Newspaper combine

[KONASDAD]

I have more hives than I anticipated, and one or two are weak. So i did a combine of four into two, eliminating the 2 weakest queens. That was an easy decision w/ these two. They had the most time to get going and were way behind my other hives which were weeks younger.

My question has to do w/ the newspaper. I scored the paper w/ slits and placed hive on top. Have you ever had a hive that didn't remove the newspaper? One hive is far, and i dont want to have to go back and check only to see if bees were able to break through. I made about a dozen slashes and one or two puncture wholes.

[JP]

They don't always remove it the way we would like them to. After a week or so, as long as they have combined, I will remove it.


...JP

[Moonshae]

I've done quite a number of combines this year, and generally, I've found that they remove as much as they need to travel between the boxes, and that's it. When I go back in and see that the bees have mingled, I remove the rest.

I've found that they don't do a good job of getting the shreds out, so you'll probably need to clean off the bottom board.

[KONASDAD]

I was more conscerned w them having ability to mingle, w/o me getting back to hive. If they haven't cleaned it all out, I dont care. i just want them to be seperated long enough to mix scents is all.

[wayseer]

Newspaper works with me fine.  I use only two layers - I think they would get through one layer too quickly.   I've had no problem with residue - it's the daggy bits sticking out beyond the hive edges that look yukky.

[Scadsobees]

They'll eventually combine, even if it takes a day or two.  They don't like those foreign substances in the hive so will attack it.

I actually like the big wads of fluffy fiber that they reduce the newspaper to.

-r