Rookie Question of the Day

[EasternShore]

How often should I inspect my new girls?

I have two deeps, bottom was an original swarm hive, the top is a cutout hive which I was forced to combine with the older one. Now I've got 4-5 empty plastic frames in the lower the girls won't even look at and abot 5 frames of drawn comb from the cutout in the upper that they are partially filling with honeyand pollen. Can't see any babies in the upper so I'm not sure if the queen is working up there.

Should I load the lower with all the filled frames and move the empties to the upper?

I have new foundation for the rubber banded comb frames, should I just leave it or redo the drawn comb thats not being used?

[Bill W.]

If all the bees will fit in one box, I'd move them all into one box.  The trick is to never give the bees more or less space than they need.  Easier said then done in many cases, though.  As long as there is room for more brood, crowding is good.  When the queen starts to run out of room for brood, it is time to give her some more space.

[Michael Bush]

What's usually best for the bees is to leave them alone.  What's usually best for learning about bees is to open often and watch what they are doing.

[JP]

How often should I inspect my new girls?

I have two deeps, bottom was an original swarm hive, the top is a cutout hive which I was forced to combine with the older one. Now I've got 4-5 empty plastic frames in the lower the girls won't even look at and abot 5 frames of drawn comb from the cutout in the upper that they are partially filling with honeyand pollen. Can't see any babies in the upper so I'm not sure if the queen is working up there.

Should I load the lower with all the filled frames and move the empties to the upper?

I have new foundation for the rubber banded comb frames, should I just leave it or redo the drawn comb thats not being used?

If the cut-out hive is truly from feral stock, they may not want to have anything to do with the plastic, at least in the broodnest. Take the plastic out and make starter strips and let them build their own comb.


...JP

[EasternShore]

They seem to be ok with the plastic so far, some are already begining to fill in.