Hi I have managed to source full hives set up with Brood box and Super BUT there is no queen excluder. I’m a total newbie and need some advice.
I want to transfer the bees to my new Flow Hive. This means that I will be “downsizing” the hive to some extent assuming there is brood in the current super. Is this possible, bad idea, good idea? If possible should I make up the Flow Hive Brood box with what ratio of brood to bee bread, honey? What else should I be aware of when making this move?
What I would do is select the best looking brood frames to place into the brood box. Often you’ll find a decent arc of honey & bee bread above the brood. Other times the whole frame will be full of brood. You could use 3 full frames of brood, as well as 3 frames of brood containing a decent honey arc. The rest of the frames can be fully drawn comb, in a checkerboard fashion.
Other things to be aware of, is to make sure you use plenty of smoke to drive bees away from where you want to place frames. This is to minimize bee deaths, which can lead to hive beetle damage, on account that they lay eggs in dead bees, if the house bees can’t remove the bodies quickly enough.
For me, a good frame of brood should be at least 95% worker brood. I keep drone brood down to a minimum. 5% or less.
Thanks so much for this advice JeffH. I intuitively figured it would be something along those lines but of course I have no confidence in my own decisions being brand new to this.
You mentioned Hive Beetle, During the hive move the gent I got them from was a bit rough during the move and subsequently a number of bees were injured and have died . I see a lot of dead bees out the front of the hive my guess is about 200 or so. Should I try to clean those away if I can, is that good practice generally to clean up the dead bees?
I have built hive stands that raise the hives around 30cm off the ground and in a cleared area of crushed rock sand. I’m hoping that limits foreign critters a little bit.
Again thanks so much for reaching out with an answer to my questions. I really appreciate it.
You’re welcome Shooter, the dead bees discarded on the ground should be ok. Ants will likely take care of them. The issue with dead bees & beetles is when dead bees are stuck between frames etc, & can’t be readily removed by house bees. Beetles will try to lay eggs in among them. The stronger a colony is in worker bees, the better the chance the colony has of overwhelming the beetle damage. If the beetle damage is too much for the colony to overwhelm (for example: multiple places in the hive at the same time), the beetles will take over & slime the hive out, resulting in the colony to abscond the hive. Beetle slime is a bee repellent, so therefore it’s easy to see why a colony will abscond, if they can’t overwhelm it…
Thanks again JeffH. Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. 1 more question, I moved the hive last Saturday night, how long should I leave before inspecting. I’ve been watching the entry point and there is good activity and lots of movement. It has also gone a bit cold and rainy and windy for this time of year so figured that is not a good time anyway, but when is?
You’re welcome shooter. I think the sooner the better, however wait for nice sunny weather. I like early mornings or late afternoons, if I’m out of the sun. I struggle in my bee suit during the day, especially in the sun. I feel the pain of bee stings to much to not wear a suit, gloves & boots.
. I see a lot of dead bees out the front of the hive my guess is about 200 or so. Should I try to clean those away if I can, is that good practice generally to clean up the dead bees?