Confused newbie

[malgreen]

So 4 days ago you get your winter bees transferred to the hives and place in situ. They are very numerous and feisty outside the hives but start to bring back pollen. Put a syrup feeder on top of the brood boxes using a small super as an eke but not many bees feeding. Question. The weather has turned wet and cold again, do I wait till the weather improves and place the 1st super on or should it be a 2nd brood box also should I not bother with the feeder if there's little activity. Going to be a tough learning curve me thinks.

 

[wightbees]

First, did you transfer overwinter Nucs to hives?
Yes leaving feeder on right now is OK
You need to understand what's happening before you make a decision on what to do!
How many frames of Brood and how much stores, is the first thing I would ask you?

 

[jeff33]

I actually don't understand a thing of what you said, sorry. Transferred winter bees from where to where? Why were they feisty?
Assuming you transferred from a 5 frames overwintered nuc into a full size hive, you will have another 5 empty frames for them to draw and use to expand. There is no need for another bb. As above, understand what is happening before you take action.
Have you signed up with the local club and done the basic course?

 

[For want of a better word]

First, did you transfer overwinter Nucs to hives?
Yes leaving feeder on right now is OK
You need to understand what's happening before you make a decision on what to do!
How many frames of Brood and how much stores, is the first thing I would ask you?

What are you feeding... bought in invert 1:1.. 2:1 .....

I use fondant to feed when transferring colonies of bees that have overwintered from nucleus hives to hives with single brood boxes.

Unless you have Ferrari type bees with fields full of flowering OSR on their doorstep, I think supers would be a few weeks away as yet ... even in sunny Devon.

Keep asking questions and hopefully beekeeping will be a rewarding experience for you....

Some of the old trolls on this forum forget that they did not know it all when they began ( although there are a fer that patently are still in their formative years!!!)

Yeghes da

 

[For want of a better word]

I actually don't understand a thing of what you said, sorry. Transferred winter bees from where to where? Why were they feisty?
Assuming you transferred from a 5 frames overwintered nuc into a full size hive, you will have another 5 empty frames for them to draw and use to expand. There is no need for another bb. As above, understand what is happening before you take action.
Have you signed up with the local club and done the basic course?

Can you light a smoker with one match and when lit hold it between your Knees?

Can you bake a delightful honey lemon drizzel cake??

If you can achieve all of that you could easily pass the BBKA "basic"


Yeghes da

 

[B+.]

Can you light a smoker with one match and when lit hold it between your Knees?

You hold a lit match between your knees? You're a braver man than I am!!

 

[jeff33]

If you can achieve all of that you could easily pass the BBKA "basic"

Lets not pick on BBKA, they are trying their hardest! I am glad I did the course to get a grasp on the basics. The rest comes with years of experience and/or a good tutor.

 

[malgreen]

Thanks all yes I took hives to beekeeper who put 6 frames from a nuc and put into my national bb. I did purchase some fondant but he showed me some and said would be better with a little syrup which he sold us. So yes will wait a couple of more days then when weather hopefully improves and have a look. Just i read that they dont like being disturbed to much. Re feisty comment well guess that may be normal as was getting buzzed by a few and never expected to see the volume flying around the hive. Yes I am attending a beginners course but have already found that when you ask you get different opinions that only add to more confusion. Bottom line just want to do best for the bees really.

 

[jeff33]

You hold a lit match between your knees? You're a braver man than I am!!

He may like the cyclist's shaved legs look?

 

[Apiarisnt]

Gospel of beekeeping

... but have already found that when you ask you get different opinions that only add to more confusion.

Where two or three are gathered together in the name of beekeeping, there shall be three or four opinions.

 

[jeff33]

have already found that when you ask you get different opinions that only add to more confusion. Bottom line just want to do best for the bees really.

.....and you won't get any different from this forum. You will get 10 answers to your query with a good mix of sarcasm and bullish behaviour!!!

Good, the flying around is normal when you transfer them, I wouldn't worry too much unless you get half the hive hanging of your veil trying to sting you!!! You can leave them in peace for a little while. The syrup will get them to draw the frames of foundation.

 

[Poly Hive]

malgreen?

Did you ask or perhaps your vendor told you what kind of bee you were buying?

Does the vendor run double broods or single brood boxes?

The answer to those might give you a pointer as if they need a double brood when they are up to 8 frames of BIAS then I would put a 2nd brood box below. Also an excluder over the top box and a super above that. If they are timber units then an inch or so of insulation above the crown board would be a good move too.

Good luck.

PH

 

[malgreen]

they are buckfastleigh bees we live about 20 minutes away. I will try and ask re single and double brood boxes, did try to contact him for some advice but guess as he sells loads he gets fed up with enquiries from people like me. He sold 45 nukes to National bees and around 30 privately. Yes they are cedar boxes so thanks for insulation tip.

 

[malgreen]

I did think if I was cooped up in a box all winter and saw my 1st bright warm sunny day would I be any different.

 

[For want of a better word]

they are buckfastleigh bees we live about 20 minutes away. I will try and ask re single and double brood boxes, did try to contact him for some advice but guess as he sells loads he gets fed up with enquiries from people like me. He sold 45 nukes to National bees and around 30 privately. Yes they are cedar boxes so thanks for insulation tip.

Must say I would call them Asburton bees... not to confuse them with anything else!

... to the confusing world of beekeepering!!

Yeghes da

 

[malgreen]

Ahh yes see there is a distance of 5 miles.

 

[enrico]

Malgreen, putting a nuc into as full size brood box is enough for them to be getting on with at the moment. If you want to help them draw out the comb on the new frames then feed them Syrup at a strength of one pound of sugar to one pint of water. Leave them alone just topping the food up. Have a peek in a couple of weeks when it is WARM and they have settled down a bit. In-between time try and find a local beekeeper and ask if you can go through his hive with them. There are many thousands of bees in a hive. If you are passing the Somerset levels let me know and you can have a look at mine with me. You are at the very bottom of a large learning curve. Be patient.
Good luck
E

 

[malgreen]

Thank you so much for your offer and encouraging words Enrico really appreciated

 

[drex]

Enjoy our bees. It is a steep learning curve at first but gets better. I would have put the frames into BB and added a frame of foundation either side and then dummy boards and would then add more frames as they get drawn. As to frequency of inspection - always better to have a reason for going in. In the height of season I look weekly to try to prevent swarming. Probably will not look in mine for the next 2-3 weeks at present.

 

[pargyle]

Thank you so much for your offer and encouraging words Enrico really appreciated

It's a really good offer and one you should take up. An hour or two with an experienced beekeeper will teach you more than ten times that in the classroom.

One of the things you need to get to grips with is the language of beekeeping... if you know the right words it's much easier to communicate with other beekeepers when you need help .. a phone call to a mentor or a post on here that describes in beekeeperese what the problem is will usually generate some options .. but, again, you need to understand what is being said.