New Beehives

New Beehives

Two Fridays  ago, I purchased  2 beehives and 1 Nuc (a Nuc is a small beehive that contains normally 4 frames, about half the size of a normal beehive).

I purchased these hives from members of the bee club that longer had the time to look after and manage them properly. (They have done the right thing, as beehives should never be left to look after themselves, this is how pests and diseases can be spread, you would never leave your dog or cat to fend for themselves).

I left them to settle in for a few day and with the beautiful warm weather we had last week, decided to go through the hives and check to see what  they were doing, how they were going and did they have any pests or diseases. I had been told that they had not been looked at for a while.

Over all the bees were very friendly, had a great temperament and did not have any pests or diseases, I In another couple of weeks i will move them to one of my apiary sites with my other beehives.

Single Beehive

When I opened the single hive, it was absolutely full of bee, the lid was full of comb and bee, they would have swarmed in the next couple of weeks, if I had not checked them and put on a honey super and turned the beehive into a double.

Now the bees are working away happily with plenty of room and the most important thing, they were very friendly Bees with a great temperament, couldn’t ask for much more, no nasty stings.!!!

Nuc to Hive

Swapping the Nuc to the hive was also required, the bees in the Nuc were really over crowded, they had also built comb in the lid which also contained a lot of honey. The bees are now in a full 8 frame beehive, I will check them in another couple of weeks and look at putting a honey super on top and making the beehive into a double.

The bees again had a very good temperament, I think they were just happy to be given more room in the hive, it a bit like moving from a one bedroom apartment into a 2 bedroom, lots more room, again not one sting… I must be doing something right.

Double Hive

On checking the double hive (one broad box and honey super), there was plenty of room for the bee but the honey super was absolutely full of honey, there was no where for the bee to store any new honey that they collects, so I had to remove some of the honey frames and replace them with some stickys (old honey frames where the honey has been extracted but they are still sticky from the honey).

Again not one sting and very friendly bees….