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Advice, please

1123 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Iddee
Last year we started a colony in one of the new styrofoam boxes and then put a regular wooden box on top = ugggg! All season this was a problem. The styrofoam box is larger than the wooden one. Now that I am older and don't like lifting the weight - and to resolve the styrofoam problem - I have thought about converting the 2 9-inch hive boxes to 3 6-inch boxes. And, this would also make all our equipment the same. QUESTION: How do I easily get the bees to move out of the deep hive box now (in February) and into a couple of shallow boxes before the colony starts to expand? Would appreciate ALL possible answers.
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The best and easiest way is to add 6 5/8 supers this spring until you have 3 or more. Leave them on until winter. ""You can extract honey from all over 3, if desired."" In the winter, the bees will move upward until the bottom box is empty, as they consume their stores. You then remove the empty deep boxes and continue with additional mediums thereafter.

The second best way is to place the mediums on the bottom of the stack as spring arrives. As they draw it out and the honeyflow progresses, they will fill the deeps with honey and move the brood nest down into the mediums. You then remove the full deeps, extract, and the job is done.


You can remove one frame at a time, cut the bottom 1/3 off, nail a strip across the bottom, and place it in the medium box. It is very labor intensive, disturbs the bees greatly, "think stings", and is very messy. It can cause any other hives in the area to begin robbing the hive. It also must be done when the temp. is 70F or above. I would not recommend that procedure.
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I must say that Bee Catcher has covered this query very well. Thumbs up, guy!
Rick~LtlWilli
Thanks, Bee Catcher. I think I will try your first suggestion and just place supers on the existing boxes (maybe with a few frames of drawn foundation - we don't have much) and see if the little buggers move up. If I ever can decide that the bottom box doesn't have the queen, I might blow any bees out and move that box before fall. We are new to it all and GREATLY appreciate your help.
Once they are drawing and storing in the mediums, find the queen and move her to the mediums. Install a queen excluder between the deeps and mediums. Wait 21 plus days for the brood to emerge from the deeps. Then you can blow them out.

If you let them rob out the deeps, be sure to place them at least 50 yards away from the nearest hive. Otherwise, there's a chance of other hives robbing out the hive.
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