Placing Old & New Frames for More Honey ??

[MagicValley]

My colony died early in the winter.  The two hive bodies have a lot of honey remaining.

I decided to add a hive for a total of two beehives.  So of the 20 old deep frames, many have a lot of honey.  The old super frames have empty comb.  The new hive has 40 new frames without comb, half deeps, half supers.

I know in each hive stack the lower deep is for brood, the next deep is for the colony's honey, and the two supers are for my honey.

I'm thinking of putting half of the old deep frames in each of the two hives.  Those frames with less honey and more empty comb will go in the middle, the honey-filled frames to the sides.

Then the deep on top of those will be filled with 10 new, combless frames each.  Then goes the queen excluder.

The first super in each stack will have the old frames, with empty comb.  The top supers will have the new, combless frames.


I am hoping that the bees will prefer to pass the excluder and store honey in the existing old comb, before trying too hard to make new comb in the 2nd deeps.

Advice?  Comments?  Is there a better way to sort the old and new frames between the two hives?

[Colobee]

Do you have the hives near by? Ease of access & your own availability will help determine any course of action. Your own plan isn't a bad one. One concern - too much space for a new cluster can be detrimental to their ability to cover & warm the brood at times ( cold snaps) until they get a bit more established, or the season warms.

If they are in the back yard-ish,  one idea would be to leave the upper deep off until the new bees fill the bottom one ~80%. Leave the medium super on so the can utilize & clean it out. Once they are filling the bottom deep  you can raise a few of the outer  brood frames (not the outer most frames, just the outside edges of the brood nest) up into the middle of the second deep. By then the medium super will also likely be empty so you could remove it until they are well established in the upper deep ( or maybe just put it right back on...).



There are a lot of variables - here  & at least a few other ways to go. Perhaps someone a bit closer to you will suggest how they manage...

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

concerns may be if you do not know what killed your old hive, you may be contaminating your new hives. Personally, I rotate all my comb out on a yearly cycle. bees like making comb, fresh comb works fine and new honey tastes great and has premium quality depending on what is flowering at the time. not to mention new wax is great also. I do keep older hives, and they do produce more honey because they are much larger, but I always keep young and builder hives going too and rotate older comb, and queens out steadily.

[OldMech]

  If you are starting packages, start them in one box. Put a honey frame to either side of the box, put the rest in the freezer for now.
   Let the queens get to laying, let their first batch of brood emerge at 3 to 4 weeks. Once they have the first box well in control, and they are growing well, add the second box with maybe 4 frames of honey in each, again, on the outside of the box, two on either side with as much drawn comb as possible in the center so the queen can move up.  They should build up fast and be drawing supers by mid June... depending of course on your flow.

[MagicValley]

Thank you for all the suggestions.  I'm starting again with two new clusters for the two hives.