@sara Yes it was one BIG sticky Mess!! Hopefully we will do better tonight.
Presumably mounted in frames, on a bottom board and with a roof on it?
If you need a priority tonight, I suggest you go for brood first, and put the best of that into frames in the middle of the brood box. Make sure you get some bees too, or the brood will chill and die. Nurse bees already on that brood comb usually wonât leave it when they are moved with it. Next priority for the brood box is pollen, then last honey stores. If you can choose, perhaps something like 5 frames of brood, and 3 frames of pollen and/or honey - approximate, of course. Hopefully you have a second brood box ready, so that you can load that up too! 
Donât forget that you can crush and strain any combs which are just honey, as long as they are not too dark (meaning they have had brood and the larval droppings in them). Then you can either enjoy that honey, or you could feed it back to the bees later.
This is a fascinating story, please keep us updated. Good luck again tonight!
Yes we rubber banded to frames and put in box with roof on. We had a lot of bees on the brood. Unfortunately we only ordered the on flow hive with one brood box. I have ordered another brood box with frames but it is back ordered. If they are taking care of brood in the new box, we were thinking of moving the cooler and then harvesting the rest when we get the other box. But not real sure what to do. We are going to reassess tonight after workâŚAny and all suggestions will help
If you have some traditional deep frames, you could put them in your Flow super until your second brood box arrives. Of course, you probably donât have them yet, and I think you are miles from any supplies⌠
Mann Lake usually delivers very quickly, if you are will to try out some of their frames. I use them all the time - pretty nice quality. You will need to order nails as well - info is on their web site.
Ordered from Bee Thinking but I think they are back ordered. Donât know how long I can leave the situation as is. Learned a good lesson from thisâAlways have more than you think you need. I may call and see if I can get just the frames rushed and put them in the super for nowâŚThen can move when we receive the other boxâŚWhat are your thoughts?
Good idea, but bear in mind, you are actually making a split by doing that. Any delay of more than a few days, and the queenless part of the cutout will start making a new queen. That is normal, and no problem, until you get to the second brood box. At that point, if it has been more than about 2 weeks, you will need to either consider setting up a second hive, or do a newspaper combine - put 2 or 3 sheets of newspaper between the 2 boxes, so the workers donât start fighting. Even though they came from the same cooler, they become individual colonies quite fast after splitting them.
Beautiful photo. I hope you got some of that honey for yourselves!
If I can get the frames soon enough (next 2-3 days) can I just put them in the Super and put on top of the brood box without causing a split?
That will be fast enough to stop a new queen forming - providing the old queen went with the comb. I would still use the newspaper though, it is so easy to do and could prevent loss of bee life. 
Our other thought is to leave what we have and move the cooler with what it has to a different location and then order a whole new set up and when it arrives start a new hive with the remainder in the coolerâŚDo you think this is better?
Why move it? You may well have enough comb for two hives. If you are willing to invest in that, it might be a great option. If you have enough comb and bees in the brood box already, that is certainly an option. However, if you combine all the comb into one hive, you will probably get a harvest this year. If you split, you may not, but then again you might. Tough decisions, but both solutions are good options. You might have a better idea when you at the cooler tonight. If you have taken less than half of the comb, you would probably do well with a split.
Sorry this is a bit complicated, but you are learning tons, and you have a fun summer ahead of you.
We just got a bit of luck. Heard about someone in the area that is beekeeping and he has an extra box with frames - He will bring it to us tomorrow so we should be good to go to just add that extra brood box to the top - then we will have a complete hive.
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Make sure it is an 8-frame! Most Langstroths are 10-Frame, and that may be what he has.
He said it was an 8 frameâŚWe will seeâŚ
Perfect. Sounds like a great solution.
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Well we received the additional box and frames last night and got busy on removing everything from the cooler. All frames filled and put in the 2 brood boxes. Learned so much and went really well. Bees were very disturbed but as the sun set about 95% of bees moved into new hive. Only one small cluster left in cooler. We were going to try and vacuum them tonight and put in hive and move the cooler away. This morning before sunset- still same but as they woke I noticed many coming from hive back to cooler. Should we move the cooler away from the new hive at some point today?
wow ~ Congratulations! what a great story- and I predict amazing start for your flow hive- and you couldnât get a better introduction to beekeeping. Hopefully the bees will absolutely love their new home with all itâs amenities- good luck this season!
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Wow, you did a great job, I am really impressed! If the bees have all moved out of the cooler, yes I would move it away. If you intend to keep it, I would tear out all of that old insulation and replace it - at the moment it will smell of home to any passing scout bees!
If there is still a cluster of bees in the cooler, I would consider manually scooping them into the new hive. I am still amazed at what an impressive job you you have done. Congratulations! You deserve every success.
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