Splitting Observation Hive.

[Dishmop]

My observation hive is jammed packed with bees... Yesterday 90% of them went out and clustered in my cherry tree but came back because the queen wasnt with them.. She's been clipped. They were streaming through the entrance tube like a crowd leaving a football match....
For the last week of warmish weather quite a lot of them have been sitting on the window sill around the hive entrance tube... but I think this is because its been hot in the hive...There is condensation in the entrance tube this morning and some are drinking it......

I have come to the conclusion that I need to split the hive and the sooner the better......

Taking the hive outside isnt going to be too much of a problem........ as long as I dont drop it!!!!!!!!!
There are 4 frames... 2 up 2 down...all national brood frames. Have been watching queen laying eggs this morning on one of the upper frames so I know where the new eggs are, but all frames have stores and capped and uncapped brood... and there is one possible supercedure queen cell but difficult to see because of the amount of bees...

I intend to take 2 frames.....both from the same side of the hive.
As there will only be these two frames my thoughts are that I will need to put them in a 5 frame nuc that I have........which is going to have to be put in my garden......3 or 4 metres away from the entrance for the obs hive.

Do I need to block or reduce the entrance of the nuc for a day or so to stop them flying back to their queen?
What else please?

 

[theengraver]

hi
you ob hive sound great can you post some photos?

 

[Dishmop]

One taken last year just after I installed it..

 

[theengraver]

how do you over winter it?
the water bottle feeder is a great idea

 

[Dishmop]

how do you over winter it?
the water bottle feeder is a great idea

Overwintering was done by just leaving them alone....

I also thought the water bottle was good idea.....

didnt work tho... Had to make a Mkll.

 

[theengraver]

Got to get one sorted out looks like i will be digging out my tools this summer

 

[Liam C Ryan]

Is it just two frames and can you see from both sides . how long and how big is the entrance tube and do you keep them inside? Sorry about all the questions
Regards
Liam C

 

[Dishmop]

Basically its a frame bif enough to hold however many frames you want, then glazed on one or both sides.
Search Google Images for different designs... I think T****es do one.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Interesting OP though, an observation hive like this doesnt lent itself very easily to an AS.

I wouldnt have thought that blocking the entrance will do anything other than make them a bit cross?

Assuming you have access to the outside could you
a) Remove queen and put to one side
b) Empty the rest of the bees into the nuc
c) Replace queen in OH with foundation and frame of brood

More like a shook swarm I guess than an AS, but may have the desired effect?

or await more informed comments....

 

[tonybloke]

Observation hives are normally only used to house bees for a couple of days ( for an exhibition / show). they are (usually) too small to even hope to keep bees in for an extended period of time. A lot of folk on the forum are having trouble keeping bees in an 11 frame national, ( changing to larger format such as 14 x 12) to help reduce the congestion and subsequent swarming issues, yet you are trying to keep them in a 4 frame obs unit?
you've done well to keep them going over winter, but perhaps you should re-house them in a larger hive for the spring / summer?

keep us informed of progress please

 

[Mike a]

Observation hives are normally only used to house bees for a couple of days ( for an exhibition / show). they are (usually) too small to even hope to keep bees in for an extended period of time. You've done well to keep them going over winter, but perhaps you should re-house them in a larger hive for the spring / summer?

keep us informed of progress please

Put them in a nuc for a few months to build up which will give you time to modify the Ob hive to make it bigger.

See this post which is part of this thread

 

[Dishmop]

Been in there since middle of last year...Overwintered without problem, queen started laying about a month(?) ago...... but the hive is now more crowded than it has ever been......... hence why I want to take some out......

1st picture taken in last couple of days and thats not all of them....

2nd picture taken at end of September

 

[tonybloke]

although they've been in there since tail-end of last season, at this time of year the queen will need more than 4 frames to lay in!

 

[Dishmop]

although they've been in there since tail-end of last season, at this time of year the queen will need more than 4 frames to lay in!

Which is why I am going to take two frames out to start with and then the other 2 later on of I need to...

 

[Dishmop]

Thanks for the reminder link Mike A.

Interesting that there are several thoughts/opinions about overwintering..and not being able to cluster.....

why do bees cluster in winter? To keep warm.....Yes?

My hive is in the house.... which in the winter is warmer than being outside...
If they had been cold they wouldnt have spent so much time sitting on the glass looking at me...... they would have gone to the warmest area which must be in between the frames or as near to the middle as they can... but most of the time they were spread out evenly over the top and bottom frames and only when there was a wind blowing up the tube did they move away from where the tube enters the hive.....
At this time of year the sun doesnt reach the back of my house very early in the morning and its funny to watch one or two bees trot down the tube to test the temperature and scurry back again if it they dont think its warm enough..

In countries that are hot/warm all year round, do bees stop doing anything from October to March?

 

[Dishmop]

How about this for goody goody bees...

Took the glass off on one side and they didnt move....... No smoke...

Only time they started any activity was when I scraped some brace comb off the glass before putting it back..........

 

[Dishmop]

do bees have some against male beeks?

After splitting the hive and talking to the nice council men....... bees in obs hive decide to go and sit in the cherry tree again............

Half an hour later they all come back to the hive.

At 4 o'clock I am sitting on back door step watching nuc activity.... I see my first drone this year walking up a piece of wood...... Just going to give the grass a rake over because the blossom is falling......oh look,,, another drone.......

with a blue paint job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dishmop]

Is now 6 days since I removed two frames with bees brood, eggs etc.

I replaced the frames with one which was nearly fully drawn but with some cells damage, but the other frame was just foundation.

They did the repairs to one frame and by the next day there was honey in a few cells. Today nearly all the cells have honey and they have started capping those at the top.

The other frame kept the workers busy building but a few cells in the centre have some honey in.. with building work still going on around the edges of the frame.