First post from a very new beek.
My first colony arrived in a very battered national hive & seems to be doing very well indeed. Unfortunately, the frames have no spacers and the broodbox is jammed full of bees, comb & propolis that inspecting the frames & replacing them is a nightmare. I'm paranoid that I'll squash the queen (Havent seen her yet, but plenty of larvae)
So - the question is: - can I move the frames, after fitting them with plastic spacers to a new brood box (on the same site), and then just empty the remaining bees into the top?
And if so, should I leave the old hive close, or remove it completely
Thanks in advance
My first colony arrived in a very battered national hive & seems to be doing very well indeed. Unfortunately, the frames have no spacers and the broodbox is jammed full of bees, comb & propolis that inspecting the frames & replacing them is a nightmare. I'm paranoid that I'll squash the queen (Havent seen her yet, but plenty of larvae)
So - the question is: - can I move the frames, after fitting them with plastic spacers to a new brood box (on the same site), and then just empty the remaining bees into the top?
And if so, should I leave the old hive close, or remove it completely
Thanks in advance