 2011, 11:54:23 AM

Wow, sounds like your queen was the exception to the 'bad queen package rule'. Thats incredible. Split away my friend :)

Michael Bush · July 12, 2011, 02:05:25 AM

A good package in a small hive. I've never build a top bar hive less than 33 bars...

bulldog · July 12, 2011, 12:04:46 PM

the original hive is only 42 inches,it takes something like 27 or 28 bars, but the new one is 48 inches i think it takes something like 33 or 34 bars.
i just really didn't expect them to fill it up so fast.

Tommyt · July 13, 2011, 09:21:09 AM

I had a smaller than normal ktbh it too filled out fast,I did something thats not normal but I tried and it worked.
I took the first and last bar out and placed a standard Langstroth super on it,I had to add 2 pieces of wood on the bottom of the lang so it would fit snugly over the ktbh but it worked out well
The bees filled it with honey.I then added another. I have left #1 super on from the start, but have harvested #2 twice, yesterday being the second pull.I believe I am still to new too beekeeping, should have added more supers,I will try this nest season.
I hope too pull another 10 frames after our last flow
If I am lucky enough,and they keep 2 different honeys in the supers? I will leave them the last flow to winter over. I will pull #1 out as it has citrus and wild flower in it.Our last flow is Brazilian Pepper,I'm told it isn't the
best for table fare,better for cooking, I eat more raw than I cook with it.
I will taste the pepper honey if Good to my palate I'll take it and leave #1 box

Tommyt

luvin honey · July 18, 2011, 07:12:44 PM

I have 2 four-foot TBHs that were packaged the beginning of April. They struggled for 2 months in wet and cold, then took off like crazy the last 6 weeks or so. I pulled swarm bars and honey from each of them and made a split, trying to prevent swarming, but I believe they swarmed anyway. They still had space, too, and I kept feeding in a bar or 2 into their broodnests the last month... With 3 years of TBHs now and swarms every year, I'm starting to wonder if either I'm dense, too slow, or if there's something about TBHs that just lends itself to swarming.

bulldog · July 18, 2011, 09:38:03 PM

QuoteI have 2 four-foot TBHs that were packaged the beginning of April. They struggled for 2 months in wet and cold, then took off like crazy the last 6 weeks or so. I pulled swarm bars and honey from each of them and made a split, trying to prevent swarming, but I believe they swarmed anyway. They still had space, too, and I kept feeding in a bar or 2 into their broodnests the last month... With 3 years of TBHs now and swarms every year, I'm starting to wonder if either I'm dense, too slow, or if there's something about TBHs that just lends itself to swarming.

perhaps you are feeding them too much and the queens are becoming honeybound ? just a thought.

luvin honey · July 18, 2011, 09:57:43 PM

Hadn't fed beyond the first month when they were losing ground rapidly... Perhaps they were getting honeybound from a great big flow, though. I tried to prevent that by feeding bars into the broodnest--just 1-2 each time--and keeping empty bars behind the broodnest for honey production. They always had room to build new comb and for the queen to lay, so I'm just not sure but very open to other ideas, especially since that's the OP's issue also.

Tommyt · July 19, 2011, 07:49:45 AM

I just read your post #1 again
you should be pulling honey IMHO
either eat or store for winter feed

Tommyt

caticind · July 19, 2011, 09:49:05 AM

Quote from: luvin honey on July 18, 2011, 09:57:43 PM
Hadn't fed beyond the first month when they were losing ground rapidly... Perhaps they were getting honeybound from a great big flow, though. I tried to prevent that by feeding bars into the broodnest--just 1-2 each time--and keeping empty bars behind the broodnest for honey production. They always had room to build new comb and for the queen to lay, so I'm just not sure but very open to other ideas, especially since that's the OP's issue also.

Sometimes they are just determined to swarm, but...

Two suggestions:

Put in more empty bars at a time. If they are doing well and increasing in population quickly enough, you can put in an empty bar every other space (doubling the size of the brood nest). If you don't have enough room in the hive to put in 4-5 bars, then you should be taking something out - either honey or frames of brood for a split.

Start feeding empty bars in earlier in the year - as soon as you notice the population starting to spike. If you wait until you see queen cells being built to do this, it is probably already too late.

bulldog · July 19, 2011, 03:44:38 PM

QuoteI just read your post #1 again
you should be pulling honey IMHO
either eat or store for winter feed

oh yeah, i took one frame. a couple of others collapsed so i removed them from the hive and left them for the bees to clean up. i'll get them once the girls have repackaged them for me. :-D

luvin honey · July 25, 2011, 08:01:18 PM

Quote from: caticind on July 19, 2011, 09:49:05 AM
Quote from: luvin honey on July 18, 2011, 09:57:43 PM
Hadn't fed beyond the first month when they were losing ground rapidly... Perhaps they were getting honeybound from a great big flow, though. I tried to prevent that by feeding bars into the broodnest--just 1-2 each time--and keeping empty bars behind the broodnest for honey production. They always had room to build new comb and for the queen to lay, so I'm just not sure but very open to other ideas, especially since that's the OP's issue also.

Sometimes they are just determined to swarm, but...

Two suggestions:

Put in more empty bars at a time. If they are doing well and increasing in population quickly enough, you can put in an empty bar every other space (doubling the size of the brood nest). If you don't have enough room in the hive to put in 4-5 bars, then you should be taking something out - either honey or frames of brood for a split.

Start feeding empty bars in earlier in the year - as soon as you notice the population starting to spike. If you wait until you see queen cells being built to do this, it is probably already too late.

As soon as they started increasing in population, I added in bars...Perhaps not enough, but I was scared from last year when I added in every other and ended up with a brood disease...

Good luck, Bulldog, and sorry if I hijacked your thread!

bulldog · July 26, 2011, 01:04:01 AM

QuoteGood luck, Bulldog, and sorry if I hijacked your thread!

thank you, good luck to you as well. and think nothing of it.