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What to expect? First Inspection and Transfer of hive.

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  darrenct83 
#1 ·
After my swarm capture 8 days ago I have been letting the bees do their bee things. I have a lot of healthy activity. Bees come, bees go. Lots of them. After doing some research I've realized that the initial top bar hive I made absolutely has to go. It is way to small to work practically.

So... I've built a much nicer, larger hive. Tomorrow after work I plan on transferring the bees. The bars are the same size so transfer should be easy. This will also double as my first inspection. I'm curious as exactly what I should be expecting to see at this point in the game. I'm sure there will be comb drawn out. Should I expect to see brood and honey yet? Most importantly is there anything I should look for on a new start up like this that indicates problems?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
First, move the old hive a few feet to the side. Set the new hive in it's place. Move the frames one at a time, keeping them perfectly vertical. Look for pollen, nectar, eggs and larva. Place them in the new hive in the same order as they are in the old hive. Do not turn any around, or put in different sequence.
 
#5 ·
You stated to place the new hive exactly where the old one was. I was planning on doing this for the transfer. However, I am also planning on moving the entire hive to a final location in the near future. How long should I wait after the transfer to move the hive? The final location is only about 30 feet from where it is now. I live on a 0.25 acre lot so I really need to get it moved to a "safer" location for the sake of family members.
 
#7 ·
Operation successful. It looks like my string dipped in wax and stapled to the bars is the way to go for getting straight comb. Straight combs on almost every bar from end to end. I only got popped once too. Right on the tip of my nose. I think I'm getting used to this bee thing.
 
#9 ·
The old hive had 16 bars. Each bar is 16.5" Long. Almost all of the bars had comb on them. About half of them were completely drawn out. The strings run the length of the bar. I stapled them each three times. I actually got the idea from a youtube video by a guy who does something similar, but he pours wax on the strings after they are on the bar. The way I did it was really fast and easy.
 

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#11 ·
DUH!! in my little pea brain I was thinking the string was hanging down towards the bottom of the hive, with several hanging from each bar :lol: :lol: :confused: :lol: :lol: I just could not see the bees building comb on the middle of it.

nice frame of comb by the way.

pics really are worth a 1000 words.
 
#12 ·
Buzzen said:
Those top bar hives are just cool. I have one made, hoping to get a swarm to place in it. I started with Langs because I thought it would be easier to get advice ( I'm a first year beek) but My next bees will be in the TBH.
As a new Beek I really like having the window in mine to oversee the in hive operations. I also can't wait to impress friends when I open it up.
 
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