New!! old hive !! Advise ASAP please

[woodyapex]

I've just cadeged a hive off a game keeper it's old and unused for a few years but not by the bees !! It's full of bees !!
It has a brood box and I think a queen separator plus a super in! but it's gunked up to hell .
It is now at mine in situ ( placed there tonight in the dark and foam took out of the entrance ) but I could do with a quick step by step of what to do with them !
What do I do now ??
How soon can I clean this out .?

Add another super ?

Just a quick initial step by step with time scales ASAP
Just in case I needto do something in the morning ?
Many thanks
Woody

 

[rae]

Question 1. Have you moved it more than three miles? If yes, fine. If not, then they may return to the site of their old home.

Question 2. Is the hive in a physically bad state? If not, good. If yes, make sure you have sufficient kit to rehome them before you start inspecting.

As to inspection, I'd watch them for a day. If they fly well, it is a good sign. If they are quiet, probably not so good.

Things you'll need to worry about:

- The state of the combs, especially brood if they have been "abandoned" for several years. If they are in half good order as a colony, I'd give them a new brood on top of the existing one, let her lay it up, then restrict her to the new brood, let the old brood emerge, then you can decide what to do with the combs.

- Disease. You'll need to worry about varroa. If the hive has an OMF, then stick the board in and do a drop count. If the hive doesn't have an OMF, look in the floor debris for dead varroa, look for physical signs if infestation - mites, deformed wings.

- Swarming. If they are in good order, then they may be revving up to swarm. They may have already swarmed. Be prepared to do an AS, but sealed queen cells may be suspect after transportation

Really no different to a standard inspection. You're looking for presence of a queen (eggs, young larvae), you don't need to find the queen. You're looking for a good, solid brood pattern. You're checking that they have enough room. The only difference is that you have absolutely no idea what you are going to find!

 

[woodyapex]

Cheers
Yes more than three miles about 20
I'll keep my eye on them tomorrow .
So would you not look in the hive tomorrow .
So on toP of the broad box put another brood box ? That's easy !
The hive is not too bad ( external ) just one joint parting a little . What should I do with the existing super ? I've got a feeling it's full of honey ,
I've no limit to supers , super frames , wax , and brood boxes !
I've loads !
Should I just updAte this post in the morning when I open it up ??
Thanks rae
Woody

 

[onriver]

just let us know what you find!
they've survived the past few years without any input so are they on the verge of destruction or is there something else going on?

 

[alynewbee]

Exciting, let us know what you find, and good luck with them.

 

[woodyapex]

what to do now ????

i'm just working on getting photos online for you to see .
So we have a brood box ! with frames in but the wax starters disintigrated years ago . it has frames in but they are just pulling apart as they are all held in with prop .
on top of that was a queen seperator gunked up and only 20 % pass through able !
then a super with frames that are resonablely removeable but not perfect by any strecth they are nearly full of honey but only 70 % capped .
but i've got to say it does not look the most apertizeing as when you see the pics its very dark and old looking !!!!

so i've just knocked a brood box up and frames galore and supers are already knocked up .

as for flyng well ! little action when we got there but my other bees were the same ( maybe cos its early and a little misty )
but they for sure are flying ok when we were inspecting them !

so what to do ???

if any of you wouldn't mind i do phone calls on 07974653481 .

If you can under stand the barnsley accent

i can call you back !

otherwise a post on here .

thanks woody photos any min soon !

 

[woodyapex]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28363626/photos/photo_1.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28363626/photos/photo_2.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28363626/photos/photo_3.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28363626/photos/photo_4.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28363626/photos/photo_5.JPG

Photo links

 

[woodyapex]

ok this is what i've done

ok this is what ive done .
from bottom up !!!!
original base ,
then original brood box ( gunked up and not seperatable at the min )
then ive put a new brood box full of wax frames !
then a new queen seperator
, then a new super full of sheets
then a board with a bee trap in
and then the old super
n lid

I've made sure they can access the trap from all directions .
they are flying well .

Is what ive done so far ok ??????

please see new post " not another new swarm " as now another swarm has appeared near one of my original hives .

thanks woody

 

[woodyapex]

my bee keeping friend has been down to see if we could see what state the brood is in and if there are any queen cells but we have had to give up and revert to plan a raes idea of waiting till we've new cells in the brood box and trap the queen in to let the bees hatch .

 

[rae]

Sounds perfect - what you are doing is effectively a bailey change. See:

http://www.*****************/bee/baileychange.html

Your queen excluder will clean up nicely.

Once the bees are established in the new frames, deffo ditch the old ones - or keep them for a bait hive. They're manky. The honey looks a bit dubious as well!

Edit: the link is at Dave Cushman's site. Look up "Bailey Comb change" and it is the first link.

 

[Tom Bick]

Woody it seams to me that you are very practical person and a fast learner the action you have taken over this hive I think is a good way to approach the problem and will in time work.

Just a word of caution you may need your practical skills in time as with this hive and the swarms you seem to be attracting like a magnet the bees may not be the most perfect bees and may cause you a few sleepless nights.

But I am confident that you will work out along with your beekeeping buddy the best way forward.

Good look you have had an interesting start to beekeeping an I hope it continues.

 

[woodyapex]

Thanks

Ok read the bailey change seemed straight forward enough !!

It's all quiet at the min down here , it's a relief really as its been a hectic few days ! Its a good job i'm between loft conversions !

me and my bro have just extracted two jars of honey off one of the old super frames ,
One gave to my next door nieghbour ( just to appeze them ) before they get they get upset at all the action down here !!

honey = happy

woody