Macdee’s Demaree

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Great information here thanks Jenkins
I made up a few of these boards this morning.
I have set 2 up on colonies with 8 frames of brood
Moving 4 frames up top with the rest of top box dummy boarded to fill space.
Replace brood frames with 3 drawn and 1 foundation each .planning on making nucs if queen cells are drawn

You'd have been better off doing a proper Demarree

 

[Etton]

If I was to demaree and if QC’s made in top box I leave one so end up with queens in top and bottom boxes isn’t there a huge risk the top box Q returning from her mating flight ends up entering in the bottom entrance?

 

[Erichalfbee]

If I was to demaree and if QC’s made in top box I leave one so end up with queens in top and bottom boxes isn’t there a huge risk the top box Q returning from her mating flight ends up entering in the bottom entrance?

Well you should have two supers in between so there’s quite a distance between.

 

[citrus]

did these to my hives yesterday but now realise I forgot the top queen excluder :-(

so
currently have

S
BB (top)
S
S
--QX---
BB (bottom)

do I need to go back and put a qx under that top BB now ?

(or can I do it in a few days when I intend to let out any trapped drones)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

do I need to go back and put a qx under that top BB now ?

No - you don't really need a top QX at all its just there to stop drones getting trapped in the supers then being an issue after the demarree is taken down and one is foolish enough to use porter escapes to clear the supers (drones just clog them up) It's just handy if you ose a top entrance and work a rolling Demarree

 

[citrus]

No - you don't really need a top QX at all its just there to stop drones getting trapped in the supers then being an issue after the demarree is taken down and one is foolish enough to use porter escapes to clear the supers (drones just clog them up) It's just handy if you ose a top entrance and work a rolling Demarree

nice one ... now you talked about this 'rolling demaree' last year ... but remind me again ... I just keep moving brood from the bottom brood box to the top and returning clear comb for HM to lay into ...

-that includes frames with a mix of eggs and sealed brood ?

- and how long to keep rolling - I like the idea cos I am terrified that I will get some qc's in the bottom box so guess I roll every 5-7th day (ideally the 6th) and at least I capture that scenario

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

nice one ... now you talked about this 'rolling demaree' last year ... but remind me again ... I just keep moving brood from the bottom brood box to the top and returning clear comb for HM to lay into ...

-that includes frames with a mix of eggs and sealed brood ?

- and how long to keep rolling - I like the idea cos I am terrified that I will get some qc's in the bottom box so guess I roll every 5-7th day (ideally the 6th) and at least I capture that scenario

You just continue with inspections every 7 or 8 days - you've separated the queen from the brood so no great urgency to check for QC's.
Ideally, you only move sealed brood (Maybe a frame or two) which then saves you from having to check for any fresh QC's in the top box, or at least only needing a quick scan around the edges. You'll get the feel for when to stop - it's usually when you are approaching a full bottom box again, it's approaching the time when 7 day inspections are not so important and the bees are busily backfilling the top box

 

[Curly green finger's]

I've done my second demaree on Sunday. .
I couldn't find the queen so I had to shake all bees of the frames into the bottom brood box before putting the supers in between.
The top brood box has 8 frames of brood and I have two in the bottom with drawn comb and foundation. .
Both supers were pretty full of nectar and some capped stores so ive put another super on top of bb2 .


I've just had a look and lots of nurse bees have moved back up to bb2 and the queen is definitely in the bottom .
I've got to do a third but I'm waiting for a fast tracked delivery of more equipment.

 

[Repwoc]

I'm waiting for a fast tracked delivery of more equipment.

Where did you order from? I ordered some new boxes + roofs from Abelo over a week ago and they haven't been dispatched yet.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Where did you order from? I ordered some new boxes + roofs from Abelo over a week ago and they haven't been dispatched yet.

Simon the beekeeper. I've had an email to say it's been dispatched, I've paid for the extra carriage mind!


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[citrus]

I've done my second demaree on Sunday. .
I couldn't find the queen so I had to shake all bees of the frames into the bottom brood box .......

yeah its always a bit scary with a packed bottom brood box and you hope to God the queen is in there somewhere !!

then trying to put the queen excluder and cram them all in

 

[Repwoc]

Simon the beekeeper. I've had an email to say it's been dispatched, I've paid for the extra carriage mind!


Sent from my YAL-L21 using Tapatalk

STB has been very quick to ship orders. I got some foundation and other odds and ends just over a week ago and they were shipped same day.

I just received the shipping confirmation email from Abelo.

 

[Curly green finger's]

yeah its always a bit scary with a packed bottom brood box and you hope to God the queen is in there somewhere !!



then trying to put the queen excluder and cram them all in

My first colony this season to demaree was a 14x12 on 10/11 frames I found that queen very easy.
I've only had one qc from them so far

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[Curly green finger's]

STB has been very quick to ship orders. I got some foundation and other odds and ends just over a week ago and they were shipped same day.



I just received the shipping confirmation email from Abelo.

happy days!! Yeah stb are good and maisemore.
Stb national hives made from redwood are a good price.. I think there redwood.
120 empty


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[Etton]

You just continue with inspections every 7 or 8 days - you've separated the queen from the brood so no great urgency to check for QC's.
Ideally, you only move sealed brood (Maybe a frame or two) which then saves you from having to check for any fresh QC's in the top box, or at least only needing a quick scan around the edges. You'll get the feel for when to stop - it's usually when you are approaching a full bottom box again, it's approaching the time when 7 day inspections are not so important and the bees are busily backfilling the top box

Why ‘Maybe a frame or two?’
I thought the idea was to separate the brood from the Q to discourage swarming. Maybe I have it wrong, I had in mind to move all the brood & eggs to the top box and replace with drawn foundation.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Why ‘Maybe a frame or two?’
I thought the idea was to separate the brood from the Q to discourage swarming. Maybe I have it wrong, I had in mind to move all the brood & eggs to the top box and replace with drawn foundation.

Yes. But you can move brood as it’s capped in the bottom box to the top to keep the whole thing rolling along

 

[Swarm]

She is always playing catch up in the bottom box. As she lays and expands her nest, you remove it and put it upstairs and replace with a comb that has emerged. Sometimes you may need to add another brood box as she is laying up faster than the brood can emerge upstairs. I had a very tall tower of boxes in 2018 and at that point I just split them into two colonies. They were brilliant bees.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why ‘Maybe a frame or two?’
I thought the idea was to separate the brood from the Q to discourage swarming. Maybe I have it wrong, I had in mind to move all the brood & eggs to the top box and replace with drawn foundation.

You obviously didn't read the whole thing - the initial Demarree is just that, put all the brood up top and leave the queen down the bottom with foundation (Although I like to leave her on the frame I found her on and a frame or two of drawn foundation - it saves issues if the weather or flow changes and the workers are reluctant to draw comb.
after you do that, you can either just let things take it's course where the bees will fill the top frames with honey as the brood emerges and the queen repopulates the bottom box until it is packed again or (and this is a modification of the original Demarree) you can keep the Demarree rollong by, each week, taking full frames of capped brood from the bottom box and swapping with frames where the brood has emerged from the top so that you are constantly bleeding brood away from the queen so she aways has loads of room to lay.