Where do I go from here?

[Billybee]

I have my small hive I rescued from a school.
I have taken pictures to show the bees progress to date. They seem to be doing really good.
They are bringing in high doses of pollen all day long as far as I can tell being 2 months into beekeeping. I am not feeding them.
As of now I have only spotted a few shb and the bees or I did them in so it appears. (dont want to jinx myself) No sign of moths or mites either and ants dont stand a chance of getting through the moat then over the greased stand legs..

I  keep a small entrance maybe 2 and a half inches so they can keep gard easier from pests. I only have the frames they arrived on in the box and 1 empty that they are building on to. They are also filling out the frames the hive is attached to.

My strategy is to let them add on to all existing frames until they are filled out before I add more places to build. I am doing this to try and keep pests from moving in. If the bees are covering everything then theres no room for pests and a better chance to fight them off if they do make thier way in.

Does anybody with actual bee experience strongly disagree with this strategy?
I would also like input on what you would do with this hive under these circumstances. The top box is currently empty.

Heres a link to the pics. They are all dated so you can see the progress. Also I am in Florida so its HOT almost always.

If you could look at them and comment in this thread I will be back to check it frequently.

Thanks,

Billy


http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=486679905&albumId=823892&page=1

[iddee]

>>>>Separating the frames is a BIG NO-NO. They will make a totally incurable mess. Close the frames up tightly and add enough to fill the box... DO IT QUICKLY!<<<<

I posted this last week. You are in for the biggest mess you have ever seen, come spring, if they live. Open space in a hive when comb is being made is the worst mistake you can make. Even killing your bees is easier to fix.

Get a full count of frames in EVERY box, whether you have 1 or 5 boxes. In your case, take the top box off until they have 8 or 9 frames fully drawn in the bottom box.

[Billybee]

I did place them together as you said in the last post. I just didnt fill in the frames.
Will do now and remove top box.

Thanks

[iddee]

You're forgiven.........This time..   :-D

Bees would much rather hang natural comb then use frames, so you must be sure they never have a place to hang it from, and have to use the frames. Otherwise, they will build it up, down, across, and any other way other than straight.

[Billybee]

Thanks for the forgiveness ;)

They are hard at work. I have the hive on a stand an can see right through the screened bottom board perectly.

I am going to leave them bee but, how often should I pull the frames to inspect for pests and such? I want to find the fine line between making sure all is good and not getting in their way.

Thanks,

Billy

[iddee]

You will have to ask a local about that. It will depend a lot on the weather, the condition at each check, ETC. I would say a full check at the end of Sept. plus whatever I can't see from here. I know it's vague, but that's the best i can do.

All beekeeping is local.