Bailey comb change

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Dadnlad

House Bee
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
354
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Location
Deepest Hertfordshire
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
A few and some more
I need to move most of my hives (4 out of 5) to an out apiary, as the allotments around me that were empty are now let, and my fellow allotmenters are in the flightpath despite six foot fence panels

I'm also taking the opportunity to change from Smith to 14x12 brood boxes (converter boards ready to go)

My intention is to add the 14x12 box above the Smith with QX and converter board between, move the marked queen on her frame upstairs into the 14x12, feed syrup, and once all brood hatched out below remove the old Smith box

I have made up all the 14x12 frames, but allowed space for only 6 in the centre with taped blocks of 4" insulation either side to restrict the bees to a central space

My worry is that although daytime temperatures are forecast to be 15-20 for the next ten days, nightime temps will be only single figures
Will the nightime temperatures be too cold if the queen or brood is seperated from the cluster ?
 
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Wait couple of weeks when it is time to enlarge the hive and there are good flow.
Then put your new foundation box under the existing hive and queen onto foundations.

Bees draw foundations in few days and they fill old combs woth honey.
Brood emerger in 3 weeks and brooding is in new combs.

Dont spoil your hive with Bailey tricks..

If you put new box over the recent box, bees fill lover box with pollen. Pollen will be wasted.
 
In UK Bailey works fine (maybe not in Finland). You do need an upper front entrance above QX and need to close off original entrance until all brood emerged from lower box and you will find that with an upper entrance the bees do not fill lower box with pollen contrary to what Finman suggests. The trouble with letting bees draw foundation in lower box as per Finman is that some bees will not draw it corner to corner chewing away the foundation near the bottom bars of the frames ie create passageways..
 
In UK Bailey works fine (maybe not in Finland). ..

Jep. 15 kg/hive honey tells really controversy about you "fine".

In Finland beekeepers let hives draw so much foundations during flow, that they need not destroy brood in spring.

When you use douple brood, you can change combs with continuous way.

And finally, prevent diseases with hazard trick, when you do not even know, do you have diseases.

I have told. That I give every year 3 boxes foundations to each hives.i really have new combs as much as I need.

And MasterBK, what diseases that comb change cates. Could you tell me?
 
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The trouble with letting bees draw foundation in lower box as per Finman is that some bees will not draw it corner to corner chewing away the foundation near the bottom bars of the frames ie create passageways..

Reason is that you put bees fight against nature. When bees are not able to extract wax, they move wax from existing places.

3 weeks old bees are best comb builders. You should wait that colony has such bees.

Often I give foundations into on boath sides of wintering box. During winter feeding they draw a little bit foundations,but then they continues drawing in next Juni.
 
I need to move most of my hives (4 out of 5) to an out apiary, as the allotments around me that were empty are now let, and my fellow allotmenters are in the flightpath despite six foot fence panels

I'm also taking the opportunity to change from Smith to 14x12 brood boxes (converter boards ready to go)

My intention is to add the 14x12 box above the Smith with QX and converter board between, move the marked queen on her frame upstairs into the 14x12, feed syrup, and once all brood hatched out below remove the old Smith box

I have made up all the 14x12 frames, but allowed space for only 6 in the centre with taped blocks of 4" insulation either side to restrict the bees to a central space

My worry is that although daytime temperatures are forecast to be 15-20 for the next ten days, nightime temps will be only single figures
Will the nightime temperatures be too cold if the queen or brood is seperated from the cluster ?

You're doing it a bit wrong - it's a Bailey frame change you're doing (or have you got all drawn comb ready for them?) so there will be nowhere for the queen to go or lay if you separate her from the brood - you also have a possibility of the bees not being able to cover the brood or tend to the queen properly.
Initially, don't put a QX in or any of that nonsense. Put the box over the existing BB, feed syrup and wait for them to start drawing comb then move the queen up and put the QX in place. amd (if you feel like it) put in an upper entrance. it's only to stop them storing pollen in the old brood frames and their work going to waste when you take them away - but initially they will store pollen around the brood in the new box.
As for doing it now - still a bit too cold for wax drawing so leave it a few weeks.
 

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