Complete amateur here, all my knowledge is only based on stalking you fine folk and dr google / you tube. No great problems at the moment just thought I’d share.
Got a 4 frame nuc off @JeffH a few months ago and drove it the 5 hours north to Tannum Sands, Central Queensland Australia. Left it to settle in the flow hive brood box and today after a brood inspections last week I decided to have a crack and put the super on, Plenty of nectar flow going on here right now.
Did the melted bees wax trick and painted on to super frames and it worked a treat with bees instantly up in there cleaning it up.
Opted to put a ventilation hole in the roof with mesh to keep pest out… unsure if i made the right decision here to do this but will monitor how the bees react. We get pretty hot up here from now on so wanted to be ready. I also removed the front entry reducer today to open it up fully.
A few mistakes along the way so far and no doubt more to come.
Hi Peter, well done. Keep an eye on that chalk brood. I can see some there.
How hot is the box & roof to touch in the middle of the day? With all of those bees outside, that indicates to me that it’s too hot for the bees inside.
I recently had an experience like that. Once I put a cool roof on, the change was dramatic, the bees went back inside again.
That pic with all the bees on the outside of the hive was just after i finished a brood inspection, I shook a lot of bees back into the hive but they all seemed to come out of the hive until i was finished annoying them. So normally very little bees hanging onto the outside of the hive and the roof isn’t getting that hot.
Chalk brood you say… i’ll look further into that… thanks
It looks like a little bit of chalk brood there. The brood might have got a bit chilled at some point. I’m a fan of a solid base, one entrance, 2 really, one small one each side with no added ventilation.
If I reduce the entrance, these days I’m putting the reducer in the middle which gives two entrances. Hopefully that assists the bees with airflow. Air in one side & out the other.
I reduced them before winter with latex sponge from an old mattress. I haven’t bothered to remove them. I don’t think I’ll worry because if the bees want to, they’ll be able to easily chew them out.
That photo of @Snapper’s look identical to some of mine now. I think that’s all they need right through summer. The trick is to keep the colony strong with workers. They will do a beautiful job of air conditioning the hive, as long as they can find water.
Hi Snapper,
Just read your comment about reducing entrance sorted out chalk brood? Would love to know more as I have one hive that seems to have it constantly. It’s so disheartening!
Thanks
Penny
Hi Penny
You can try a few things, check the roof carefully for water leaks and fix
Reduce the entrance and move the hive to a sunny position if you can
Feed with a inside frame feeder using sugar syrup to reduce stress on the colony
Swap out the brood frames and replace with new drawn foundation
Requeen
I’m no expert but the entrance reduction and fixing the roof worked for me
Regards Brian.
Kangaroo Island
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