BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM.
At 5 weeks
Kris^:
I'd like to thank everyone for all the discussions and responses to my sometimes-goofy questions. The give and take certainly makes me feel more confident about what I'm doing and how to help my colony thrive.
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to make a comprehensive inspection of my hive, 5 weeks and 2 days after installing the package. It was a much better experience than the last time I spent a lot of time in the hive, and nobody got upset. Plenty of smoke, patience, staying to the side and back, and not throwing a shadow helped lots! They workers had drawn four full frames in the top super, and the queen was there laying eggs. She quickly moved back down into the lower box as soon as I replaced the frame she was on.
All the frames in the bottom brood box had drawn comb, most of them completely. One of the things I noticed was that because I had interspersed some drawn frames with undrawn foundation a few weeks ago, there was overdrawn comb in a few places. I noticed this particularly along the tops and upper corners of the frames where honey was stored, but they didn't overdraw the brood comb much at all, although there was some uneveness on a few adjacent frames of comb.
Looking at how the colony has developed over the past 5 weeks, I know that the most important thing for me to do is to help it get as strong as possible for the coming winter. It would be risky to break them up to try start a second colony at this point. It does take them a while to build up from a package, and I don't see them being that strong by fall if I make them start over again now. They're coming along fine, as far as I can tell, and they look healthy, happy and busy. So I'll be happy to wait til spring and see them buzzing about after the thaw.
-- Kris
Beth Kirkley:
That all sounds good. :) Now that you've had some experience of your own, you see it takes a bit for them to get things started. Next spring though, you'll see a big burst in bees. And if you're prepared, you may even be able to expand your bee yard by a couple of hives off the one. Possibly more, you'll know yourself by this time next year.
I think if I had been prepared with all the hive boxes and frames (plus an extractor so the bees wouldn't have to keep rebuilding the comb when I took the honey)...... I think it's possible I could have turned one hive in Febuary into 4 hives by now with doing 2 splits. Not positive on that, but I think it's possible.
Beth
mark:
hi kris^
you know i'm glad to hear such a good progress report since we're neighbors. i'm 2 weeks behind you. hived my package the 11th last month on all foundation and have new bees emerging today. they're only 5 full frames right now but i expect not for long.
regards
mark
Robo:
--- Quote from: Kris^ ---One of the things I noticed was that because I had interspersed some drawn frames with undrawn foundation a few weeks ago, there was overdrawn comb in a few places. I noticed this particularly along the tops and upper corners of the frames where honey was stored, but they didn't overdraw the brood comb much at all, although there was some uneveness on a few adjacent frames of comb.
--- End quote ---
This is the problem when mixing drawn comb and foundation, they will overdraw the honey storage area at the top of the frame. Sometimes so much that goes under the top bar of the adjacent frame. This in turn prevents the foundation frame from being drawn correctly. The golden rule is never mix drawn comb and foundation. However, that is not always practical when trying to get them to draw foundation. Just like when dealing with burr comb, it is best to address this as soon as possible before it gets worse. I usually cut back the overdrawn areas, and then place the frame next to a correctly drawn out comb, so they won't have the space to overdraw it again.
Sounds like things are going well for you, keep up the good work :D
Kris^:
I thought of trimming the overdrawn comb, but decided to leave it because it was already capped and because it was not so bad as to interfere with manipulating the frames. Although it wasn't so overdrawn as to run under the top of the adjacent frame, the bees -- keeping within their bee-space -- under-drew the top comb of the neighboring frames. Rather than compound the problem in the upper super by interspacing drawn and undrawn foundation in an effort to get them to draw on the foundation, I sprayed it with sugar syrup to entice them. When I finally get some frames of evenly drawn comb, I'll probably trim and replace the uneven ones, like you say.
I also had the burr comb problem a few weeks back and removed it as advised (at great distress to me and the bees). I guess the bees got "trained" -- there was really little burr comb to remove this time. The hive is getting into shape and hopefully, thriving.
My plan now is to extract a few frames of honey this year, get this hive through winter and populate my second, currently-empty hive setup next year. I think I should order another package in January, because if the present colony doesn't survive winter, I probably won't find out until it's too late to order. If the colony survives strong enough to split, I can always order/build another setup or two then. Or slap on the comb honey super I have sitting around, just in time for next year's clover flow! My bees teach patience.
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