Today's Inspection. Advice or Reassurance?

[josbees]

I checked my two hives this morning.  These were both started 6 weeks ago from new packages. 

#1 is very active during the day, while #2 is lagging far behind in terms of outside activity.

#1 has two deeps and seems to be thriving.  I pulled the frames on the top deep and though there is little honey yet, the girls seem to be really busy.  I'm still feeding this hive and they're still taking it, every drop.  This deep was only added two weeks ago.  One thing I did notice though was on the 4th frame in where most of the work is going on.  There is a large wing of burr comb attached to the foundation.  It's the full height of the frame and about 5 inches wide at the widest point.  Should I attempt to remove this?

Hive #2 is a far different matter.  Four of the fames in the lone deep are still untouched and those that are being worked on have a very spotty brood pattern and not many visible eggs or larvae.  There is capped honey at the top of the frames they're working.  The brood is mostly dark brown.  I did see one baby in the emerging stage but she wasn't moving, and I think she died on the way out. There's  a lot of granular residue on the bottom board and a number of dead bees too.  This hive stopped taking syrup about three weeks ago.

Obviously I'm concerned about poor #2.  Any advice would be most welcome.

[Bill W.]

One thing I did notice though was on the 4th frame in where most of the work is going on.  There is a large wing of burr comb attached to the foundation.  It's the full height of the frame and about 5 inches wide at the widest point.  Should I attempt to remove this?

You need to evaluate whether you can remove it without destroying the rest of the comb or not.  If the burr is attached to the face of the comb, rather than just the frame, you may really mangle it trying to get it off.  Usually, if I get a really screwed up frame (or if I mangle it attempting to fix it) I move the frame to the far end and wait for the brood to hatch out before swapping it with a fresh frame.

Hive #2 is a far different matter.  Four of the fames in the lone deep are still untouched and those that are being worked on have a very spotty brood pattern and not many visible eggs or larvae.  There is capped honey at the top of the frames they're working.  The brood is mostly dark brown.  I did see one baby in the emerging stage but she wasn't moving, and I think she died on the way out. There's  a lot of granular residue on the bottom board and a number of dead bees too.  This hive stopped taking syrup about three weeks ago.

When you say brown brood, I assume you mean brood cells that are capped with brown wax, right?

What is the appearance of the granular residue?  How large is it, what color, what amount, etc?

How many bees is a number of dead bees?  More than you can count?  If so, are they piled up to the bottom of the frames, or just scattered around?

Any signs of varroa or dysentary?

Six frames working in a hive started six weeks ago would not necessarily bother me, but you do have some odd symptoms there, such as not taking syrup.

It is possible they've been getting chilled?  I have no idea what your weather has been like.

I would take a good frame of brood from your strong hive and move it into the weak hive and see what happens.

Could be you have a bad queen there and need to replace her, but I'd try to get the numbers up first and see how things go.  Once the frame of brood hatches out, if you are not seeing definite signs of disease, it might be good to equalize (swap positions between the strong and weak during the day).

I've had very good luck bringing weak hives up to speed this year by frame swapping and equalizing, done about ten days apart.

[DrKurtG]

I'm going to switch some frames between  my strong hive and my third hive which has been weak all spring. I intend to take two brood frames and two honey and pollen frames from the upper chamber in the strong and place them in the weak. I assume that I must first use my Bee Quick to drive the bees off the frames before I transfer them. Yes?

[josbees]

Bill -- thanks for your suggestions.  I guess I'll have to leave the burr where it is.  I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool when I saw it.  First year Beek thrills.

And yes, I meant the cells capped in brown wax.  The granular residue is all over the bottom board.  It looks like crumbs from chocolate chip cookies.  The dead bees lying on it are maybe 10 to 15 in number.  I was surprised that the survivors hadn't moved them out.  There is also some small wax build up: maybe a centimeter in height.

I don't see any mites, and I don't know what dysentery would look like.

And I don't think they're getting chilled.  The other hive is thriving a couple of feet away from this one.  We had a major hot spell here three weeks ago and that's when I removed the entrance reducers coz both hives were doing some serious bearding.   But even before that, this hive seemed to be dragging.

Okay, so how do I go about swapping a frame?

Thanks again!

[Bill W.]

I guess I'll have to leave the burr where it is.

I would at least move it to the outside in anticipation of swapping out the frame later.  What you've described sounds like it might be the start of the bees building a parallel comb to the foundation, which always turns into a huge mess and, in my limited experience, is impossible to fix.  The bees are less active at the outer frames, so you get less egg laying and can eventually remove that frame.

And yes, I meant the cells capped in brown wax.  The granular residue is all over the bottom board.  It looks like crumbs from chocolate chip cookies.  The dead bees lying on it are maybe 10 to 15 in number.  I was surprised that the survivors hadn't moved them out.  There is also some small wax build up: maybe a centimeter in height.

That sounds pretty normal.  The granular stuff is wax, pollen, dead bee parts, etc.  10 to 15 bees is not a big deal.  Some hives are faster than others about carrying out the dead.  Weak hives are particularly slow about it.

I don't see any mites, and I don't know what dysentery would look like.

Dysentery looks like long brown and yellow streaks all over the hive.  Hard to miss.

And I don't think they're getting chilled.  The other hive is thriving a couple of feet away from this one.  We had a major hot spell here three weeks ago and that's when I removed the entrance reducers coz both hives were doing some serious bearding.   But even before that, this hive seemed to be dragging.

Well, it doesn't sound like you have a disease problem and it is probably not weather related.  I'm still kind of puzzled by the fact that they aren't taking syrup, but a failing queen seems possible.

Okay, so how do I go about swapping a frame?

Make a space in the center of the receiving hive by removing one of the outer frames that has nothing going on.  Find a good frame in the other hive that has a lot of brood in it.  Capped brood would be really good, since it is closer to becoming productive bees.  Make sure the queen is not on it.  I usually brush off most of the bees before moving it over, but this is apparently not really necessary.  I usually take the frame that I removed from the receiving hive and put it in the providing hive, but you might want to avoid this, since you aren't sure there is not a disease in progress.  If you have a new frame available, it might be better to use that.

[josbees]

Thanks again, Bill.

Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow......

[Scadsobees]

As far as your burr comb goes...it sounds like you are using plastic foundation and they are trying to use it the wrong way.  And you don't have your frames pushed togather, or you don't have all 10 in.

If that is the case, I'd probably remove the comb and push the frames back togather, and centered in the box.  You will space them out later when they are all drawn out.  If you leave it they may do that all the way between those frames and it will be a bigger mess.

It sounds like your weak hive may have a bad queen, she just can't get going for some reason.  If there is capped brood, that is good, even if it is brown.  They reuse old brown wax to cap if they don't have new wax, plus as the pupae in there mature it gets browner and darker.

As far as boosting the weak hive with a frame from the strong hive...I don't usually brush any bees off the frame, instead using the entire frame with all the bees, stick it right in there.  The extra bees will be necessary to care for that brood, because if the weak hive had enough bees to care for more brood, they would probably already have it....

[josbees]

No, I'm using wax foundation on ten frames, and they are all in there.

And for the weaker hive, I'll probably try the frame switch later today.  But won't the bees from the stonger hive get confused if I move them to the weaker one?  Wouldn't they leave and go back?

How would you suggest I remove the comb?  With a breadknife? (I don't have all the proper beek gear yet).

[josbees]

So I went in this afternoon to the busy hive to take out the wing of burr comb.  It came away in my fingers so I brushed the workers off and put it in a tupperware to show the kids.  I do notice that about 50% of it is larvae and I feel pretty bad that I'm denying them a chance.....

[Moonshae]

No, I'm using wax foundation on ten frames, and they are all in there.

How would you suggest I remove the comb?  With a breadknife? (I don't have all the proper beek gear yet).

Make sure they're all pushed close together and centered in the box..don't try to spread out the extra space.

Use the sharp end of your hive tool to cut away burr comb.

[jojoroxx]

...with a frame from the strong hive...I don't usually brush any bees off the frame, instead using the entire frame with all the bees, stick it right in there.  The extra bees will be necessary to care for that brood, ...

Interesting technique scadsobees. Don't you think the other bees would see them as intruders, and try to kick them out? If there is no problem with this, I would like to try it. It seems a lot easier than trying to brush or jolt them all off.

[Brian D. Bray]

...with a frame from the strong hive...I don't usually brush any bees off the frame, instead using the entire frame with all the bees, stick it right in there.  The extra bees will be necessary to care for that brood, ...

Interesting technique scadsobees. Don't you think the other bees would see them as intruders, and try to kick them out? If there is no problem with this, I would like to try it. It seems a lot easier than trying to brush or jolt them all off.

Bees within a hive don't usually get in a tuff with other bees within the same hive, especially if they are tending brood comb.  This is why taking a frsame of brood from a strong hive and giving it to a weak or suspected queenless hive is such a good fix.  It adds both adult bees and brood to the hive immediately, giving it a little more strength and resources in the short term and even more strength in the long run.