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wannaBkeeper

New Bee
Joined
May 10, 2010
Messages
42
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Location
Bradford, west Yorkshire.
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
Hi,

Can anyone tell me, is it possible to take a frame of brood from one colony and give it to another colony.

I know that test frames can be added to a queenless colony but what about adding frames to a queen right colony.

Dave:conehead:
 
yes, but.....

it depends on the strength of the colonies, ie

a) is the donor colony strong enough to spare a frame of brood?

b) is the receiving colony strong enough to raise / maintain an additional frame of brood?

if the answer to either is no, then thats your answer.....
 
You can take a frame to build up a colony and go through normal uniting protocols. Dave Cushman describes a way to make a newspaper envelope and put the frame and adhering bees in it. Not tried it myself.
 
Spray both receiving colony and donor frame (with adhering bees if you so wish) with tepid tap water containing lemon grass oil - one of those plant misters will do the job, as will one or two squirts PER FRAME SIDE.

It is a fast method of uniting that I use frequently.....and saves picking up shredded newspaper in the days after using the 'other' method!

By the time they're all sprayed none of them will know where each other has come from and they will settle down quickly.
 
.....and saves picking up shredded newspaper in the days after using the 'other' method!

Mine are well trained, they take the shreds of paper high in the air and drop it so it drifts over the neighbours garden. (honestly - if I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it! )
 
Mine are well trained, they take the shreds of paper high in the air and drop it so it drifts over the neighbours garden. (honestly - if I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it! )


Lolols. Classic! I wish mine were that well trained :)
 
Umm,,, whats tepid tap water please ?

Water that is slightly warm....tepid.
 
wightbees

Well, you won't get much lemon grass oil in water - hydrophylic and hydrophobic and all that (oil and water don't mix too well). Tepid is just that - tepid!

Regards, RAB
 
Well the experiment I did yesterday seems to be ok so far....nuc with newly mated queen and patches of baby bees not enough to cover the large larvae with the hatching brood (older bees had absconded through a small hole avoiding the grass bung :mad:. So got two mugfuls of bees brushed off outer BB frames from a hive at the other end of the apiary and set them beyond a feeding divider with a sheet of newspaper with one tiny hole. They were through by this afternoon and happily going to and fro with stores (not pollen yet).

When I washed down the bees the water had a few drops of peppermint oil (which is miscible in water...). So far, so good.
 
Mine are well trained, they take the shreds of paper high in the air and drop it so it drifts over the neighbours garden. (honestly - if I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it! )

You’re bees must be genetically related to WW2 bees. They dropped foil to confuse the radar didn’t they? Oh no, that was done by aircraft then. :)
 
I likely would, but it is easier to just transfer hatching brood for a beginner - no worries of a scrap. All things are relative.

Regards, RAB
 

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