WBC Hive Details

[Firefly]

Please forgive me for asking a couple of beginner questions. I have tried reading books and the web, but have not quite convinced myself of the right answers

Installed a nucleus with 5 frames in a new WBC hive last week. First inspection last night; all very encouraging: drawn comb everywhere, lots of milky white larvae, lots of nectar and pollen, all the bees smiling, queen zipping around the comb as if she has not read the book about queens being lazy and torpid

Q1: In my haste to install the nucleus, I have put 11 Hoffman frames into the WBC brood chamber. The advice I have read says "some bee-keepers do this", but advises 10 + a dummy board (which I have), because then you can slide the frames back & forth during inspection. Should I whip a frame out and replace with the dummy board, while I have the chance?

Q2: My hive has built in (slide in/out) mesh floor and Varroa tray. Am I right that the tray lives _out_ and is installed only for monitoring? So the base of the hive is protected only by the mesh for most of the year (including winter - which was -15C here in January)?

Many thanks for your help

 

[beeboybee]

Q1 yep ten frames and dummy will make it much easier later on as the brood box gets full.
Q2. yep leave it out all the time apart from monitoring purposes.(bee's don't mind the cold its the damp thats bad)

 

[biggles]

Q1 Keep it with 11. Just take out a end frame first and check the queens not on it, then place it in front of the hive and carry on inspecting. 10 frames is really to small and swarm control is easier with more frames.

Q2 Try lives in to monitor all the time. Take it out when inspecting to see how much varroa they have and then clean it.

Welcome to bee keeping, ask ten bee keepers and get 20 answers :O)

 

[Polyanwood]

with BBB

The dummy or extra frame question is just a matter of preference and doesn't make much odds.

I say unequivocally ; don't leave the inspection boards in.

There is no point having OMFs and leaving the inspection board in. They won't work to reduce varroa load and they will cause damp which is bad. (There is a big point is leaving it in from time to time to test though )

 

[Firefly]

Thanks guys - at least I know I wasn't too stupid to understand the advice that's out there

 

[oliver90owner]

To further reinforce, with Polyanwood.

You may very likely need to go to a brood and a half or double brood, or a 14 x 12 box if the colony is at all prolific.

Regards, RAB

 

[whizzwheels]

I have 11 frames in my WBC hives, I don't bother with a dummy board. I just take out the frame at the edge when inspecting which very rarely gets drawn.

I never leave the board in on the open mesh floor, I usually put it in for a few day when I want to monitor the mite count(drop) and then leave it out.
My bees have survived the last two winters without it and up to 12inches of snow and -15C temperature.

I leave it out so the hive get ventilation as I've been told a damp hive is far worst that a cold one.

P.S. as usual you ask a group of beekeepers a question and you get a load of different answer

 

[whizzwheels]

Forgot to add I agree with going to a brood and a half, a standard WBC brood box is too small.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Forgot to add I agree with going to a brood and a half, a standard WBC brood box is too small.

Having moved from one to the other I can verify that a 14x12 WBC brood box is much easier than brood and a half

 

[oliver90owner]

An extra advantage of a dummy board (over getting it out easily without 'rolling' bees) is that it can be inserted at the other end of the box when the frames have been checked and replaced. Saves a little time, and the aggravation of having to move 9 or 10 frames back to where they started. (The end frame may not be exchangeable as it may not be drawn to the same contour as the adjacent frame at the other end of the box.)

Further if the end frame is not drawn there is little point in it being there. Dummy boards are much more robust and can be much cheaper than a frame, in the long run.

RAB