You are going to enjoy your bees so much. I have one colony of buckfasts…they started from a nuc I made and an introduced buckfast queen. After a few weeks I had a hive full of little golden buckles. My others are carniolans.
Transferring a package of bees will be an experience few of us have had. Mostly, we start with a nuc or swarm. Good for you. Please tell us all about it too…we would like photos/ videos…we are very needy!
Thanks Horsehillhoney, yes I’m getting excited about it now god knows how I’ll be on the day but I’m really looking forward to it and have done my research watching loads of good quality vids, my only option from bs honeybees was a package as they don’t do Langstroth nuc’s. I will have the go-pro charged and ready.
This is how I’m planning to modify my crown board, what do you think? Will that work? Do I need to block the big whole or will the feeder covering it be okay? I’ve already drilled the two small wholes for the pegs and will cut out the slots but thought I’d ask before jumping in with both feet.
It’s all a bit beyond my skill level at the moment, I like the idea of a second brood box but will stick with one for the time being, how will I know when to extend to a second?
Crown board is fine. I cover mine with gaffer tape when not in use. You might get away with only one brood box here in uk. Just keep an eye on them.
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It looks fab to me. I cover the hole in the crown board with small pieces of scrap flat wood or Perspex. Most of my crown boards are clear…so I can see the bees working without lifting the crown board.
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Yes, that would be absolutely fine. 
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That sounds fine to me. As Dee says, keep an eye on them. If they show repeated signs of lack of space and swarm preparation, you may want to consider a second brood box. Your feeder cutout plans look good to me, but I have never used that type of feeder.
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So I think I may be ready, received an email from BS honey bees to advice my package will be ready around the 5th May, my hive stand is built as Dawn_SD advised, the feeder is in,my only question is should I space my brood frames evenly or push them together?
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my experience is to spread them out as evenly as possible.
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Frames should always be tightly together in the center unless they are:
- drawn
- in the supers
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#framespacing
They really should be 3mm CLOSER together but the end bars get in the way…
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Push them together.
Those shoulders you have on the frames are designed to maintain the correct bee space.
If you space them out the bees will join them together with brace comb.
If you are not using Flow frames you can space the frames out more in the super
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