What do others think about the relatively simple act of adding another box above or between the existing one(s) as a swarm impulse reduction method?
Hi Dan ,
all we have done is add the second brood box so far i might add another and see how that goes , then split the hive , from what i have learnât so far we have harvested when the bees are starting to beard this goes on for a week after harvesting then they settle down and go back to full production
oh and we dont take all the honey as we have two frames in the brood box juts for the bees
We will be getting a new 7 frame flow with an extra brood box for our split
Kind regards
Mark Kate and kids
I wonder how much nectar comes from a single large flowering gumâŚwould depend on species, but something like a big Southern Blue Gum in full bloom I imagine would produce kilograms of nectar. Any sign of Blue Gums flowering in Eltham?
Hi Dan ,
No Just Red gums around us but will investigate further
kind regards
Mark Kate and kids
True bees also require reproduction, but if the bees are swarming due to space then then why not give them space.
Yes, absolutely give bees space. Giving bees space doesnât automatically mean that a colony wont swarm. I wish it was that easy.
Be careful. In the UK itâs almost guaranteed that the bees will make queen cells in one of those boxes unless you have a bridge of a couple of brood frames. I would be interested in how you do. I have a friend whoâs Carnica will use two boxes but I have never heard of a local mongrel bee filling three
So do I âŚsigh âŚ
I am counting on that, as need to raise new queens for the following season. This way I can keep a strong colony each year by choosing the most productive queens. As queens get older I assume they slow down and eventually get replaced. But donât need them the swarm during high nectar flows.
I am documenting the out come of my colonies and will be happy to share with you. Remember I am down south which is warmer than North, hence the bees are more prolific where I am situated.
Look up Demaree.
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It actually depends on their genes not the weather
Some people keep Italians in Finland for that very reason. They just swap honey for sugar.
Must be genes. My Carnies store way more nectar than the Italians at the moment. That balance may tip over in autumn.
I overwintered a couple of autumn carnie queens, and their spring build up has been explosive quite early, while the Italians took another 6 weeks to get to that stage.
Yes I meant Carnica, donât know why I said Italians.
Italians make brood and eat their honey
Sort of like human Italians. Lots of children and great food. Plus a happy, contented nature.
My Italians did a waggle dance for me recently - so peaceful on the frames. Even the queen was walking around in relaxed and stately manner:
By the way, there is a DWV affected bee in this photo - anyone spot it?
Yellow
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Great example of âwetâ cappings in that pic.
And no devastating leaks from the Flow frames in that hiveâŚ
Actually, I was wondering. I started worrying about honey leaking all over my brood, that I will extract the first harvests from my newer flow supers in my new honey bee lab. Under controlled conditions, correctly angled, at 32 C and in a spare flow box. Using 2 flow keys.
Just harvested a wired frame that I cycled into a flow box 3 weeks ago. Crush and strain is a huge messy job compared to flow harvesting.
At this stage there are no wet cappings.
If youâre mixing flow and regular frames then you need a spinner
Crushing is such a waste of the hard work the bees put into the wax, surely?
Probably. Iâm not usually mixing frames. Wanted to see if that frame will attract the bees to start sealing the flow frames. It sure did, instantly.