I need some advice please…

[Will C]

I have two national hives, going into my third year of beekeeping that I’m managing on my own. I had a mentor who stopped coming last summer it turned out he hadn’t fed or treated for varroa so I had to do all this in October before I closed them up.

They have survived the winter, and are strong in numbers, I’m currently feeding 1 hive fondant and the other doesn’t seem to want it.

As I placed Apivar on the hives in October which I removed 6 weeks later, the supers on each hive now need to be replaced I believe as Apivar is poisonous.

I’ll get new frames, but at what point should I replace them.

Soon I think…

Should I use a clearing board to get the bees into the brood boxes to leave the supers clear so I can get rid of the old frames?

Apologies if this sounds dumb but I’d love some input…

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As I placed Apivar on the hives in October which I removed 6 weeks later, the supers on each hive now need to be replaced I believe as Apivar is poisonous.

who on earth told you that!?
if the bees have cleared out all the honey they are good to use again.
you don't tell us what setup you have
I'm assuming a super each over the brood box?
did you remove the queen excluders? If yes, there will be brood in them by now.

 

[Will C]

who on earth told you that!?
if the bees have cleared out all the honey they are good to use again.
you don't tell us what setup you have
I'm assuming a super each over the brood box?
did you remove the queen excluders? If yes, there will be brood in them by now.

One hive is under supered the other not, as I was told it was too late in year in October when I shut them down, so I didn’t do the second hive. No queen excluders on at moment.
So you say then I don’t need to get rid of frames. This makes me happy.
They’re bringing in pollen and numbers are big, I can see clusters through Perspex crown boards.

 

[ericbeaumont]

I believe as Apivar is poisonous

Amitraz (the active constituent of Apivar) is not soluble in wax, unlike one of its residue constituents, formamidine. However, the amounts are negligible.
https://theapiarist.org/queens-and-amitraz-residues-in-wax/

a mentor who stopped coming last summer it turned out he hadn’t fed or treated

You seem to be responding better than the mentor, and it bears repeating that mentors can be a severe hindrance unless they are up to date and ready to encourage new ways, and not just oblige you to repeat their old methods.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One hive is under supered

so move it up, over a queen excluder when spring actually arrives

the other not,

wait until they are stronger, find the queen, if she's in the super, move her down into the brood and slap a QX on

 

[Will C]

so move it up, over a queen excluder when spring actually arrives

wait until they are stronger, find the queen, if she's in the super, move her down into the brood and slap a QX on

And what do I do about brood in the super if it’s there? Use it as an extra brood box and put a QE over it?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And what do I do about brood in the super if it’s there? Use it as an extra brood box and put a QE over it?

no, do as I say, put the queen below the QX, the brood above the queen excluder (in the super) will emerge, the bees will clean out the cells and fill them with honey which you can then extract and consume as normal.

 

[Will C]

no, do as I say, put the queen below the QX, the brood above the queen excluder (in the super) will emerge, the bees will clean out the cells and fill them with honey which you can then extract and consume as normal.

Thank you. Makes sense.

 

[pargyle]

One hive is under supered the other not, as I was told it was too late in year in October when I shut them down, so I didn’t do the second hive. No queen excluders on at moment.
So you say then I don’t need to get rid of frames. This makes me happy.
They’re bringing in pollen and numbers are big, I can see clusters through Perspex crown boards.

Be cautious about what is a BIG colony at this time of the year .. numbers tend to fall in the month or so before Spring actually starts - what looks like a big colony may only be it's normal post-winter size. I've seen people adding brood boxes and supers in February and all you are doing is giving them too much space to maintain the hive at the temperature they need. Ignore the people worrying about swarming at this time of the year - it occasionally happens (not as often as some would have you believe) unless they are actually hanging on the front or underside of the hive they have enough space. You would be amazed at what '9 seams of bees' is capable of reducing to in actual size. It's not just the size of the colony and space that promotes swarm preps, weather, forage availability, drones all play a part.

I wonder if some of the people who cast the shadow of 'my bees swarmed in January' are just seeing a natural reduction in colony size or one that is failing ... or seeing the remnants of a queen cell or two from last season and thinking they are new.