How to replace boxes without scrunching bees

Hi Cowgirl, I put my video up of demonstrating my method of killing less bees. I kind of like the idea of the squeeze bottle, if I do say so myself. If you want to, you can call it “Jeff’s Method”. I don’t believe I’ve seen this method used before. It doesn’t take all that long to do.


cheers

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@Cowgirl getting a mention in the video, nice!

Maybe ‘Jeff’ s method’ needs a catchier name like ‘The Heriot Squeeze’ :smile:

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You are most welcome Cowgirl:) I hope all goes well with your next lot of bees.

The lid in this video was the lid I didn’t unblock the holes & killed most of a colony just over a week ago. The brood I used for the split came out of the same hive. This colony was strong enough to look after it & it came through with flying colors. Four other frames that I put into other hives weren’t so lucky. So I cut those out to put in fresh foundation before the beetles got a chance to lay eggs in the dead brood.

Beekeeping is all about learning, observing, remembering, making mistakes & learning by them. As heartbreaking as it is to lose a colony. I think it’s just part of beekeeping & the learning process.

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Hi. I have bought a wedge type wooden doorstop from a big store for $2 and am using it to slowing lower the box on the second edge after I’ve put the first side edge down. It just needs to be sitting in place before your replace the box and then slowly wiggled out. that seems to be reducing bee trauma and my trauma when doing inspections. I initially used 2 but found that one does the trick .

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I always quote this as I’m closing up the hive:

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