Joining two small coloneys

[woodyapex]

As some of you will have read I was a swarm magnet over the last few weeks
I'm sure this will have been covered before but the search does not do phrases
So if any of you have a link to where I find instructions it may save time .

This is what I'm thinking !

Both brood boxs have a queen !
And are 7 ft apart . Do I put the newly de queened bb on top with a queen separator in-between and a sheet of news paper on top of it ? Maybe a light dusting of icing on the top bees ?
Am I right in thinking they will then chew through the newspaper and by that time they will be merged ?

A little advise would be good please !
Woody

 

[Finman]

.
My procedure is in these cases

A)
- I take another queen away, and leave the better. You may keep the another queen in the cage for sure
- next day I put the frames together. You may pour syrup into queenless combs and they suck themselves full.
- then just join them.
- The queen may be in a cage to ensure that foreign bees do not attack the queen or do not start to draw from legs or so. Within hour bees accustome to each other.

- if no bees are biting the queen cage and the bees are calm, release the queen. If bees are squeezed against the cage, the queen is in danger.

- look next day that it is alive.

B)

Keep queenless another colony over night

When you move frames to the another box, shake the bees in front of the hive that they marsh inside

C) Keep queenless another colony over night

put a news paper on the box and lift another box over

If I have enough spare queens
I do it mostly this way

D)
I take another queen away
next day I just put hives together
After 15 minutes I look what bees are doing to the queen. It they act normaly, I let them be.
If workers are trying to hurt the queen, soak the queen into water and then seal the queen into cage with 5 workers.



XXXX To put the queen into cage and behind a sugar plug, it is unsre methoh to me.
It is important to see that bees are not upset when they meet an odd queen.

-

 

[Midland Beek]

Even the most basic beekeeping book will tell you about uniting using the newspaper method. Do not forget to make small starter holes in the newspaper or they might well not chew through. And better to bring the two hives close together beforehand, as in moving hive(s) a foot or so a day.

 

[Finman]

Even the most basic beekeeping book will tell you about uniting using the newspaper method. .

During my 48 beekeeping years I have used newspaper once.
I have joined hundreds of colonies. With my systems bees do not fight not at all. No deads if the colonies are about same size.
For main yield the hive may be without the queen, and then I just pile the colonies together. I don't even choose the queen.

In autumn joining is dangerous job to queens. Last autumn I joined nucs with extracted moist honey combs. Bees consenrated to lick honey from combs and forgot whose queen it was. It went fine. It is evening job. Otherwise robbers came to keep party.

 

[sunshinemedic]

FWIW I remove the weaker queen the day before and unite the colonies using the newspaper method. Easy enough and seems to work fine.
Finman's suggestions are interesting though and he is much more experienced than I.

 

[woodyapex]

All sounds very simple ! I've no need to complicate things !
Right might leave it while Monday as I'm in Spain for the weekend !
Thanks for the help
Woody