Advice Please

[queenB]

Im a new bee keeper and my one precious colony acquired in August has just survived its first (extremely cold) winter in the far north. My bees are coming out a bit now and all looks well. They are in a new national hive with old frames. The queen excluder was removed at the start of the winter and one super left above the brood box. We fed them as much ambrosia as they wanted in the autumn via an entrance feeder - it all disappeared (presumably into the hive) and has kept them in food all winter. In January we put a block of apifonda in on top of the super frames just incase they were running short and they have just started munching that now. I have a block of pollen substitute for them - should I put that out yet?
In the next few weeks we would like to find the queen and get her back down into the brood box so we can replace queen excluder. We would also like to replace the old frames (brood and supers) with new as far as possible without stressing the colony. Any advice on the best way to do that? Can we just put a brand new super on top of the brood box with all new frames / foundation? Obviously the brood frames cant be done like that - perhaps we can just replace one or two of them a year?
Also should we move everything to a new hive and clean / re-treat the old one or should we avoid doing that (the hive is just 7 months old so there is no hurry but Im guessing we should move them every now and then so that hives can be given a new coat of preservative etc).
Advice greatly appreciated. I have joined SBA and my local bee club so its great to have so many sources of information.

[gavin]

Excellent to see you here queenB! It sounds like you are well-informed and well prepared, unlike me in my early years in beekeeping. I'm really pleased that you are in the local bee club as well as the SBA. Parts of the far north are still (I'm told) thought to be Varroa-free and the advice of the local beekeepers will be invaluable.

Pollen substitute? Perhaps once the bees are flying freely in a couple of weeks? The need for that might depend on local conditions, as in most places in Scotland they can find their own pollen when they need it. However, as with Popz's bees on Mull, you might be wanting to maximise their build-up early in the season. I've never used it, and will be interested to hear how it turns out.

I don't open my hives in earnest (here in sunny lowland Perthshire) until a warm day in April, so I wouldn't go on a full scale queen hunt until then if I was you. Perhaps - again on a warm day but as soon as you like - just slip a Q excluder between the brood box and super. Then you can have a quick check a week later to see if the super is free of eggs and young brood. Otherwise you can leave this for another few weeks when finding the queen with the disturbance that causes will be possible.

If your hive is made of Western Red Cedar I wouldn't be concerned about replacing any preservative. Even if it isn't, any preservative should last a couple of years. Replacing super frames? Yes, you could take off the super with stores, and maybe use it again later in the season if you want to return to a brood and a half for next winter. Unless you suspect problems with the old frames? Getting that Q excluder between the boxes means that it will then take 3 weeks for the brood cells to empty, but by then the bees may be putting nectar back in the empty cells.

Replacing brood frames. Yes you can take away unused ones and replace with foundation, aiming for one third of the frames per season. Here, where we worry more about foulbrood, many of us will try a Bailey comb change. Foulbrood should be less of a concern for you, but comb replacement can help keep Nosema, chalkbrood and viruses at low levels. For that, restrict the space in the bottom box with dummy boards/polystyrene boards, add a box of foundation on top with dummy boards at the same place and foundation above the occupied frames. After a week check that the queen has gone up and insert a queen excluder. Just over three weeks later (you may need to feed) the bottom box will have empty frames which you take away, together with the box they are in. Then you can either destroy the combs or sterilise in acetic acid fumes in a bin bag.

Doing that Bailey comb change with the super on top of both boxes might mean that the new brood box becomes the centre of attention and you could then remove the super with stores. In the long run it is easier to keep them in a single brood box as there should be sufficent stores in one well-filled brood box for the winter. Then you can keep supers for honey alone.

The simplest way though: get a queen excluder in, check or later move the queen below, take off the super after three weeks and replace with one with foundation, replace any empty and darkened brood frames with foundation, try to avoid brood and a half next winter.

Did that help?

all the best

Gavin

[queenB]

Thanks Gavin - much appreciated. You have given us a few cracking ideas to try. The brood and a half over the winter came through reading too many American bee books and worrying that they ran out of food or space - we probably wont want to do that again as it isnt the normal practice up here.
No evidence of disease but have versed ourselves up on all the normal ailments so hopefully we will recognise any future problems. Varroa and foul brood hasnt reached here and hopefully never will but neither are far away so we need to be extra vigilant. All we can do is take sensible precautions and keep a close eye / send floor scrapings for analysis etc.
Our hive is red cedar but we gave the exterior a couple of coats of bee friendly preservative prior to using it. We bought a second hive as a spare with the intention of part swapping for cleaning etc...but perhaps we will look to filling it with a second colony instead this spring.
Next obstacle is swarm control...cant wait!!

[Trog]

I sometimes have large colonies on brood and a half for the winter, so they have the extra stores and space. It's fine as long as one remembers to remove the queen excluder! Very easy to reduce them to single brood box in early spring when the numbers have dropped from the autumn high.

[queenB]

Hopefully mine will be easy to move back down to the brood box - they seem to have good temperaments as I havent had a single sting yet in the 8 months Ive had them. Just got to wait for improved weather as this week has been far too chilly!!

[Stromnessbees]

Hi queenB

You say you haven't had a single sting yet in those 8 months. Just to clarify: Do your wear gloves and veil and what type of bees do you keep? My own bees seem placid enough, but since I stopped wearing gloves I have had the odd sting, mostly through not being careful enough when handling the frames.

Doris

[beeanne]

I'm glad you asked re: brood and a half /queen excluder, as mine are the same way - I was worrying about lack of stores if they "only" had a brood box, also that was how they'd been overwintered by previous owner, but don't want a brood and a half as a permanent thing. My brood box looks to be really heavily propylised to the super, so I think I'll wait until milder April days - does that sound sensible?

[gavin]

Yup, very sensible Anne. Trog was right - it is often not too much of a hassle to reduce the boxes to one, as long as the brood nest is still small and you can find the queen. Three of mine have a super on this winter, two of them went back on as I was worried that they didn't have nearly enough stores in their brood boxes.

[queenB]

Hi queenB

You say you haven't had a single sting yet in those 8 months. Just to clarify: Do your wear gloves and veil and what type of bees do you keep? My own bees seem placid enough, but since I stopped wearing gloves I have had the odd sting, mostly through not being careful enough when handling the frames.

Doris


Hi Doris - yes Im still wearing gloves and a half-suit with attached veil, but only when Im actually opening the hive / handling frames. My girls will buzz and head butt me a bit if I disturb them but no stings to date (at least none that has penetrated the protective gear). Perhaps they know that Im on their side and I have never actually taken any honey from them yet. When I was feeding ambrosia in an entrance feeder late last summer I got the distinct impression that they actually got excited at dinner time and were pleased to see me. I would go up early each evening with a pint of ambrosia in the feeder and no protective gear on. By the time I had set the feeder down at the hive entrance it would always be covered in bees and not one ever stung me. By the following evening the ambrosia would be all gone and the bees waiting for more. Im sure I will be stung sooner or later. They have certainly stung my other half a few times haha!!
As for type - I dont have the faintest idea!! Apis mellifera something or other!! Will have to ask my local beeclub that one!! To be honest they all look the same to me.

[Trog]

I'm still wearing gloves after 20+ years! Apart from anything else, it keeps the midges off - they're far worse than bees and there's nothing you can do if they start biting just as you lift a frame ... and clegs are even worse as I'm mildly allergic to them ...