demaree question

[Erichalfbee]

Why... I'm nervous about leaving unseen eggs or young larvae in the bottom BB which then develop into QC's?

They don't. The queen expands her nest in the normal way. Practically all the nurse bees are up top where they most often DO make queen cells.....but not always.
The only way I can see queen cells being made at the bottom is if you damage the queen or you missed a queen cell down there and they were already committed

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why... I'm nervous about leaving unseen eggs or young larvae in the bottom BB which then develop into QC's?

the queen is going to carry on laying regardless so you are always going to get eggs and brood in the bottom box, I don't see your logic.
The reason for leaving one frame of mixed brood with her is to settle the bees in the lower box when they start returning to a seemingly denuded hive.
I've yet to see them develop a QC on the one frame left with the queen and Demarree is my main method of swarm avoidance.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

i have to say, its all going pretty well for me...

need to swap empties into LBB for BIAS as soon as i can as nectar backfilling

will hope to keep them going ready for summer flow as hives seem nicely strong

added 3rd super in the middle on a couple yesterday as they'd filled them....still wondering how clearing the bees will go....have made rhombus boards which i've used before and worked better than porters

 

[E&MBees]

i have to say, its all going pretty well for me...

need to swap empties into LBB for BIAS as soon as i can as nectar backfilling

will hope to keep them going ready for summer flow as hives seem nicely strong

added 3rd super in the middle on a couple yesterday as they'd filled them....still wondering how clearing the bees will go....have made rhombus boards which i've used before and worked better than porters

I have to admit, I am slightly envious. My colony that I was intending to demarree has now been split due to swarm preps. I will have to wait until next year to have a go. Oh well...

 

[Cuckmere couple]

thats a shame....last year i should have been demareeing...the spring was so good that i was splitting colonies a lot and ended up with a number of weaker colonies which im trying to avoid this year

I had demareed before 3 years ago to increase but this was no upper entrance and just to take 3 nucs from

 

[E&MBees]

thats a shame....last year i should have been demareeing...the spring was so good that i was splitting colonies a lot and ended up with a number of weaker colonies which im trying to avoid this year

I had demareed before 3 years ago to increase but this was no upper entrance and just to take 3 nucs from

I hope it goes well for you.

 

[Loxley]

I hope you don't mind my jumping in but Can I ask a question? Having just done my first demaree I am hoping to make up 3 nucs from them. Would you consider it better to just take the top box away when I find QC's and divide it up - job done. Or remove the frames one nuc's worth at a time over a longer period (when cycling brood frames perhaps) so as retain as much strength in the parent colony as possible? Thanks.
Rob

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

need to swap empties into LBB for BIAS as soon as i can as nectar backfilling

will hope to keep them going ready for summer flow as hives seem nicely strong

added 3rd super in the middle on a couple yesterday as they'd filled them....still wondering how clearing the bees will go....have made rhombus boards which i've used before and worked better than porters

I hope you don't mind my jumping in but Can I ask a question? Having just done my first demaree I am hoping to make up 3 nucs from them. Would you consider it better to just take the top box away when I find QC's and divide it up - job done. Or remove the frames one nuc's worth at a time over a longer period (when cycling brood frames perhaps) so as retain as much strength in the parent colony as possible? Thanks.
Rob

Either or really, personally I would just take the three nucs, take down the Demaree and leave them build up again - if there's a good queen in there you possibly won't see much of a negative impact on the yield.
I remember a colony I had a few years ago, which I Demareed solely to produce as many nucs as possible. I managed four nucs and took down the Demarree, a month or so later she had built back so strongly that I was forced to Demaree again but left them do their own bit in the top box to produce one 'supersedure' queen which replaced the old, by this time flagging queen in the bottom.
I still harvested three, maybe four supers off her.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

yes....partly depends how many frames of brood you have....i had 9-10 in a couple which gives plenty to go at...for me i'd want to check there were sufficient nurse bees to manage the brood in the nuc as people say the frames of brood with the bees plus an extra shake of nurse bees...you could be thinning out the UBB to the point as JBM says of reuniting them to let them re-build

 

[Loxley]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards dismantling it as they are pretty strong but I'll make a final call on the day when I've had a look.
Rob

 

[Swarm]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards dismantling it as they are pretty strong but I'll make a final call on the day when I've had a look.
Rob

Do you have other colonies?
If you introduce marked frames with eggs into your procedure, it is possible to remove just these frames when cells are sealed into nucs populated by brood/bees from donor colonies. This way you weaken the queen rearing colony less and you have the opportunity to raise quite a few queens before you decide how to eventually wind it up

 

[Loxley]

Do you have other colonies?
If you introduce marked frames with eggs into your procedure, it is possible to remove just these frames when cells are sealed into nucs populated by brood/bees from donor colonies. This way you weaken the queen rearing colony less and you have the opportunity to raise quite a few queens before you decide how to eventually wind it up

I don't yet, this will be my first increase from my first colony which was a swarm I caught last year. I will be much relieved if it goes well and i am no longer a single colony keeper!

Sounds like a good plan for next year though! Thanks for the advice.

 

[Etton]

the queen is going to carry on laying regardless so you are always going to get eggs and brood in the bottom box, I don't see your logic.
The reason for leaving one frame of mixed brood with her is to settle the bees in the lower box when they start returning to a seemingly denuded hive.
I've yet to see them develop a QC on the one frame left with the queen and Demarree is my main method of swarm avoidance.

Good point... thanks for the advice.
Demareed one hive yesterday before the foul weather, it had charged queen cells. I destroyed all and left the Q on just drawn foundation in the bottom BB. Will the swarming instinct still likely to be there as I know demaree is only meant for swarm prevention?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Good point... thanks for the advice.
Demareed one hive yesterday before the foul weather, it had charged queen cells. I destroyed all and left the Q on just drawn foundation in the bottom BB. Will the swarming instinct still likely to be there as I know demaree is only meant for swarm prevention?

I would have split.
You might get away with it but if they were my bees I'd be back in there to check for more queen cells in three days and split if there were more

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Good point... thanks for the advice.
Demareed one hive yesterday before the foul weather, it had charged queen cells. I destroyed all and left the Q on just drawn foundation in the bottom BB. Will the swarming instinct still likely to be there

Short answer - yes, you may get away with it, but the probability is that they will still swarm

 

[Cuckmere couple]

im going back in to the colony with swarm cells today or tomorrow to do a split

i wonder if they will get away with one brood box now with all the bees or need two....one is at the top full of brood, the other is pretty empty...i have 3 supers?

 

[Erichalfbee]

im going back in to the colony with swarm cells today or tomorrow to do a split

i wonder if they will get away with one brood box now with all the bees or need two....one is at the top full of brood, the other is pretty empty...i have 3 supers?

One should be fine

 

[holmbee]

I have a question. This is the first time I have put demaree trays on some of my hives. As the frames in the UBB empty as brood emerges the workers are now filling the available space with nectar rather than store the nectar in the super that I have put over the UBB. How do I persuade them to deposit nectar in the super? Should I have put the super above the LBB but below the demaree tray? Thanks.
Michael

 

[drex]

That's how bees work. Why would they go up to the second 'floor 'when there is room on the first.

 

[holmbee]

That's how bees work. Why would they go up to the second 'floor 'when there is room on the first.

Thank you. I understand that but I was hoping for some advice as to how to resolve the issue.
Michael