Winter Pre enquiry

[Erichalfbee]

It's cool and more interesting info to read.

Anyway , quick one please -

When slipping the QE back on the BB what is the best ( kindest/safest ) way of moving her in the BB if she is indeed sat on the super frames .

Thanks

Blow

 

[Millet]

It's cool and more interesting info to read.

Anyway , quick one please -

When slipping the QE back on the BB what is the best ( kindest/safest ) way of moving her to the BB if she is indeed sat on the super frames .

Thanks

Catch her in a Queen marking tube as soon as you spot her and gently release her below, i do not like them Queen clip catching devices as it is too easy to squash the Queen.

 

[Curly green fingers]

Catch her in a Queen marking tube as soon as you spot her and gently release her below, i do not like them Queen clip catching devices as it is too easy to squash the Queen.

That's how I've been advised to move the Queen nice one!

 

[SWEET]

Thanks , i've some kit i use to move DWA spiders ( as they kill ) but seems a little extreme , tube sounds a plan .

First off i'll just add the QE and check a week latter to see if there are eggs in the supper , saving me the hassle .

PS. changed the in/to typo

 

[Millet]

Thanks , i've some kit i use to move DWA spiders ( as they kill ) but seems a little extreme , tube sounds a plan .

First off i'll just add the QE and check a week latter to see if there are eggs in the supper , saving me the hassle .

PS. changed the in/to typo

You can do that but you still need to Spot the Queen if eggs are in the Super regardless.. but then again it will save you rooting through the bottom box to find her..

 

[Hivemaker.]

what is the best ( kindest/safest ) way of moving her to the BB if she is indeed sat on the super frames .

Just pick her up gently by her "handles" (wings) and place her in the other box.

....like this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EMhmfvHKFg

 

[Erichalfbee]

Blow

Oh dear.....misunderstood the question......again

 

[drex]

I'm with HM. If you are just going to bung in the QE and see, blow a lot of smoke over the super before you QE and that will most likely drive her down, if she is indeed in the super

 

[SWEET]

The smoke down sounds a good idea thanks! . On another note , the super was/is loaded with syrup , do people stash these away for next winter ? or spin the frames and remove it etc .

Logic would say stash away as the bees have worked hard storing/capping it .

 

[drex]

It's syrup, so you do not want to extract it. Keep an eye out for wax moth, which is unlikely in supers, and store it. Will come in handy at some time for nucs, splits etc. Not gone back on the whole thread, but if this colony is low on stores, you could always bung it under the BB for a couple of weeks and they will move any stores up into BB, and the super will be empty when you take it off. However make sure there will still be room in BB for queen to lay.

 

[Millet]

Oh dear.....misunderstood the question......again

I wondered what you meant

 

[SWEET]

Decided to add the QE today as weather decent and warm ( ish ) , they had welded the BB to the super so splitting that apart was fun ( not ) , they seemed a bit angry but smoke did it's job. Loads of stores in the Super , no brood in supper ( which is great ) so the decision to use a super of stores on top of the BB and remove the QE went well . I used inspection cloths to keep bees covered , this worked well , especially when scanned the wax from the BB frames .

Good points -

• Lots of bees on the frames
• Plenty of stores still in the super
• No brood in super ( never checked BB ) assume Queen in BB .
• Seems a good method for overwintering
• No stings

Neg points
• They welded the BB and super together , this was a pain and could be a nightmare if someone ( new beekeeper ) used the same method and lifted the BB frames dropping them all over the place.
• Removing wax from the tops of BB frames so i could fit the QE

Successful i reckon , i'll remove the super mid April and clean/remove the floor etc , side frames had a few mould spots , i'll sort if bees don't .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4vXJxN_bg4

^^ what could have happened ho ho

Thanks for all the tips/help along the way.

For Ref ( so people don't have to read the whole thread ) , Super was left on top of the BB with QE removed .

 

[Millet]

Decided to add the QE today as weather decent and warm ( ish ) , they had welded the BB to the super so splitting that apart was fun ( not ) , they seemed a bit angry but smoke did it's job. Loads of stores in the Super , no brood in supper ( which is great ) so the decision to use a super of stores on top of the BB and remove the QE went well . I used inspection cloths to keep bees covered , this worked well , especially when scanned the wax from the BB frames .

Good points -

• Lots of bees on the frames
• Plenty of stores still in the super
• No brood in super ( never checked BB ) assume Queen in BB .
• Seems a good method for overwintering
• No stings

Neg points
• They welded the BB and super together , this was a pain and could be a nightmare if someone ( new beekeeper ) used the same method and lifted the BB frames dropping them all over the place.
• Removing wax from the tops of BB frames so i could fit the QE

Successful i reckon , i'll remove the super mid April and clean/remove the floor etc , side frames had a few mould spots , i'll sort if bees don't .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4vXJxN_bg4

^^ what could have happened ho ho

Thanks for all the tips/help along the way.

For Ref ( so people don't have to read the whole thread ) , Super was left on top of the BB with QE removed .

I don't know what the weather is like for you but here it is far too early to add the Excluder.. what if the bees have no food in the brood box.. they will go through the excluder to get to the stores in the super and possibly leave the Queen behind.. don't forget we are not out of the woods yet as far as the cold weather goes we are forecast more cold weather after the weekend..

P.s that fellow in the video requires Psychiatric help by the look of things.. lol

 

[SWEET]

Hi , i did try and cover all angles with above post , the BB is rammed with stores and the reason for todays check was the potential cold weather forecast so wanted to check if they needed a feed , there must be 15kg + of stores easy.

Yeah nutcase , the poor chicken gets it .

 

[drex]

So you went in to check they had enough stores. You end up splitting boxes, removing brace comb and putting in a QE? ???
IMHO much too early, this year, for all that fiddling about. As per Millet, the cluster may now move above the QE leaving HM behind. Bye bye HM. More cold weather is forecast.
What' s wrong with hefting?
However I fiddled too much, too early in my early days.

 

[SWEET]

Thanks for the input and i'll report how it turns out . It's interesting regards the cluster ( the bees are not clustered ) moving up into the super , i've read lots of accounts/papers where people don't bother removing the QE before winter and no harm comes from this , so adding one at start of April seems low risk .

The fiddling took a few minutes and the frames were covered with cloths ( the super covered with the insulated eke, i guess the post might have come across as taking hours etc .

I've read lots of information before i decided on this action , Manley/Brown and others all state around mid March so i'm hoping the timings not far off .

These opinions are helpful tho thanks.

 

[drex]

Totally understand, but beekeeping is not run by the calendar, but by your local conditions and climate. Might have been lovely in the midlands but too cold here.
I read lots, but also try to think through what I am doing, and would never leave a QE in over winter.

If they have not brooded in the super and still have lots of stores, does that queen actually need brood and a half this season?

 

[Swarm]

Mid March? All depends which March I'd say but certainly not this March.

 

[SWEET]

Wrapping the thread up with a final image , the winter prep worked perfectly , today it was 14+ ( lovely and sunny ) and the bees were out from 9am and are still working in huge numbers bringing in pollen and water @ 5.30 , i'll be using the same methods for the new hives this coming winter .

Full super over BB with QE removed , OM floor , insulated CB , mouse-guard( Apiguard mid September , OA Jan (drip)) .

Snap of the bees

Cheers
D

 

[Millet]

Nice picture but don't forget all that could still change in the next few weeks and like mentioned many times every year is different, hopefully the weather forecast is wrong for your location but here is supposed to turn wintry yet again very soon.