My first Bees

[thunderbird]

I picked up my 1st bees last monday (Thanks Liam) they seem to be settled and foraging well, at what point should i do a full inspection? i have monitored them through the OMF and i now have 7 frames covered with bees with comb drawn on two new foundation sheets,at what point should i add a super. any advice welcome. Thanks Steve

 

[VEG]

I would add a super when they have 7 frames of brood (brood not just covered with bees)

 

[oliver90owner]

at what point should i add a super.

A super? You should still be adding foundation in the brood!

Don't even think about a super until all the brood foundation has been added.

RAB

 

[thunderbird]

at what point should i add a super.

A super? You should still be adding foundation in the brood!

Don't even think about a super until all the brood foundation has been added.

RAB

RAB. The bees were from a hive split a 2010 queen and five frames,all new additional foundation was added to fill the brood box when i hived the bees, in this last week they have built comb on at least 2 of the new frames, my main question was when should i open the hive up for a full inspection and at what point should i add a super. I have only had the bees a week and thought it best to let them settle in before opening them up. Steve

 

[thunderbird]

I would add a super when they have 7 frames of brood (brood not just covered with bees)

should i do a full inspection now?they have been hived a week or should i leave them longer to settle. Steve

 

[alynewbee]

Hi Thunder,
I'm a complete newbie so please feel free to disregard anything I say, but I was in a similar situation to you last week having received my first swarm, which I put into my national hive which contained only foundation. I left them alone for 7 days to settle in, then I opened up and had a look. To my utter astonishment they had, in those seven days, drawn out all the foundation, both sides. It was full of nectar, some capped honey and some small amount of pollen. I was advised to put on a QE and a super on top so that they would have room to store more nectar while it ripened. I did this and left them to it. All seems well at the mo, they're nice and peaceable around the garden, and I'm looking forward to opening them up again on Thursday. Not really advice, I'm sorry, but hope something might be helpful there. Good luck with your ladies. Aly

 

[thunderbird]

Hi Thunder,
I'm a complete newbie so please feel free to disregard anything I say, but I was in a similar situation to you last week having received my first swarm, which I put into my national hive which contained only foundation. I left them alone for 7 days to settle in, then I opened up and had a look. To my utter astonishment they had, in those seven days, drawn out all the foundation, both sides. It was full of nectar, some capped honey and some small amount of pollen. I was advised to put on a QE and a super on top so that they would have room to store more nectar while it ripened. I did this and left them to it. All seems well at the mo, they're nice and peaceable around the garden, and I'm looking forward to opening them up again on Thursday. Not really advice, I'm sorry, but hope something might be helpful there. Good luck with your ladies. Aly

Hi Aly. good to hear your bees are doing so well and thanks for your comments. Steve

 

[oliver90owner]

A 5 frame split should not swarm too soon. That said, it could if the split was simply a queen and bees from a colony about to swarm. You should be able to rely on the disease or pest situation from your supplier, if it is just one week after the split, as it is likely identical to the rest of the original colony.

So is this 5 frames and two frames have been completely drawn? Is it with two further frames with some being drawn? Is it on seven frames with 2 further being drawn? Was it's make-up similar to a 5 frame nuc or much further advanced than that? All questions we can guess at.

You may have been lucky adding seven frames of foundation at this time of the year - the weather has been favourable, perhaps. Another time they may have been severely set back.

I would think weather and opprtunity are the driving factors with a small colony. If a swarmy strain they may need very regular inspection for swarm cells, but not for all the usual items. When they might need a super will again depend on the strain and the weather and the forage available and....

Checking weekly, for queen cells, from now on might be sensible, but remember a full inspection is only done to answer a complete list of specific questions so not all the hive needs to be dissected every time. In that sense I do not do a 'full inspection' very often (who needs to check if there are enough stores to last until the next check when it is in the middle of the OSR season, per eg).

Checks are weekly at this time of the year simply because of the swarming risk only. I would likely not do a full inspection for the first month.

 

[thunderbird]

A 5 frame split should not swarm too soon. That said, it could if the split was simply a queen and bees from a colony about to swarm. You should be able to rely on the disease or pest situation from your supplier, if it is just one week after the split, as it is likely identical to the rest of the original colony.

So is this 5 frames and two frames have been completely drawn? Is it with two further frames with some being drawn? Is it on seven frames with 2 further being drawn? Was it's make-up similar to a 5 frame nuc or much further advanced than that? All questions we can guess at.

You may have been lucky adding seven frames of foundation at this time of the year - the weather has been favourable, perhaps. Another time they may have been severely set back.

I would think weather and opprtunity are the driving factors with a small colony. If a swarmy strain they may need very regular inspection for swarm cells, but not for all the usual items. When they might need a super will again depend on the strain and the weather and the forage available and....

Checking weekly, for queen cells, from now on might be sensible, but remember a full inspection is only done to answer a complete list of specific questions so not all the hive needs to be dissected every time. In that sense I do not do a 'full inspection' very often (who needs to check if there are enough stores to last until the next check when it is in the middle of the OSR season, per eg).

Checks are weekly at this time of the year simply because of the swarming risk only. I would likely not do a full inspection for the first month.

Thanks RAB. The bees came on five drawn frames with brood and stores and have since drawn comb on two additional frames so they are now up to seven drawn frames the colony size has increased somewhat over the last week, i am able to see the bottom of the frames through the mesh floor and have removed the cover board to check the top of the frames i havent noticed any queen cells yet,i think i will continue checking them this way and do a full inspection in a month as you say, do i wait untill they get to the outer frames before adding a super ? Thanks steve

 

[susbees]

As the brood nest gets bigger they will move the bulk of their stores into the two outside frames. Then next two in will have a bit of brood and the rest mostly brood with pollen and, if native-type, an good arch of stores over the top.

So yes is the answer.

I don't do "inspections". As RAB says each check is for different things and you should leave the hive with a list of what needs doing/looking for the next time.

Saying that I'm grafting larvae for a closed breeding programme for our local BKA improvement group end of the week. Then I need to remember I'm a scientist....and so do the rest of them!