Best place in warm way hive to add foundation

[oliver90owner]

Perhaps Tom wants to verify some things for himself instead of just blindly following others. Otherwise how he is to know whose advice is good and whose is rubbish? Bee inspectors obviously can't be trusted blindly so how is a new beekeeper supposed to know who to believe??

Because I told him so. Not good enough? JBM’s advice does not need ‘verifying’.

Re brooding up to outer walls, that's not just a prerogative of poly hive owners. My bees often brood up to the outer wall on a south facing cedar box, warm way. Believe me. Those that don't, use that first frame for pollen.

I like it that you do specify only the warmer wall! Poly can be brood from wall to wall.

I've never seen the first frame ignored but then I don't have solid floors (and am not really interested in trying that experiment).

Not sure what solid floors have to do with it. It’s a simple fact that poly is a better insulator than 19mm of timber - and my polys are likely twice that thickness, so the insulation is far superior to that of a typical timber hive.

 

[Poly Hive]

What may happen is Essex and the South of England is often very different to what happens further North. I can say that both my experience in Aberdeenshire and my then mentor in Ross-Shire (north of Inverness) was that in poly bees will indeed brood right across the box. Swarms will start foundation drawing against the wall as it's the warmest place and Winter clusters are most often against the corners so as to benefit from two warm sides. I gave up on timber brood boxes over thirty years ago and never looked back.

PH

 

[North End Bees]

Not sure what solid floors have to do with it. It’s a simple fact that poly is a better insulator than 19mm of timber - and my polys are likely twice that thickness, so the insulation is far superior to that of a typical timber hive.

I mentioned solid floors because other people earlier in the thread reported that bees usually ignore the first frame warm way on solid floors. I was just saying that my experience of 'warm way' is that bees use all the frames.

Because I told him so. Not good enough? JBM’s advice does not need ‘verifying’.

Yes, and how often have we heard on here "Don't do what your mentor tells you just because they told you so."??
How are new beekeepers supposed to know who to follow blindly just because they told you so, and whose advice might be a little suspect to put it mildly.

 

[user 20297]

I mentioned solid floors because other people earlier in the thread reported that bees usually ignore the first frame warm way on solid floors. I was just saying that my experience of 'warm way' is that bees use all the frames.


Yes, and how often have we heard on here "Don't do what your mentor tells you just because they told you so."??
How are new beekeepers supposed to know who to follow blindly just because they told you so, and whose advice might be a little suspect to put it mildly.

Some people seem to think that you shouldn't even ask here for advice; the answer to any problem should just magically come to you if you think properly.
When you then run your thoughts and ideas past them, some people will tell you that you're wrong.
Other people say you shouldn't even contemplate keeping bees until you've got the full, hands-on supervision of an experienced beekeeper.
Sometimes the same people tell you that although you have someone to mentor you, that mentor is giving you really bad advice.
Most people don't seem to follow the whole thread here and simply respond or retort to the last post that they see.....that's what I've done.

 

[Poly Hive]

Frankly some advice given by mentors is bad. It won't do much harm to run advice given to you past the "panel" here. It's not so much about how long a person has been interested in bees more what experience they have. ITLD sees more in a season than probably what the rest of us combined have seen in total. A one hive keeper gets that experience in a season, the 100 hive person gets 100 times that and so on. Some actually are deeply interested and study the more esoteric materials that are out there and others just go through the motions. There is some very good advice to be had here.

PH

 

[masterBK]

I try to identify the colonies that really do a good job of drawing it well and they are given the job of producing drawn combs for use with the others . I get my combs drawn in an upper BC similar to Bailey comb change and feed syrup in spring until the job is more or less complete (and before any honey flow due). Process also works well in september but then I keep feeding until enough to winter on and use the drawn frames to replace the grotty frames in other colonies in spring. Advice is often given to let the bees drawn foundation during a honey flow but it is much cheaper to get the comb drawn on sugar syrup . The foundation is drawn much better ie corner to corner if done in upper BC. I find that with mesh floors they tend to leave gaps (passageways?) near the bottom bar if frames are drawn in a single BC. Swarms, of course, are also great for drawing boxes of foundation but I don't get many of those these days as I demaree most of my colonies.

 

[oliver90owner]

I mentioned solid floors because other people earlier in the thread reported that bees usually ignore the first frame warm way on solid floors. I was just saying that my experience of 'warm way' is that bees use all the frames.


Yes, and how often have we heard on here "Don't do what your mentor tells you just because they told you so."??
How are new beekeepers supposed to know who to follow blindly just because they told you so, and whose advice might be a little suspect to put it mildly.

Perhaps you should read back on the forum (for a few years). There is plenty of corroborating evidence in the archives. There have been a fair share of i diots that have preceded many of the present bunch of new-comers.

 

[Boston Bees]

I mentioned solid floors because other people earlier in the thread reported that bees usually ignore the first frame warm way on solid floors. I was just saying that my experience of 'warm way' is that bees use all the frames.


Yes, and how often have we heard on here "Don't do what your mentor tells you just because they told you so."??
How are new beekeepers supposed to know who to follow blindly just because they told you so, and whose advice might be a little suspect to put it mildly.

How dare you question what oliver90owner says. Don't you know that he has a BSc?