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Author Topic: when to add second hive body  (Read 14283 times)

Online Acebird

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2011, 03:49:43 pm »
Quote
i have seen how many slide the box on its site it crushes bees quite much. Bees become mad with that system.


You got to love beekeeping.  It is the only thing that I have tried where you don't have to know a fool thing and you can end up doing it right by somebodies method. :-D

So Finski, 5mm about 3/16 inch.  Bringing it down that close by hand might be a trick without bumping the corners.  I think I'm liking my winch idea.  I'll let you know how I make out with that.
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Offline Finski

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2011, 04:10:01 pm »
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Inch has been derived from thump. It is easier to measure the distance of boxes with thump/inch. But if it is difficult, try foot. 

 5mm is 1/60 foot.
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Offline tillie

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #22 on: March 03, 2011, 09:32:17 pm »
I'm not sure what you mean "slide on its side."  I slide the box slowly onto the box beneath. 

Like a bulldozer, the bees are gently pushed out of the way and I don't kill bees. 

If I simply set the box back into position, I'm sure to kill bees who are unknowingly perched on the side of the box. 

The secret for me in all bee manipulation is to respect the bees and their home, so I move very slowly and slide the box slowly in order to allow them time to get out of the way.  It works great and I don't end up feeling bad about killing bees because I don't kill bees this way.

But I also use very little smoke - one puff at the entry is about all I do with any hive inspection, so I wouldn't want to smoke them just to get them out of the way so it would be more convenient for me to "drop a box onto the hive."

Linda T in Atlanta

Offline Finski

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #23 on: March 03, 2011, 11:55:15 pm »
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Lesson # 1

Take box up
put box down

with respect and gently 

with some hives included: and then RUN !
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Online Acebird

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #24 on: March 04, 2011, 09:56:26 am »
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Like a bulldozer, the bees are gently pushed out of the way and I don't kill bees. 


Linda, what happens when you get to where the bottom side wall meets the top side wall?  Do you do any angling or do the bees just get out of the way at that shear point?
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Offline tillie

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #25 on: March 04, 2011, 03:30:38 pm »
Like I said, the bees are gently pushed ahead of the box.  Since no bees were between the sliding box and the box beneath there's no way that they are killed. Since you don't have bees, maybe it isn't clear to you but bees can turn a corner and walk easily down the front of the box. They don't just stop when they come to an edge 8-)

Online Acebird

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2011, 04:50:27 pm »
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Since you don't have bees, maybe it isn't clear to you but bees can turn a corner and walk easily down the front of the box.

 :? :? I have had bees for two seasons now but have never taken a whole box off and put it back on.  For the very last inch of the box position there is a shear point between the top and bottom box.  Apparently the bees get out of the way before they are cut in half.
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Offline Hemlock

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #27 on: March 04, 2011, 05:44:16 pm »
[:? :? I have had bees for two seasons now but have never taken a whole box off and put it back on.

Are you saying that you have boxes on your hives you have never inspected or looked into?

What kind of setup do you have?  Double Deeps; Mediums; Nucs; TBH; a Skep?
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Online Acebird

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #28 on: March 04, 2011, 07:16:27 pm »
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Are you saying that you have boxes on your hives you have never inspected or looked into?

Pretty much.

We have two deeps and got up to two medium suppers full of honey.  Then we took off the two supers and harvested the honey.  So through the winter it is a two deep hive.  I like the idea of all the same equipment so I made 6 medium boxes and bought frames From betterbee to expand to another hive, maybe a nuc or two if it works out.  So equipment wise I  have now 8 medium-8 frame boxes and two 8 frame deeps.

When we removed the supers in the fall we could see that the hive was crammed full of bees but didn't remove any frames to look at them.  Yeah, I know it goes against all the rules.
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #29 on: March 04, 2011, 08:24:24 pm »
what rules?  i was looking at one of mine and realized the hive staples were still holding the bottom box and bottom board together.  i don't even remember when i caught that swarm, but apparently i have never lifted it and cleaned the bottom board.  it's a hardy hive, so....i'll get at it this spring ;-)
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Offline NasalSponge

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #30 on: March 04, 2011, 09:55:50 pm »
Hummm, I don't know about this thread. Not going thru your brood chamber ever?? Never heard of that management technique. I go thru my boxes in the spring to check for overall health, swarm cells, brood patterns, honey and pollen stores, signs of pests and disease etc.....can't see that from on top. I also find my queen in a hive before I pull frames for nucs and she usually ends up on one of the last frames bottom box... :) As far as pulling boxes, I throw my cover upsidedown on the ground and set my box on it at an angle, sometimes I will cover it back up with the inner cover to keep the girls calm and out of direct sunlight. I don't know I think I am in a bit of shock here....

Offline Kathyp

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #31 on: March 04, 2011, 10:02:42 pm »
won't deny that you should check your hives.  just don't think that it's a rule :-)  the newer you  are to beekeeping, the more you will learn by getting in there and seeing what's happening, catching problems early, and knowing what is normal and what is not.
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Online Acebird

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Re: when to add second hive body
« Reply #32 on: March 05, 2011, 09:47:10 am »
Hummm, I don't know about this thread. Not going thru your brood chamber ever?? Never heard of that management technique. I go thru my boxes in the spring to check for overall health, swarm cells, brood patterns, honey and pollen stores, signs of pests and disease etc.....can't see that from on top. I also find my queen in a hive before I pull frames for nucs and she usually ends up on one of the last frames bottom box... :) As far as pulling boxes, I throw my cover upsidedown on the ground and set my box on it at an angle, sometimes I will cover it back up with the inner cover to keep the girls calm and out of direct sunlight. I don't know I think I am in a bit of shock here....

The first year at the end of the winter (March) they were all dead (consensus was moisture) so we went through the brood boxes then and started again with another hive.  In February of this year they were alive like last year and it is now March.  Judging from the comments made on this forum about the photos of my hive this years they may not make it this year either.  If they do I will try a split.  I will also try a trap out because the opportunity exist.  With any luck I will be working two hives.  That could mean twice the fatalities. :'(  Hey, you guys said it is better to have two hives right?
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