Why does my uniting never work?

[AdrianSmith]

Pepared during the day,like removing any unwanted queen,re-arranging supers if needed,not jobs you want to be doing when its very nearly dark a few minutes before uniting, with many bees airborn.

I reunited 2 colonies for the first time recently and it was the airborn bees that worried me the most. So, I put some paper on the floor of the BB that was to be moved and pushed it down so the bees still had space. When I came back at dusk I could lift it up over the entrance, stick it to the BB, and not have many bees from that BB out and about.
What happens to flying bees from the top BB?
I went well btw.

 

[Into the lions den]

Uniting is not rocket science and reading this thread you would think it was. Paper method works. Air freshener method works. Working single handed the latter suits well in a moorland environement.

When using paper we just do it as and when we are there, and have never had any serious issues. The flying bees eventually get admitted to the nearest entrance.

As has been suggested, I suspect the time delay is the issue involved that has caused the difficulties. Its about the ONLY thing that can have been wrong.

 

[richardbees]

I united today, let's see if it works.

The Qcell hadn't hatched in an AS so I united it back on top the new bb. The new bb is going like a train, laying well with 2 supers on top from which I've already taken 5 sealed frames.

Although I had a can of Airwick handy I just couldn't bring myself to use it. so i just put a single sheet of the Sunday Times on top of the top super, quickly covering it with the bb.....then made cuts in the paper down between the frames with a long knife, halfway towards each corner.

Maybe that's where Ivor is going wrong i.e. a few holes with a knitting needle aren't enough and maybe the upper bees are suffocating?

- totally confident that they'll have united by Sunday, I'll let you know

richard

 

[meidel]

Was the top BB fairly busy with bees? Then I'd bet you any money they'll have united by today

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Thanks for all of this everyone. You have put a lot of time and thought into helping me and I really appreciate it.

The best answer to this is by me trying again but this time without the time delay and letting you all know what happens. Anyone with a swarm in Dorset?

There may be something in the yellow versus black bees theory as two out of the three occasions was this scenario.

I had no chance to look at the third disaster yesterday as it rained throughout (which may have been a good thing) but I should be able to today and I'll let you know what I find.

Oh and Poly Hive, I have worked out where we were missing each other re. the Cushman quote. As you will know beekeping advice is liberally copied and pasted throughout the internet. The piece I read, and which I quoted, was attributed to Cushman but when I checked does not appear to be the same one that is on the collective site of his work. I can only imagine the citation is wrong. I hope Somerset change their entry and if I have done DC an injustice then I apologise but you can understand why. However, there is still his opinion on letting the queens fight it out which I think is very bad advice!

 

[Poly Hive]

Ah! When you said DC I assumed you had it from his site.

Horses mouth pays off.

PH

 

[Ivor Kemp]

To be honest PH so did I!

It was only when I checked back that I realised that the two pieces didn't tally.

Somewhere (not Somerset) there is the document that I quoted from attributed to DC.

 

[Poly Hive]

Fair enough.

I just wish if people rip stuff off they leave it alone so the message stays pure. It's when they start adding bits they invent that others get into trouble.

Frankly if it is on Dave's OWN site it is most likely correct.

PH

 

[susbees]

I don't think that all this concern about air freshener makes sense given that we routinely put much more toxic substances into our hives (thymol, oxalic acid, etc.)

Thymol and oxalates are in things we eat....there is a difference!

 

[susbees]

then made cuts in the paper down between the frames with a long knife, halfway towards each corner.

Maybe that's where Ivor is going wrong i.e. a few holes with a knitting needle aren't enough and maybe the upper bees are suffocating?

Couple of small stabs with the pointy bit of my German hive tool works great. It doesn't take them long...we used a card A4 divider from the old filing cabinet in the bee shed the other day to combine a commercial nuc (and empty box on top - they have loose floors) because there was no newspaper in the box and that worked fine too...aggressive dequeened bees now calm.

 

[richardbees]

Couple of small stabs with the pointy bit of my German hive tool works great.

That has echoes of Jonesy in Dad's Army!!!

Presumably we are both agreeing that small punctures from a knitting needle aren't sufficient.

It was obvious from a glance at the entrance this evening that they've united - no fighting, just a general increase in activity

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Managed to get into the disaster area today.

Interesting. Although there was carnage on the floor several hundred bees from the weaker colony remained in the upper chamber presumably waiting for something to happen but not willing to make the journey through the QE.

I whipped these off and have tried a unite with the paper method on another hive but this time putting it on straight away.

Watch this space.