A General Hive Question

[Michael Bush]

When I was in the panhandle of Nebraska condensation was never a problem in winter.  It was very dry there.  In Eastern Nebraska it is an issue.

[Terri Yaki]

My hives are not bringing in any pollen, is that something I should be concerned with? When I made the split, the hive only had two frames partially filled with pollen in it and I stole one for the nuc.

[The15thMember]

The bees will shrink the brood nest to account for the lack of pollen.  Without brood, adult bees don't need really any protein.  The hive may stop expanding for the time being, but honestly, colony contraction will begin after the solstice anyway, so your big hive probably isn't going to get too much bigger at this point anyway population-wise.  It's really a question of your blooms.  We are in the summer nectar dearth here, although I have pollen coming in still.  It's possible though that in your area there isn't much pollen this time of year, and that's just part of your seasonal rhythms.       

[Bill Murray]

I dont want to make this complicated, and didnt read through the full post BUT.

1) Were there enough bees to split? (dependent on how you did the split)

2) Is the split you made in the place of the original hive?

3) If not you need to put at least one food frame (maybe 2, dependent) Because the new bees/house bees wont just go out foraging)

4) Do you have enough bees/feed to facilitate them raising brood?

5) Do they have to much room for the box they are in?

If you removed a pile of nurse bees and installed a mated queen, and your slit is not where the original hive was, then you must make sure you give them pollen and nectar.
If same split is where original was the field bees will bring it in, assuming it is coming in.

Dont make the split complicated, Enough Pollen, nectar, the right age brood, and enough nurse bees to feed/ raise a queen, (If thats what your shooting for), with as little area to defend, for the amount of bees.

Or if you went another rout, QC, mated, enough nurse bees to take care of the brood plus Feed.

But if you leave the split in the place of original, think reverse.
If you make it when the foragers are home  and move it somewhere (another yard they will re orientate. If you leave it in the same yard put something in front of the hive to MAKE them re-orientate.

Hope this wasnt to bad.

[Terri Yaki]

I found a capped queen cell in a medium brood box that I had moved above a queen excluder and added a deep box below them. It was suggested and I liked the idea of splitting it and having an extra queen in a nuc. Whether or not I moved enough bees over remains to be seen and I honestly don't know if there were enough or not. I may look in in a week just to see how things look. I know that I did not move enough to damage the first hive and I may well not succeed at this experiment but if I monitor it closely, I should be able to minimize any losses.

[The15thMember]

Bill, he just took a frame with a capped QC, a frame of pollen, a frame of honey, and 2 frames of capped brood and made up a nuc.  He was just looking for something to do with the QC.  Sorry, Terri, I posted overtop of you.

[Terri Yaki]

Bill, he just took a frame with a capped QC, a frame of pollen, a frame of honey, and 2 frames of capped brood and made up a nuc.  He was just looking for something to do with the QC.  Sorry, Terri, I posted overtop of you.

That's nothing to be sorry about and I think your explanation is clearer than mine.

[Bill Murray]

Well in that case, they probably wont be bringing in pollen, dont worry about anything until hatch,mate lay. Sorry probably should have read the whole post, Ive been super busy 400 new deeps, learning the engraver gadget, making lids. Thanks member. Terri keep carrying on sounds like you doing well. File all that stuff, might come in handy some day.

[Terri Yaki]

My mentor has mentioned something about pulling one frame out of a honey super so they build the comb out farther, which makes it easier to decap. Is that a good idea or not?

[Michael Bush]

>My mentor has mentioned something about pulling one frame out of a honey super so they build the comb out farther, which makes it easier to decap. Is that a good idea or not?

As long as you have drawn comb it works fine.  It's not necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

[Bill Murray]

AS Michael mentioned,  as long as drawn running 9 frames in the honey is good option. I  run 8 in them and have yet to see a downside

[Terri Yaki]

Can they be spread apart after they're capped? Would they add onto what's there?

[Michael Bush]

You spread them when they are drawn (usually because they were extracted last year) and before they are capped.  After they are capped, I would not do it.  No telling how that will end up.

[Terri Yaki]

OK, thanks. Since mine are still bare, it's not to be tried yet.

[The15thMember]

I do crush and strain, so uncapping isn't a factor for me, but I also run 7 frames in an 8 frame super sometimes, especially in colonies that seem to have a propensity to draw their honeycomb deeper and therefore fatter.  I've even done 7 frames by checkerboarding blanks and drawn blanks, but that does sometimes end up a mess.  It's not a big deal for me, since I'm crushing up all the comb to harvest, but it would be a problem in an extractor.  I just space the frames by hand, I don't use a spacer or anything, and it usually works very well.   

[Ben Framed]

Wouldn?t this work just fine if you used wax foundation?

[Terri Yaki]

Wouldn?t this work just fine if you used wax foundation?

Maybe but I'm a lazy dude and plastic foundation is the lazy way to go. 

[Bill Murray]

Yes its fine with plastic foundation but it must be drawn out the year before or you get a mess.

year 1 fresh waxed blanks. drawn and capped.

year 2 space to 9 or 8 frame if running 10s. 7 or 6 if running 8s

[Ben Framed]

Wouldn?t this work just fine if you used wax foundation?

Maybe but I'm a lazy dude and plastic foundation is the lazy way to go. 

Terri; I wasnt clear. I was responding to Michael and Bill which said this would work as long as drawn comb was used. While The15 said she uses crush and strain so it would not matter in her case as far as drawn comb was concerned. So I ask the question of using wax foundation, which should cover both concerns in reference to their good input  Meaning you might not have to use drawn comb with wax foundation? And you can still crush and strain if this is your method of retrieving honey. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Phillip

[Terri Yaki]

What to do? I was going to inspect my hives tomorrow, which would be seven days since last inspection. We have good weather here today but it ends here for about a week and we're looking at a run of 90 degree days with the next predicted break on Tuesday, a week out. I'm leaning towards stepping this inspection up a day, what do yous think?