Just inherited two hives ......Help !

[MuswellMetro]

I'm in Wilts and a member of a club. pm me with your details if I can help at all

think he might need to post a few more times before his PM button will work

 

[amblik]

Hi again - I will try not to let this thread run and run ..... but a few more things ....
So the hives are what you would call National. The taller one has two "supers" as far as I can guess and the smaller, one. All of these are well-populated on the frames with white waxy comb which I believe indicates good condition.
I have moved them a bit further apart (they were only 6" apart before) and orientated them with entrances pointing differently.
I have angles the hives slightly downhill as we are getting some SERIOUS rainfall out here !
I have also returned to the neighbours and claimed what appears to be a third hive that had fallen over due to the base rotting and collapsing - it now means that after cleaning, I will have another "floor", another brood box and 11 frames (the comb substrate is knackered but I'm thinking the frames are worth saving), one more super box with 11 frames in the same condition (knocked out all the black, rotting comb and kept the frames, and one "top" with ventilation as well as a few more bits and bobs - a solid orange plastic "frame blank", a perforated orange plastic sheet that I guess would fit between one layer and another, but not allow bees to pass and a "bar" that reduces the hive entrance to a 2" port.
So once this is all cleaned-up and restored, I guess it gives me spare boxes to switch over when I finally get my hands dirty !
Once this is all dried and cleaned, do I need to disinfect in any way ?
Have bought a couple of books online for the e-reader with regard to beginners, and will be contacting a local member on here with a view to him/her perhaps visiting and having a look in the near future.
....... and then of course, I get to buy some kit !
Thanks to all for your advice and kind words
amblik

 

[Ely]

It sounds like the original owners have done everything necessary for this winter. My advise is to leave them alone. I'm not sure you should be treating for varroa with no experience unless you know someone who can help. Get a good book do plenty of reading for the coming spring when they become more active. Ask plenty of questions on here no matter how stupid you think they are, especially about swarming. And ignore the critical arseholes. They are insignificant.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

So far, Amblik, you seem to have done everything right and I have to say, you've been very lucky with your acquisitions - the retail price for the hardware you've got is around £500-£600 and if the bees are in good shape, you have another £400 worth of bees so lucky old you.

The plastic thing with slots in is a queen excluder which is used to keep the queen in the brood chamber so that the honey supers do not get brood in them. The traditional way of disinfecting hives is with a blow-lamp. The interior surfaces and especially on the corners and crevices of the hives are flamed to the point of mild discolouration. This should kill off any mites, eggs and bacteria. Scrubbing with a strong solution of washing soda (sodium carbonate) is also done but you need to read up on dilution etc. as I've not done this. Blindingly obvious but has to be said - take the bees out first!

One of the big problems facing all beekeepers in England is the Varroa mite. If the bees are in your garden and you feel you want to do something, you could do some mite monitoring, which is not an intrusive activity. You put a sticky monitoring board under the mesh floor and over a period of days, you count how many mites drop out of the hive - this is called the "natural drop" (as opposed to a treatment drop). It gives you an idea of how many mites the colony has. You can read all about it on the FERA site - https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=93
FERA also publishes "Managing Varroa" which is a free down load and gets handed out at most big Beekeeping events. As a keeper of bees you should register on Beebase so that local bee inspector knows where you are and you get warning if there are any local disease outbreaks, etc. Once you've got some idea of your Varroa load - and it's not an exact science - you and your mentor can think about treatments if they are necessary. This is called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which means you only treat for diseases and pests that you have rather than what you might have. You will find that IPM is quite controversial on this forum with many members treating "because it's 21 days after Christmas" and others not treating at all, because they have looked and have not identified a problem.

All the best

CVB

 

[itma]

As per the above, the thing is to avoid disturbing the bees if that can be avoided.
The time for checking through what you have actually got in the occupied hives is still more than a month away.
For now, as long as the hives are heavy with stores, mouseguarded and (if need be) protected against green woodpeckers, the thing is to use the time to learn what's coming next rather than troubling the bees.

Old frames - probably not worth bothering with. As long as you are sure that your hives are Nationals, you could usefully take advantage of Sale offers to get 50 frames for about £29. Standard brood frames are type "DN4". Standard super frames are "SN1" - *but* paying a little extra for "SN4" type would be worthwhile.

You need a bee suit, smoker and a hive tool (or two). If you don't have, you can get established reasonable cheaply, courtesy of Thorne's sale. http://www.thorne.co.uk/winter-sale/sale-miscellaneous?limit=100&page=1

Thorne's catalogue (new one due out soon) is available as a free download http://www.thorne.co.uk/download-a-catalogue and is a great source of beekeeping info.
Most beekeeping equipment is illustrated and detailed -- don't worry, it is definitely NOT all necessary! But if you know what everything in there does, then your beekeeping education is advancing nicely! (Other catalogues are available, but IMHO Thorne's is the best source of beekeeping info!)
The catalogue also shows 'standard' (non-sale) pricing. Sale frames are roughly 50 seconds for the price of about 20 first quality -- a decent bargain in the opinion of many of us. For now, reckon on 11 frames per brood box, and at least 10 per super - reckoning on three supers per hive.

And if you care to blow less than £20 on a great 'extra' to your beekeeping, I'd suggest getting a (no-hole) polycarbonate (see through) cover board ("quilt"). It allows you to see something of what is happening int the hive without subjecting you (and the bees) to the business of actually opening the hive properly.

If you hit £100 for an order, delivery becomes free.

You will need at least one 'complete' (but no supers) spare hive (with brood frames) for swarm control. Better to have one spare per working hive (but your second spare could even be a poly half-size ("nuc") hive). Again, the sales are the time to make sure you have enough spare kit.
/ - having your first spare as a 'real' hive allows you to swap bits around as you 'spring clean' them.

Hope that helps!

 

[itma]

Beebase has a lot of free downloadable (and sound) info.
For example see https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167
Of particular interest will be the leaflets on secondhand kit, sterilisation, etc.

 

[yellowrage 53]

As per the above, the thing is to avoid disturbing the bees if that can be avoided.
The time for checking through what you have actually got in the occupied hives is still more than a month away.
For now, as long as the hives are heavy with stores, mouseguarded and (if need be) protected against green woodpeckers, the thing is to use the time to learn what's coming next rather than troubling the bees.

Old frames - probably not worth bothering with. As long as you are sure that your hives are Nationals, you could usefully take advantage of Sale offers to get 50 frames for about £29. Standard brood frames are type "DN4". Standard super frames are "SN1" - *but* paying a little extra for "SN4" type would be worthwhile.

You need a bee suit, smoker and a hive tool (or two). If you don't have, you can get established reasonable cheaply, courtesy of Thorne's sale. http://www.thorne.co.uk/winter-sale/sale-miscellaneous?limit=100&page=1

Thorne's catalogue (new one due out soon) is available as a free download http://www.thorne.co.uk/download-a-catalogue and is a great source of beekeeping info.
Most beekeeping equipment is illustrated and detailed -- don't worry, it is definitely NOT all necessary! But if you know what everything in there does, then your beekeeping education is advancing nicely! (Other catalogues are available, but IMHO Thorne's is the best source of beekeeping info!)
The catalogue also shows 'standard' (non-sale) pricing. Sale frames are roughly 50 seconds for the price of about 20 first quality -- a decent bargain in the opinion of many of us. For now, reckon on 11 frames per brood box, and at least 10 per super - reckoning on three supers per hive.

And if you care to blow less than £20 on a great 'extra' to your beekeeping, I'd suggest getting a (no-hole) polycarbonate (see through) cover board ("quilt"). It allows you to see something of what is happening int the hive without subjecting you (and the bees) to the business of actually opening the hive properly.

If you hit £100 for an order, delivery becomes free.

You will need at least one 'complete' (but no supers) spare hive (with brood frames) for swarm control. Better to have one spare per working hive (but your second spare could even be a poly half-size ("nuc") hive). Again, the sales are the time to make sure you have enough spare kit.
/ - having your first spare as a 'real' hive allows you to swap bits around as you 'spring clean' them.

Hope that helps!

well it helps me !!!! back to the sale's happy days