Bailey Comb Change - opinions needed!

[PeteL]

I am in the middle of doing a Bailey comb change and am at the point where the queen is laying on the new upper box and I have put a queen excluder and new entrance between the old and new boxes. As suggested on some web sites, I have blocked the old lower entrance to encourage the bees to put the pollen stores in the upper box. I did this two days ago. Most returning bees manage to find their way back to the new entrance but a significant number are still trying to find a way in at the old blocked entrance and there are 100 or so dead bees, some still with their pollen sacks full, lying below the hive. Should I persevere or relent and open up the old entrance for a while?

 

[oliver90owner]

KISS principle works very nicely. No new entrance, no problem, no dead bees.

As a matter of interest please supply the source where a Bailey change includes any new entrance. Never seen it before.

Your call, but I would never have closed it, never put in another entrance and certainly would not open it up for 'just a while' - permanently without any other entrance is the way to go, IMO.

 

[testka]

when i did the Bailey change last year i used the original entrance and did find most of the pollen being stored in the lower box. This year i also created a new entrance and not had any issues.

if the new entrance is in the same location but simply higher they should find it. however agree if its causing fatalities no harm reverting to the original entrance but accept the loss of much pollen when the older frames are removed.

did you have a landing board on the old entrance? wondering if they are missing the new entrance with all that pollen then getting chilled in this cool weather.

sent using tapatalk

 

[george]

Agree with RAB above , i never bother with swapping entrances round . Put up with the situation as is until all brood has hatched and then remove the lower box .
There will be more than enough time in the next few weeks to bring in enough pollen . Its in the same situation as a swarm would be , they cope ok .(usually)
G

 

[DulwichGnome]

BeeBase gives details of a Bailey with a new 'top' entrance,
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=170

Mike.

 

[New Bee 2]

I did 2 Bailey Comb changes a few weeks back & didn't bother with a new entrance - no pollen storage issues. I think its like anything else ... you need to read around the topic, take advice from experienced folks and then go with what makes the most sense to you. Messing around with entrances just causes grief in my experience so that would be pretty low on the list of options

 

[masterBK]

I was under the impression that providing the new upper entrance was to reduce the amount of contamination of the new combs ie stops flying bees bringing up spores from the combs in the lower brood chamber on their feet from walking on the original contaminated comb

 

[MuswellMetro]

KISS principle works very nicely. No new entrance, no problem, no dead bees.

As a matter of interest please supply the source where a Bailey change includes any new entrance. Never seen it before.

Your call, but I would never have closed it, never put in another entrance and certainly would not open it up for 'just a while' - permanently without any other entrance is the way to go, IMO.

it is in Yates, Beekeeping study notes (revised edition) Appendix 9, can't remember if in the earlier edition, and a similar but different vesrion in DEFRA notes

yep i tried it this year, on 14x12...did not work for me either....32 emergency queen cells after 7 days...created a sort of reverse demarree effect

others without an upper entrance worked well, so wil not use it again

 

[VEG]

bees will still walk all over new and old comb so no use having a different entrance.

 

[MuswellMetro]

just found my rather dog eared copy of Yates Beekeeping study notes 1-2 3 & 4 version 1 and yes it is in appendix 9 of that as well