preparing hives for the bees

15 years ago

My package of bees arrives Saturday, and I know my supplier will be overwhelmed with calls and then deliveries. I hope the good beekeepers here can help me get things ready. I thought I understood what I was to do, but now I think I'm confused.

We've cleaned up the frames and supers so everything moves smoothly. A number of the honey foundations are ripped, and I I know to replace these. ? Ours are wax foundations with thin wires. How to remove these without stabbing self?

We lost the colony to freezing. Most of our brood frames are built out, thick and dark brown. Some are very uneven, because the they got gouged at some point during handling or at some point lost a chunk of honeycomb. But the foundation itself is intact...no holes. Will the bees work with what they get, filling in uneven areas. Does it matter?

There are, sadly, a lot of dead bees in the cells. Should these foundations be replaced? What will the new brood do with the dead bees?

My supplier said replace the "worst" of the brood foundations. But I don't remember what qualifies as bad enough to be replaced, other than being ripped.(which only happened to honey foundations that were empty and didn't survive manhandling by novices)

When we checked the hive earlier this spring, in addition to the dead colony, we had a decent amount of honey in the brood chamber. We got about 15 pounds by a primitive extraction method (heat and rubber scapers) but left plenty for the new brood. Should the most built out foundations and those with honey be placed in the middle of the brood chamber and the emptier foundations be to the outside?

Hope this made sense. I know my terminology is still primitive.

idabean/aka Marie

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Comments (5)

thisbud4u
15 years ago
idabean,

I can only tell you what I'd do in this situation....never put new wine in old bottles, as the Bible says. Personally, I would remove all the old frames, buy a set of new ones, flame out the interior of the box with a propane torch, put in the new frames, and introduce your new bees to a clean (and disease-free) home. What to do with the old frames? Well, get out of them what honey you can, and toss the rest in the garbage.
tonybeeguy
15 years ago
Marie, If the bees froze, there is no problem re-using the frames. Use your bee brush to clean out what you can of dead bees. The new bees will do the rest. Bees will also repair damaged foundation. If there is a hole the bees will build new comb to fill it in. Sometimes they will build drone cells there. How You replace the foundation depends on the frames you have. If you used crimp wire with a wedge top, pry the wedge off, pull side pins if you used them,cut out the foundation and clean either the bottom groove or space between the bottom rails depending on the type of frame. Be sure the new foundation will fit in without buckling. Nail or staple wedge back in place and replace side pins.
There may be other or better opinions, but I try to put some drawn frames in the center. If I have frames with pollen in them, these go next the empty drawn out frames, since the bees will use this to feed the young brood, and everything I've heard or read says that the bees won't move pollen so you want it near the cells where the queen wil be laying. I put my frames of honey toward the outside which is where I usually see them store it in the brood box. A few frames of honey and pollen can give an amazing kick to a new package of bees.
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Marie Tulin
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the info. Please remind me what a cell with pollen looks like. It's been a long winter. Your info on how to replce the foundation is clear, tbg. I do think the bees will get a great start from the work of the dearly deceased. Knowing the bees will do repair work saves us a lot of time.

Marie
tonybeeguy
15 years ago
I pulled some frames full of pollen the other day. I wish I had taken a picture. They're not filled all of the way and the color varies. shades of yellow,orange etc, maybe pasty looking,( that's probably not the best choice of words to describe. Think of the variety of colors the pollen has when you watch your bees bringing it in.
Marie Tulin
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, I'm remembering now. (I remember my somewhat nutty bee supplier with it on the end of finger, pointing it towards my mouth, saying 'yum, yum try it it's good for you!") I'm not going to worry too much about whether pollen is in the drawn foundations near the center. Whatever the bees start with is a bonus, right? Thanks for enlisting help, TBJ. Perhaps there will be a pix to help. BTW, I eat what what my bee lady says to eat. It is delicious.