My bees still aren’t really touching my Flow Frames. They’ve been on for 2 months, probably even more. I rubbed melted wax into them, yet little activity. I will be inspecting on Monday. I saw also spraying sugar water helps.
Anything else I can do? If worst comes to worst I might need to put regular frames in
How has the weather been in Victoria during the last 2 months ?
If it has been cold, wet and windy, could be the reason your bees are inclined to stay in the brood box.
I think you have done everything right.
Cheers
It’s been spotty, tomorrow we have a few sunny days though
How long has it been since you installed the nuc ?
If it is less than 6-8 months then they are building up numbers.
Is the brood box 90-95% full ?
They really need to be that full before they start thinking about preparing the flow frames.
Well I put the super on 2 months ago. But I didn’t rub wax into, I only did it recently. The hive actually split off around a month ago. I got the hive around Feburary
That’s possible your issue there. The hive might not be strong enough to start storing above the broodbox. They will fill the broodbox first, then move above. Before a colony swarms, it will consume a lot of nectar/honeu stores. So these will need to be replenished.
Beekeeping is as much a game of patience vs actively managing the hives.
If you take a photo of your broodbox or super with the colony, we could validate the above comment.
I agree with the other guys, if the bees aren’t using the extra room then remove the super and condense the colony. Adding extra room can actually set the colony back as it focusses energy and resources maintaining the space conditions.
Sometimes I thought the bees were avoiding the super however after inspecting found bees doing their thing in the centre of the super.
@bonun , when you say the colony split off was it swarm preemption or did the colony swarm?
Yes, Fred is correct, I caught them. First year beek and we had a rainy couple of weeks, as well as my new eyes missed the queen cell. It is my fault and I feel bad about not preventing it, but at least I know how to catch a swarm now!
That’s your reason. Swarming is a big set back for honey production. Do you know if they are queenright again (a laying queen present)? That is the priority now.
If their numbers are low and the temperature is cool, it might even be better to remove the super until the colony gets bigger.
If you caught and housed a prime swarm, that might actually be a better honey prospect this year than the parent hive, especially if there have also been secondary or cast swarms.
Yep they are, twas my worry last two weeks but when I checked them last week she was laying lots of workers
Hello all, checked them today. The broodbox is chocka-block full of brood. Some frames nearly 90% of capped brood on both sides. I shouldve taken a photo! There are minimal bees in the super, probably 30-60 on each frame which is good. So hopefully the coming boom of bee numbers will get more in there!
On a side note, with my second hives rouge comb, I did need to cut a bit out so they’d form it straight, hope they will go okay, I had to take out a bit of brood. But other than that they are strong and pulling in a lot. Got some coming days in the 25c range so they should go bananas
Well done Tom. Those brood frames that are nearly 90% capped on both sides, as you have already figured will certainly give the colony a boost once they all emerge. If every cell in one deep frame is occupied by brood, you can expect over 6,000 bees to emerge. When you do the maths, it’s easy to see how a colony can quickly outgrow a hive.