TO MUCH SPACE?

Kathyp · July 04, 2006, 07:31:37 PM

my honey season will be over the end of july. tomorrow i will add another honey super because they are almost done with the first one. i doubt they will finish the second.

this hive was started from package the 3rd week of april. they have done really well. in fact, the two deep supers look pretty crowded. when i pull the honey supers off, should i add another deep, or just leave them alone? i don't want them to have to much space, but i don't want them crowded after the shallow supers are off. will the queen keep laying as she has, after the flow is over, if i leave them enough honey?

confused :(

Finsky · July 04, 2006, 11:58:20 PM

Quote from: kathypin fact, the two deep supers look pretty crowded. when i pull the honey supers off, should i add another deep, or just leave them alone? :(

Don't give up when it just begun! July is long time. JUly is here almost only flow season. After that in August hive developes for winter and raises it's wintering bees. Hive need space for that raising.

You should put so much space as they can occupy. If hive has been tight there are honey combs downstairs. Give one deep size box more and lift all honey combs there. Give foundations between brood frames.

When super is capped extract the honey. There should be allways free combs for new nectar between brood and full honey frames. Otherwise hive swarms and you loose the glory.

Give space as much bees can occupy. Don't let them be growded. It deminishes your honey yield.

If you like to have 2 hives you may split strong hive into two at the end of flow and give another queen inside. So you get two one box wintering hives.

Kathyp · July 05, 2006, 12:25:42 AM

thank you. i am building more boxes as we speak and will add them tomorrow. one deep and the shallow that i was planning on adding anyway.

i think i'll save the splits 'til next year.

now i see why you guys like using the same size boxes! wish i'd read that before i started with the big boxes. next hive i'll do differently.

Brian D. Bray · July 05, 2006, 02:18:32 AM

Education via experience is hard on the student. Viva uniformity and use all mediums.

Michael Bush · July 05, 2006, 11:09:09 PM

>thank you. i am building more boxes as we speak and will add them tomorrow. one deep and the shallow that i was planning on adding anyway.

Since I keep cutting down every deep I get and adding wood to the shallows and cutting down all the deep frames and throwing away all the shallow frames, I cringe when I think of building deeps and shallows on purpose... :)

Viva uniformity.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#uniformframesize

Kathyp · July 06, 2006, 12:15:58 AM

QuoteSince I keep cutting down every deep I get and adding wood to the shallows and cutting down all the deep frames and throwing away all the shallow frames, I cringe when I think of building deeps and shallows on purpose...

i don't knit :lol:

mat · July 06, 2006, 09:44:32 AM

Michael, could you tell me how exactly do you switch from deep frame to medium. And when. Is fall or spring better when there are less bees?

Michael Bush · July 06, 2006, 09:13:14 PM

>Michael, could you tell me how exactly do you switch from deep frame to medium. And when. Is fall or spring better when there are less bees?

Everything to do with bees is probably easier in the spring when they are building up. But you could do it now and still have time to get built up for winter.

It's easy to get bees off of honey. You just shake them off and harvest. It's trickier to get them off of brood. If you can get some brood in the size frames you want (like cut some brood out of the deep and tie it in the medium) you can put the queen and those couple of frames of brood above an excluder and the brood in the deep will emerge and then youc an take all those deeps out. Meanwhile they will start building a brood nest for the queen above the excluder. The are many ways to do this. If you're more patient you can just put a medium on top and wait for them to move up, which may not happen until next spring. If you're more impatient, you can do a full cut out and tie all the brood into mediums and immediately remove all the deeps. It's really up to you.

While you're swapping out comb you might as well use small cell foundation and regress them too. :)

mat · July 07, 2006, 10:52:57 AM

Thank you Michael. I have three new hives, just in one deep, so now would be the best time to add mediums on top, and then cut the deeps. The problem is I have all combs on wired foundation with hooks and wedges. I think I need to invent the way just to cut the lower part and reattache the lower bar of the frames.

Michael Bush · July 09, 2006, 08:10:41 PM

>The problem is I have all combs on wired foundation with hooks and wedges. I think I need to invent the way just to cut the lower part and reattache the lower bar of the frames.

Well, you'll have to cut the wires, I suppose, somehow, if you really want to keep the comb. I just removed the comb and cut down the frames.

Brian D. Bray · July 10, 2006, 05:15:58 AM

Don't worry about the comb the important thing is uniformity--this benefits you and the bees don't care.
Once the end bars have been cut to size just put a starter strip in place and leave the rest empty. If you cut the starter strip so that is long enogh to use the upper end bar hole with a pin then you add a little extra strength from the onset but it's not necessary.
to save money cut your deep foundation down to 3 or 4 strips--or to put it another way--50 sheets of deep foundation cut into strips can give you 150-200 frames with starter strips.
You should find that, in the face of all logic, that the bees will actually drawn out the full frame faster with starter striped than frames filled with foundation.