Stores in BB

[beesrus]

Hi all,

The bees in one of my hives were on a double BB until i AS'd them a few weeks ago. Since then they have all but ignored the honey super (i wanted them to draw out in time for honey flow) and stored a good amount of honey in the 2nd BB, at the moment the hive is with a virgin queen so i am reluctant to mess with it very much, and there is still a good amount of capped brood in the box.

I thought to use a QE to keep the queen in the lower BB and as the brood emerges above the Queen cannot lay up in it. My only concern with this is how to stop the bees adding honey to the cells after a bee emerges?

Stuck on what to do because they will need store through the winter but they have filled probably 6/7 frames with honey and pollen but it is all quite spread out and i don't want to waste it.

Any help would be great.

 

[Rosti]

Bees will naturally store honey above the laying area. If you have place dthe second brood box above the QE then as brood hatches yielding up storage they will use it in preference. The correct thing to have done would have been to build thie hive post AS as follows:

Roof
Crown
Old BB
spacer super (optional but risks wild comb)
super with frames
QE
New BB
Floor

This is effectively the hive structure after a Demaree. Depending on age of brood the method does risk QC production because the frames are isolated from the brood nest. The remaining brood can be tended but storage goes to the super above the QE. Once brood has hatched the optional crown can be added in and the capping bruised, the bees will then bring remaining stores down as well.

Hope that helps. I would make the switch now, with the crown board below the old BB having bruised the cappings, hopefully you super will get drawn fairly quickly.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I would leave them well alone until the virgin queen is mated.

 

[Rosti]

I would leave them well alone until the virgin queen is mated.

Agreed HM but making this switch as proposed still leaves the new BB below and the QE undistrurbed - along with the virginQ therein, only a switch of the super and the old BB above the QE - with no viable eggs to become QCs, have I missed something?

Re-reading my post I have of course! Splitting crown board (if used) has central feed hole open for access!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Not good messing to much with hives containing virgins,plus which box will she be in....

 

[Rosti]

I thought to use a QE to keep the queen in the lower BB

post implies VQ identified and located in lower one?

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I would leave them. They will create their preferred area for the new queen to lay in (polished cells first) and will move stores and draw comb when they are ready. You might be pleasantly surprised once there is a good amount of sealed brood from the new queen (A months time perhaps) to find they have put the honey upstairs to create space for brood.
Then take off the super and you have them on a double brrod for winter. And no messing about.

 

[Hivemaker.]

OK....I took it as, thought to use excluder,not have used excluder.

 

[Rosti]

OK....I took it as, thought to use excluder,not have used excluder.

Yep, could have interp'd it that way as well! I guess that's why getting multiple posts back helps people consider the options!

 

[beesrus]

I would leave them. They will create their preferred area for the new queen to lay in (polished cells first) and will move stores and draw comb when they are ready. You might be pleasantly surprised once there is a good amount of sealed brood from the new queen (A months time perhaps) to find they have put the honey upstairs to create space for brood.
Then take off the super and you have them on a double brrod for winter. And no messing about.

So your saying that by having a good laying queen the workers will move the honey up into the super on their own?

 

[susbees]

Yes, well I am

 

[Silly Bee]

So your saying that by having a good laying queen the workers will move the honey up into the super on their own?

I would say so, mine have just started doing just that.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I rekon so. You never can tell but by power of telepathy I have told your bees to do it.

Actually as an example I have one colony that did just that. Queencell remaining in the colony. Took ages for her to start laying (5 weeks). Lo and behold the super was 95% full of capped honey and by this time there were 3 frames of brood and about 5 - 6 frames of bees in all. The super was mostly foundation as well.