Moving to larger frames

[troedyrhiw]

Hi, new to beekeeping. We have just got 2 sets of bees over the last few weeks. The nucs contained standard national brood frames and a super frame of stores.

The bees, bless them, increased the super frames to be national size whilst in the nuc... My hives are both national 14x12. So now I have about 5 standard national frames with brood on extending to the depth of the deeper 14x12 brood box and one super frame extending to 14x12.

1) how can I support the comb hanging down from the shorter frames so it does not break off during inspections?

2) how can I migrate the bees off the small frames? Is it best to leave them to build up the colony first and mark this as a job for next year?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

 

[pargyle]

1) how can I support the comb hanging down from the shorter frames so it does not break off during inspections?

Mine built 2" - 3" of free comb on the bottom of my 14 x 12 as my hive design was flawed and gave them this bee space at the bottom ! It's really not a problem as the comb is pretty stable - just avoid turning the frames so that they are horizontal. Once it hardens off a bit you will find that it's remarkably rigid.

Eventually they will probably fill this with stores and my suggestion would be leave it until Spring and if they use the honey over the winter then that's fine ... if they don't you can harvest what is left in spring and have some delicious cut comb honey (no foundation in it !) and replace the frames with 14 x 12, with or without foundation, when you take the extended frames out.

 

[Lindylou]

Hi troedyrhiw,
The same thing happened to me when we got our first nuc. I think you will find that
the comb built on the bottom of the super frame will be filled with drone brood. This is a good way of measuring your varroa as varroa prefer to lay their eggs on drone larvae,
so if you have an uncapping fork (which in my opinion is the easiest way) fork out the drone larvae and you will easily see any varroa. You can then discard all the comb and get rid of the varroa at the same time. Plus, you dont really want lots of drones in the hive at this time of year anyway.

 

[Swarm]

Hiya Troedyrhiw (which Troedyrhiw would that be?) Best left alone until next Spring. Not sure why you had shallows in your nuc, this would only cause you, as a novice, a bit of a problem with wild comb.

 

[pargyle]

Hi troedyrhiw,
The same thing happened to me when we got our first nuc. I think you will find that
the comb built on the bottom of the super frame will be filled with drone brood. This is a good way of measuring your varroa as varroa prefer to lay their eggs on drone larvae,
so if you have an uncapping fork (which in my opinion is the easiest way) fork out the drone larvae and you will easily see any varroa. You can then discard all the comb and get rid of the varroa at the same time. Plus, you dont really want lots of drones in the hive at this time of year anyway.

Mine stopped rearing drones a couple of weeks ago, the free comb on the bottom of the frames is now getting filled with stores. But, if you do have drone brood there it's a good chance to check the Varroa load. I'd leave the comb in place though - if you chop it off they will just re-build it if that's what they want.

 

[troedyrhiw]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll wait until next year and hope the comb stiffens.

Some of the comb was going a little wild so I had to remove some as it joined a couple of frame bottoms together. Unfortunately it was a mixture of stores and grubs

Swarm - troedyrhiw is the name of the house/farm... Not the village. Oddly enough we do get the odd miss directed letter in the post

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Swarm - troedyrhiw is the name of the house/farm... Not the village. Oddly enough we do get the odd miss directed letter in the post

So whereabouts is Troedyrhiw then Troedyrhiw? (and I know it's at the bottom of a hill somewhere!) croeso by the way - from Penyrhiw! (the original name of the row of hovels they demolished to build Brynmair)

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

(the original name of the row of hovels they demolished to build Brynmair)

Was it a like-for-like replacement?

Dusty

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Was it a like-for-like replacement?

Dusty

yes, but bigger, with it's own outside single toilet (apparently previously all the hovels shared the one 'double seater'

 

[oliver90owner]

Nuc sized colonies don't build oodles of drone comb - they are more clever than that! Same as when an empty box is left under the winter cluster - they build worker comb early in the spring.

 

[itma]

If you get shorter frames between deeper ones (rather than being together) they will draw straighter comb.
But don't go throwing all-foundation frames between them.
Rearrange it to improve things only with thought and consideration.
But do see if you can help them to help themselves.
I'd get the single shallow frame out of there as soon as you see significant stores on other frames. Sooner the better. You can return it (above an open-hole crownboard) to let the bees 'rob' its remaining contents down into the hive proper.

The only thing that will "stiffen" unsupported comb is using it for brood - the old cocoons make fibre-reinforced wax.
After it is filled with stores, it'll be very heavy -- so it is super-important to keep the plane of the comb vertical while handling the frame. Taking stores-filled and unsupported comb out of the vertical is very likely to break it -- treat it like a topbar comb and its fine.

 

[troedyrhiw]

Thanks guys

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Whereabouts in Wales are you then Troedurhiw?

 

[troedyrhiw]

About 5 miles from you... See you sunday

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Guessed as much hope the weather's better for us then!