Combining colonies

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sjt

House Bee
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
143
Reaction score
2
Location
East Sussex
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
5 at two out apiaries
I want to combine two colonies and have not done it before.
The hives are 6 feet apart. The colony in the position I want the combined colony to be is queenless, it has a runty single queen cell just capped.
The other colony has a good 2013 queen on 4 frames of brood, both hives have a single super.
What is the best way to go about it?
 
Queenless broodbox on top of other broodbox with a layer of newspaper between (no gaps).
They will eat through and by then will accept each other
 
Move colony a metre towards final postion, combine as per Heather but also making a few small slits in the paper (just for somewhere for the bees to start chewing), leave for a couple days dependent on weather and resite on desired location. So easy, virtually bomb proof. Done in evening when bees have ceased flying will only mean very few bees from top colony will be in trouble. Loosen floor a few minutes before, so they settle, and sellotape newspaper (or weigh it down with a queen excluder).

One of many ways. I have used a travelling screen above the top colony or you could insert the entrance block on the bottom colony, if on OMF, and place floor, box and crownboard on as a single item, removingthe floor the following day or two later.

No rocket science involved, just plan your intended moves for minimum disruption to the bees.
 
I would also recommend removing all wild comb from bottoms of the frames of the box that is going on top a day before the unite (to prevent it puncturing/ripping the paper too much and so that the box sits OK without pushing up the frames) A marking cage (crown of thornes) can be used to make several very small holes in the paper at one go. Queen excluders not only hold the paper down but also prevent the queen straying into the box of strangers too early. I agree with Oliver90 a ventilation screen is useful if the evening going to be hot as I have had mass death due to heat/suffocation of bees in the top box in the past.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone, lots of useful advice. I'll be having a go in the next few days.
 
Some people recommend making sure the top colony has stores, if not they should be given a little syrup because they might not get through the newspaper for a couple of days. Your call really.
 
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