second brood chamber

[burch]

hi as advised i am trying to get my bees moved over from my national to a smith hive that i purchased by adding a crown board and placing the smith brood champer on top. the new chamber has been on the hive for about a week. i have checked it today and the bees have not yet started to draw out the comb. i pressume that this is due to the weather we have had over the last few days making it impossible for the bees to get out. Please advise.

 

[BKF Admin]

Have you put a feed on them to help draw the foundation ?

They should be able to draw out a Smith box in around 6 days with a good feed.

 

[Poly Hive]

Ca canny admin. 6 days? they will take as long as it takes feed and weather depending.

Best not to put times on these things as folks then have specific expectations.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Thats very true PH.
Although a couple of weeks back I put a second national brood box on a hive and fed 2lb sugar and then another 2lb the next day,they had fully drawn every frame at the end of day 4 and by day 10 the queen had laid up 6 frames.

But like you say what with weather and location I may be setting myself up for a fall with that post above.

 

[Poly Hive]

Not to mention your bonny sunny mild climate unlike any other in the UK hmmmmmmm??

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

We have not seen the sun all day if its any consolation.

Here is a temp and weather graph for the last month at home:

 

[burch]

no i havent given them a feed. take it by 2kg you mean 2kg of sugar syrup soloution.

 

[BKF Admin]

I do 1KG (2lb) of sugar to a 2ltr coke bottle then fill it up about 3/4 with water and shake then feed that to the bees,you can also add a little Thymol to stop fermentation if its hot.

 

[burch]

i have a miller feeder i take it i just make up the feed and place it in the feeder and place this on the top of the hive. when you say 2lb of sugar to a 2litre bottle of coke you mean that you mix the water with the sugar ahen fill the bottle 3/4 full

 

[BKF Admin]

I add the dry sugar to the bottle with a small funnel,it comes to about half way up the bottle,I then add water until the level is 3/4 up the bottle.

I think its about a 1-1 solution,that is 1kg of sugar to 1 litre of water.

Its a bit of a dirty way of measuring it but it works for me.

 

[burch]

thanks for that i will make some up and go feed it to them tomorrow. i am correct in saying i just put the feed in the miller feeder in the top of the hive.

 

[BKF Admin]

Thats it,just poor it in.

You will notice a massive difference in a few days regards drawn comb.

Average sugar price in the supermarket this week is about 93 pence a KG unless you can get a big 5kg bag from Asda at £4.00.

 

[burch]

thanks will give it a go tomorrow

 

[Poly Hive]

Or better yet find someone like me with a Bookers card.

60p a kg I think.

PH