My first hive

[Simon a beekeeper]

Yesterday I did my first solo inspection on a hive. I did an excellent beginers course early last year and collected my bees in late August in their brood chamber. I did have a quick look at them then as the brood box needed a repair. Yesterday I didn't spot the queen but saw some healthy looking brood so I assume she is there somewhere. I swapped out an old frame for one with new foundation, added a queen excluder, super, new crown board and new roof. My bees seemed very placid, good job really as my smoker failed before I had finished my inspection.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Can you put your location into your profile?
How many full frames of brood were there?

 

[Simon a beekeeper]

There was brood on about 4 frames but not what I would say were FULL frames, should there be at this time of year?

 

[Erichalfbee]

You shouldn’t be adding a super till they have 7 frames full of brood. You’re giving them too much space

 

[Simon a beekeeper]

Oh, I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the advice, will they cope?

 

[blackcloud]

If the mild weather holds.
If not there's a lot of dead space to keep warm

 

[Ian123]

Oh, I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the advice, will they cope?

Yes they’ll cope…… it’s good to stay in front with space requirements and I’d suggest a little extra is better than less for beginners. It’s amazing how much they can expand given decent weather. But you may have jumped the gun a little don’t panic they’ll be fine and by your next inspection will probably be closer to needing it. What type of hive do you have? You may even need a second brood box!

 

[Simon a beekeeper]

I have a national hive that was given to me by a member of a local association, he wasn't able to look after the bees due to health problems. The hive had been neglected with a lot of the frames having old comb, I changed one with new foundation. I added the super and a new roof as I'm not able to check on them for about 10 days, they seemed to be flying well and bringing in lots of pollen.
During the winter I have built a couple of hives from some reclaimed pine as I would like to expand if things go well.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You shouldn’t be adding a super till they have 7 frames full of brood. You’re giving them too much space

way too much space for them to cope with at this time of year

Oh, I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the advice, will they cope?

depends - on the bees as well as the weather.
Apart from the one new frame of foundation you gave them, are the rest of the brood frames drawn?
Are the frames in the super just foundation, drawn comb, or a mix?
Personally I would take the super off for a week or two and leave them build up a bit more, although as Ian says, it won't do them much harm
But then again, no real good either

 

[Simon a beekeeper]

The brood frames are all old drawn comb, the majority filled with stores with not too many empty cells, that's the main reason I added the super. Having said that I don't have any supers with drawn comb, just new frames with foundation which I know they will have to draw out before they can use them.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'd remove the super for now and maybe swap a few of the stores filled brood frames for new frames and foundation.

 

[Simon a beekeeper]

Yes they’ll cope…… it’s good to stay in front with space requirements and I’d suggest a little extra is better than less for beginners. It’s amazing how much they can expand given decent weather. But you may have jumped the gun a little don’t panic they’ll be fine and by your next inspection will probably be closer to needing it. What type of hive do you have? You may even need a second brood box!

Thanks Ian