New Beekeeper

[brydie]

Hi all, as I am very new to beekeeping I have a few questions that I hope you could help me with!  I have recently purchased a small setup with a colony.  I have 1 hive, 2 boxes high, 7 frames in each box.  My questions are:

1)  Do you recommend a queen excluder for this setup?  I am concerned that I will have difficulties extracting honey from the top super if I don't keep the queen out of there.  If so what is the best way to introduce the excluder?

2)  Should I have a spare nuc box on hand in case my bees swarm?  If so, should I have another hive ready for a new colony?

3)  Should I re-queen the hive that I have just purchased?  My bees seem very happy and busy and they are very docile.  Will they re-queen the colony by themselves if necessary?  I haven't seen my queen yet so I don't know how old she is etc.

4)  I haven't got an extractor, can I extract the honey by hand?  If so what is the best way and how should I filter it?  Someone mentioned running it through a pillowcase.

Sorry about all the questions!!!  And thank you in advance for any help!

Kind Regards Brydie  :)

[Trot]

I see that you are from Australia and is probably summer there?
I would  not worry about the excluder and extracting just yet. I would worry about the two boxes at hand. They will fill up fast, if not already and you should get yourself about 3 or 4 honey supers. Empty boxes with preferably some combs and/or foundation. Than you can put one on, before they make up their mind to swarm. It is not hard to prevent them from swarming - but once they make up their mind - they are as good as gone...

That nuc might be handy if you find that they have queen cell or two. You can make a new colony, (artificial swarm) and go from there.

Yes, it would be a great idea to get yourself one more complete hive. It is hard to keep bees just in one. It's like boxing with one hand tied behind your back...

And keep the questions coming... Here are a great bunch of people, ready and willing to keep you turned in the right direction.
Myself, I have sometimes hard time to see the forest for the trees. Meaning: Have been so long at it, that I have hard time to see what a newbie needs...

By the way. Great to have you, from down under..!

Regards,
Trot

[Michael Bush]

>7 frames in each box.

How many frames will FIT in each box?  What kind of boxes are they?  8 frame Langstroth boxes?

>1)  Do you recommend a queen excluder for this setup?

I don't.

> I am concerned that I will have difficulties extracting honey from the top super if I don't keep the queen out of there.

Why would the queen be in the super?  Why would you take the super without first removing the bees?  If there is brood there, the queen is likely there and you likely don't want to take the brood off.  If there is honey there, the queen is not likely to be there and you are going to brush or somehow remove the bees anyway if she is.

>  If so what is the best way to introduce the excluder?

I wouldn't.  An issue (if you insist) is that there must be an escape for the drones both above and below the excluder or they will be trapped and die clogging the excluder.

>2)  Should I have a spare nuc box on hand in case my bees swarm?

Always.  And a spare regular hive.

>  If so, should I have another hive ready for a new colony?

Absolutely.

>3)  Should I re-queen the hive that I have just purchased?

Is there something wrong with the queen?

>  My bees seem very happy and busy and they are very docile.  Will they re-queen the colony by themselves if necessary?

Usually, but not always.

>  I haven't seen my queen yet so I don't know how old she is etc.

If she's laying well I'd leave things alone.

>4)  I haven't got an extractor, can I extract the honey by hand?

That depends on what you mean by "extract".  Without an extractor you can do cut comb or crush and strain.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesharvest.htm

>  If so what is the best way and how should I filter it? 

The double bucket strainer is nice.  You can use what you like for a filter.  Nylon.  Screen wire.  Whatever.  Womens stockings seem to be popular as are paint strainers.

>Someone mentioned running it through a pillowcase.

Cotton will work, but isn't the best as it often adds cotton fibers to the honey which speed up crystallization.

[Kathyp]

if you choose an excluder, as i did, you can put your honey supers on and get the bees working the foundation.  after they are started, make sure the queen is below and put the excluder on.  mine continued to work above the excluder without any problem.  i did end up with some dead drones in the excluder, but only a few and it was not a problem.  most of the drones went below when i smoked the hive before adding honey supers.

another handy use for the thing.....when it was time to reduce hive size, i used the excluder to keep the queen down in the bottom two boxes while the brood in the top box hatched out.  that way, i was not removing a box with brood in it.

it's a preference thing and i don't know that i'll use one on all hives next year.  depends on my bee budget.  :-)

[brydie]

Thanks for your help, as mentioned before I am totally new at all this so please excuse me if my questions seem "stupid" - sorry!  Yes it is summer here in Australia.  I live in north Queensland so we really don't get a winter at all - just a wet season and dry season.

I am not sure how many frames will fit in each box, I bought the hive with 7 frames in each box, but I am assuming they may be 8 frame boxes, not sure if they are Langstroth.  Sorry for asking a silly question but how do I tell?

I am not sure that the queen is actually in the super, when I inspected the hive for the first time the super was fairly clean with new frames and foundation.  There was only a small amount of comb so I am assuming it had not been on the hive for long.  If I was to take the super I would most certainly remove the bees, my concern was if there was brood in there I don't want to upset them.  I was inspecting by myself at the time (first time I have ever opened a hive), so was a bit nervous and didn't get a really close look at everything.  I am waiting for my husband to return from down south, then I will re-inspect with him - so he can help me with smoking etc.

Ok, so now my understanding is that generally the queen will stay in the bottom box (and brood), and the top box will be used to store honey.  Is this correct?

I don't believe there is anything wrong with my current queen, in fact I feel that the colony is quite settled and healthy.  It's just that in most books they tell you to re-queen if you have purchased a new hive, and re-queen every 2 years.

Thank you for the tips on "extracting".  As I only wish to keep things on a small scale at this stage, this info is very helpful.  My husband will probably build an extractor for me in the near future (then I'll probably have more questions on that!).

When introducing new supers do you put them on top or "under-super"?

Do the bee numbers keep "expanding"?  If so what is a good number of hives to keep (for a beginner like me)?  Would 2 be ok?

Once again thank you very much!

Kind Regards, Brydie

[Michael Bush]

>Sorry for asking a silly question but how do I tell?

Try putting more frames in and see if they fit.  The most that will fit is the size of the box.  Or measure it.  An eight frame box is about 13 3/4" or somewhere around 34 cm wide. A ten frame box is 16 1/4" or somewhere around 40 cm wide.  A Langstroth box is 19 7/8" long (the way the frames run) or about 50 cm long.  The cm are not exact, just off the top of my head.  The inches are correct.

>I am not sure that the queen is actually in the super, when I inspected the hive for the first time the super was fairly clean with new frames and foundation.  There was only a small amount of comb so I am assuming it had not been on the hive for long.

The queen will be where the brood is 99% of the time.

> If I was to take the super I would most certainly remove the bees, my concern was if there was brood in there I don't want to upset them.

Then don't take it if there is brood.  When you take supers and run the bees out you will upset them more or less.

>Ok, so now my understanding is that generally the queen will stay in the bottom box (and brood), and the top box will be used to store honey.  Is this correct?

The queen will stay with the brood.  The brood will be where ever it is.  It could be anywhere, but generally the brood nest doesn't move around much and generally people have it in the bottom box and put supers on top for honey.

>I don't believe there is anything wrong with my current queen, in fact I feel that the colony is quite settled and healthy.  It's just that in most books they tell you to re-queen if you have purchased a new hive, and re-queen every 2 years.

Yes they do.  I requeen when they seem to have any problems.  Usually they see the problems before me and requeen themselves but sometimes they don't.

>When introducing new supers do you put them on top or "under-super"?

The bees don't seem to care much where they are and I'm lazy, so I put them on top.  I've tried both.

>Do the bee numbers keep "expanding"?

Bee or hive numbers?  The bee population will increase to a peak at about the main flow and subside a little until fall when it will drop significantly and winter where it will dwindle until spring.

>  If so what is a good number of hives to keep (for a beginner like me)?  Would 2 be ok?

2 would be minimum to have resources for a hive in trouble.

[brydie]

Thanks so much Michael, I really appreciate your help.

I have arranged with another local beekeeper (large scale) to go with him when he inspects his hives in the New Year, so hopefully will learn a whole heap more then!  He has been keeping for 35 years and has hives all through QLD on various flora and is happy for an extra pair of hands (even if they are pretty inexperienced!!).  He also has an extracting facility.

I will probably buy some more equipment from him too.  So hopefully early in the New Year I will have a bit better setup!

Kind Regards, Brydie

[buzzbee]

Brydie,
Enjoy the experience!You are so lucky to get a chance like this.And as far as dumb questions, I don't think any one here thinks they are dumb because we have all been there! Have a great day!

[brydie]

I do feel very privilaged to have been offered the chance to get some hands on experience!  I just went and visited Maurice (the beekeeper) at his extraction facility in Cairns.  He was really lovely and so helpful.  He showed me hive boxes in various stages of construction and gave me some really good information.  I will be purchasing "flat pack" hives from him, they are dipped and just need to be assembled and painted.

He also gave me some spare wired frames (just need to install foundation), and some honey (yum).

Take care, have a lovely Christmas!  I am heading down south (New South Wales) on Friday for Christmas with the family, am really looking forward to catching up with them - only wish I had some of my own honey to take as a gift!

Best Wishes, Brydie  :)

[Cindi]

Byrdie, have a nice trip and glad that you are going to keep some bees.  Great day.  Cindi

[mick]

Hi all, as I am very new to beekeeping I have a few questions that I hope you could help me with!  I have recently purchased a small setup with a colony.  I have 1 hive, 2 boxes high, 7 frames in each box.  My questions are:

1)   Do you recommend a queen excluder for this setup?  I am concerned that I will have difficulties extracting honey from the top super if I don't keep the queen out of there.  If so what is the best way to introduce the excluder?   I guess you have 8 frame full depth supers, be careful they do not fill the space at the end with burr comb.

2)  Should I have a spare nuc box on hand in case my bees swarm?  If so, should I have another hive ready for a new colony?   They wont swarm, be too busy building up i reckon.

3)  Should I re-queen the hive that I have just purchased?  My bees seem very happy and busy and they are very docile.  Will they re-queen the colony by themselves if necessary?  I haven't seen my queen yet so I don't know how old she is etc.   NO way hose, they will be fine.

4)  I haven't got an extractor, can I extract the honey by hand?  If so what is the best way and how should I filter it?  Someone mentioned running it through a pillowcase.  Mate, you wont need an extractor for 12 months at least, then only if you can afford the 500 bucks for one, crushing and straining by hand takes time, but its cheap.

Sorry about all the questions!!!  And thank you in advance for any help!

Kind Regards Brydie  :)

Youre the same as me when I started. Its hard being ignorant of these things, but its fun. Buy a decent smoker and some protective gear you feel comfortable in. Have a peek once a fortnight, get used to em. Most important, ask your bee mentor everything that comes to mind and listen to the advice on here(not necessarily mine lol). If theres a cluib near you, join it.

Have a great Chrissie mate, drive safely.

They say there is no such thing as a grumpy unhelpful beekeeper, its true!

[Geoff]

Enjoy your Xmas trip Brydie and the only time any one is dumb is if they dont ask the questions.