Advice on.AS and reunite

[Outlander]

Sorry written on phone in care so forgive me.

Have two hives both still have at least two undrawn comb and one with a super on. Both have swarm cells one also has a couple of supercedure cells. Do i treat the supercedure as an AS. Why do they want to swarm with still so much room. These hives are not bursting at seems. Also if AS both how long before i can reunite.

 

[itma]

Undrawn comb doesn't count as 'space'.
Doubly so if it is in a super.

Only usable, empty drawn comb counts.

Speed up the drawing by putting a frame to be drawn between broodnest and stores. You can do this both sides.
Bruise stores to prevent those stores blocking broodnest expansion.

Steal whole frames of stores to deter swarming.
Also donate emerging brood to a needy colony.
They want to swarm when they feel well-provisioned, strong and filling their comb/home. So you can deter by weakening and giving them urgent stuff to do, especially drawing wax.
Not sure you can necessarily change their minds once they have decided to go. A/S is the surest way of hanging onto the beepower.


Don't believe swarm and supercedure at the same time in the same hive.
If they have got swarm fever, they are all swarm cells.

 

[Finman]

.
At least one week that foundations are drawn and first queen cells have emerged.

You really have small colonies. They have swarming in their blood and you should get better bee strain to your hives. They just obey "call of nature".

 

[Finman]

U
Speed up the drawing by putting a frame to be drawn between broodnest and stores. You can do this both sides.
Bruise stores to prevent those stores blocking broodnest expansion.

that is not a way what you should do to small colony. Don't touch to its order.

When they get swarming fever into their mind, they stop foundation drawing and wait for exit.
Then they draw again.

 

[itma]

that is not a way what you should do to small colony. Don't touch to its order.

I'm going to differ from your opinion there.
Just slightly.

Yes, don't split the brood.
And don't rearrange the brood nest of a small colony if you can avoid it.

But to help expansion and avoid brood blocking, putting a frame to draw between brood and stores is the best place to get the frame drawn fastest.
Particularly with a small but growing colony.

Of course, if you have lots of drawn comb to give them, that's even better.
Bigger colonies are MUCH better at drawing combs.
The problem is when you don't have any drawn comb to give them ...

 

[Finman]

But to help expansion and avoid brood blocking, putting a frame to draw between brood and stores is the best place to get the frame drawn fastest.
Particularly with a small but growing colony. ...

goog heavens Pal!

You help in expancion the colony!

The colony grows when it gets new bees. I have a big comb sotrehouse but it helps nothing.
Only time helps when they rear new brood.


Avoid brood blocking!

Bees nurse exatly so much brood as they can maintain.

To draw frames fast .....that is one error where beeks believe. Like I said, I have hundreds of ready combs in store and it has nothing to do with the speed how my colonies grows.

what I have found out is to give electrict heat to the hive. It helps enlarge brood ball.
Insulated hives are too quicker than cold hives.

.

 

[Finman]

.
This case is quite exceptional. Colonies are 8 frames? And they want to swarm. They have decided that about 10 days ago, as a small colony.
It may be a reason that they do not touch the rest foundations.

Problem is that false swarms needs only room for 4 frames. They cannot keep bigger space warm.

.

 

[beeno]

Sorry written on phone in care so forgive me.

Have two hives both still have at least two undrawn comb and one with a super on. Both have swarm cells one also has a couple of supercedure cells. Do i treat the supercedure as an AS. Why do they want to swarm with still so much room. These hives are not bursting at seems. Also if AS both how long before i can reunite.

Hi Outlander,
I know bee keeping is a stressful past time, but I am truly sorry that you are now in care.
If you truly have supercedure cells then they should be left to do their own thing. If the queen has no room to lay in the brood nest then they will swarm regardless of the super. Since you are probably AS out by now your only chance to get a bit of a breather is to break up their brood nest by inserting drawn comb in the middle of it and tear down all the swarm cells, assuming that you have got a queen or eggs. I think it was Michael Bush who said it, if not I apologise. I feel for you.

 

[Finman]

.
I must change my medication. But let us first pray!

..

 

[Outlander]

Thanks for all the advice. Wow Beeno what a stressful couple of days after yesterdays dram with a three way split then today opening up our hives at Village Girls to find three with QC. We done AS on one then found the second could not be done until tomorrow, as I forgot the brood box. Did bailey change on the large cut out colony from last week. Smaller cut out from last week have either two supercedure or emergency cells so will risk leaving them. We started to look through but the comb was only just hanging in there.

I was not looking forward to this time but I knew it had to come and I think myself and Village Girl dealt with it very well. At least we will know what to expect in the future so won’t seem so daunting.

Finny send me some of that draw comb you have stored away.

Oh, and first call of the season about a swarm which was collected by the beek they swarmed from.

 

[richardbees]

It's often mentioned but I wonder how many beekeepers have a stock of frames containing empty drawn brood comb?

I haven't

 

[Outlander]

It's often mentioned but I wonder how many beekeepers have a stock of frames containing empty drawn brood comb?

I haven't

no nor me and when I'm just about to have them they need using straight away

 

[itma]

no nor me and when I'm just about to have them they need using straight away

I absolutely do recognise that situation.

 

[Outlander]

Itma I forgot to say thanks for the info on undrawn foundation not being recognised as space. Makes sense and explains a lot.

 

[galileo]

It's often mentioned but I wonder how many beekeepers have a stock of frames containing empty drawn brood comb?

I have a moth-proof rack of it in the bee shed, but it's getting used up fast and I've a feeling I'll be needing a couple of dozen more in a fortnight.

I was lucky enough to catch a lot of swarms last season - there's no better way to get comb drawn than to pop a swarm into a box with 6 frames of foundation and a couple of litres of syrup.

 

[Finman]

It's often mentioned but I wonder how many beekeepers have a stock of frames containing empty drawn brood comb?

I haven't

it depends how you play your cards in your nursing style.
Bees draw combs in the middle of summer as much as you need.

Douple broof system gives opportunities to renew combs.
When it is flow, you may use brood box as super and bees draw foundation box in a week.o
.

 

[Ely]

How do you reunite if you've used a nuc to artificial swarm?

 

[itma]

How do you reunite if you've used a nuc to artificial swarm?

Put the nuc frames into a brood box for the reunite.

 

[Outlander]

How do you reunite if you've used a nuc to artificial swarm?

My wood nucs have removable OMF so I would stand two side by side on top of BB with paper and QX and the floor off of the one to be united. It would work.

Any how the nuc were splits for increase the AS we did to day will be unite.

Or as Itma said put into BB.

 

[Finman]

.
When I join colonies in summer, I just pile them together without paper.
For example 1 larva box +3 box +2 box = productive unit

4 box + 4 box +4 box = two 6 box hives.


If I join a nuc to big hive, propably big hive kills every single nuc worker.

I prefer to let nuc grow with its own. If the nuc size is not big, it is same what they do during summer.

My hives are earger to swarm and I have quite much parts of false swarm when main yield starts.

.