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Help I?m in trouble with my hive.

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Guitarman:
Last spring here in Australia I caught a swarm in my backyard. From a neighbours hive who didn?t want or care about them. I did try to get him to take his bees but he is elderly and undergoing cancer treatment and said there yours you look after them. It was the 2 Nd swarm. The first one flew away overnight.

Now I?m not a beekeeper. Know nothing but I do have internet. I got 3 frames with foundation from a friend and grabbed a foam fruit box with lid  and made a temporary nuc box. Only got stung about 50 times in my hands cause the stingers went straight through my cotton gardening gloves. My friend assured me the swarm was placid as their bellies are full of honey.  But anyhow I got them in the box and they stayed.

I went and bought frames boxes excluders base lid and built a box over the following weeks/ months. Still no bee suit so I wasn?t in a hurry to open my temporary foam box. My hands were still swollen.

After a few months I opened the nuc box and they had been very busy. They had fused 2 frames together as I had left a gap and hadn?t pushed them tight against each other. The frames were full brood and honey but I couldn?t separate them for fear of killing the queen. I was going to run a sharp knife down before I thought better of it.

So I moved the 3 frames into a ten frame box. They have been going crazy all summer and me not being a beekeeper. Single dad with 4 kids and working full time. Just didn?t have a chance to put the super on as I hadn?t had time to melt the foundation onto the frames.

And now my Dilemma. I opened it today first time. The smell of honey was intense and I could see capped honey at the top. And all frames are fused together.  Not just the original 2 that I put in from the nuc.

Why? Because I bought cheap fake foundation on eBay. It?s not pure beeswax. So the bees rip it out. Throw it away. They then build essentially with no foundation and go all over the place. So I have all these frames fused together. Full of brood and honey and no way finding the queen.

It?s autumn now in Sydney. And I thought of ripping it apart and shaking the bees into another box but they would have to start again and it?s the wrong season from what I?ve read. I know they will swarm come spring but I can?t check for queen cells or anything with the labyrinth they built.

I really need some advice on what I should do.

When I tried to pull 2 frames apart, I was tearing the comb and honey was just running everywhere so I stopped.

Or do I go crazy rip it apart. Grab the honey. Kill lots of brood in process. Pray the queen survives the destruction and elastic band the salvageable comb into new frames. My worry is time of year. They need the food for winter. Will they make a new queen at this time of year if she gets squashed or will they perish. I?m too new at this and whilst I watched a lot of YouTube. I still have lots of confusion. Have no idea what to do.  Appreciate any advice or help.

NigelP:

--- Quote from: Guitarman on April 22, 2023, 05:15:51 am ---
I really need some advice on what I should do.


--- End quote ---

Try and find a local beekeeping association and join and ask for their advice. If they have any beekeeping courses attend.

Acebird:
First you need equipment.  Then it sounds like you need time.  If you are pressed for time the only way out is buy equipment.
What you need:
Boxes, frames and foundation and maybe leather gloves and most important a smoker.
Question:
So is there 3 frames in a 10 frame box?

BeeMaster2:
Guitarman,
Being as you are entering your winter season, do nothing. Now is not the time to bee tearing your hive apart, especially since you do not have any experience doing a cut out.  I recommend that you find a local bee club and join it. Use the next 4 months to study up as much as you can before going into the hive. Beemaster has hundreds of thousands of post with a lot of good information. Search on JP the Beeman for great bee removal videos.
In beekeeping, a good rule is, if you don?t know what to do, do nothing. The bees know what to do.
Jim Altmiller

The15thMember:
Welcome to Beemaster, Guitarman!  :happy:  I totally agree with everything Jim said.  As you are heading into winter, just leave them be until spring.  They have everything in the hive set up to their liking for winter, and the cross-comb isn't at all a problem for the bees, only for the keeper.  Over the winter, try and learn, learn, learn, as much as you can about beekeeping.  Read books, watch YouTube videos, and/or join your local bee club.  Don't just learn about beekeeping, learn about the bees themselves, their biology, their life history, their seasonal cycles in your area.  As Ace mentioned, get yourself some basic equipment and tools, so that you can easily work the colony, and try to watch videos of people doing hive inspections, or if the opportunity presents itself, inspect a hive with a local beekeeper, to learn how to manipulate the frames and work with the bees so they remain calm and don't sting.  Ask us any and all questions you may have along the way.

As you are clearly aware, you have jumped head first into this, without any experience, knowledge, or the tools to manage this situation.  I wouldn't just hand you a milk cow and expect you to know how to feed it, house it, care for it, and milk it if you have never had a milk cow before and didn't have a barn and a pasture where it could live and flourish.  The same goes for honey bees.  The only key difference is that, since they are not really domesticated, they should get along over the winter just fine by themselves, and by spring, you should be adequately prepared to manage the colony in a way that is beneficial for both you and the bees. 

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