A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[Deb B]

I have questions also. I only have 9 frames in the large super, supposed to have 10. Will that make a difference? I have extra frames for a med super. Could I use one of those even though it is smaller, shorter, not as wide. I'm not sure of the correct terminology!!

Your bees in the pics look happy!!

Sorry about your hive and the flood!! I sure hope someone can answer that for you. You could also look up a beekeeping organization in your area, that could help.

By "large super" do you mean something your bees are using for storing honey only, or where the brood nest is (which would technically not be a super, but sometimes people call them that). I would not put only 9 frames only down in the brood nest because they will draw it out funny and you might end up injuring good brood (or the queen on a brood frame) trying to pull it up and out. If it truely is a honey super, then sure, only put 9 evenly spaced frames and it will make it easier to cut off the cappings. (Plus 9 frames in a 10 frame super often holds more honey than 10 frames in a 10 frame super). I would not put a medium frame in a deep super. They will fill in the gap and maybe not in a nice way because that violates bee space at the bottom where the frame is "missing".

 

[OHhappychicks]

By "large super" do you mean something your bees are using for storing honey only, or where the brood nest is (which would technically not be a super, but sometimes people call them that). I would not put only 9 frames only down in the brood nest because they will draw it out funny and you might end up injuring good brood (or the queen on a brood frame) trying to pull it up and out. If it truely is a honey super, then sure, only put 9 evenly spaced frames and it will make it easier to cut off the cappings. (Plus 9 frames in a 10 frame super often holds more honey than 10 frames in a 10 frame super). I would not put a medium frame in a deep super. They will fill in the gap and maybe not in a nice way because that violates bee space at the bottom where the frame is "missing".

Yes. It is the larger bottom box. I have 2 of the medium supers on top of that one. DH bought another frame today, so it will have the 10.
I have another question. We don't have a good water source that is real close to the hive. Does one supply water for the bees? The cedar thicket that is behind our yard, it is marshy when there is rain, but dries up in dry weather. We are placing the hive in the yard up the hill from the cedar thicket. I don't know if that is enough water.

 

[Deb B]

Yes. It is the larger bottom box. I have 2 of the medium supers on top of that one. DH bought another frame today, so it will have the 10.
I have another question. We don't have a good water source that is real close to the hive. Does one supply water for the bees? The cedar thicket that is behind our yard, it is marshy when there is rain, but dries up in dry weather. We are placing the hive in the yard up the hill from the cedar thicket. I don't know if that is enough water.

FYI- the boxes on the bottom that the bees raise brood in are called brood boxes. The boxes on the top where they store only honey are called supers.

I supply water for my bees because the stream behind my house also dries up in a hot spell and my next door neighbors have a pool I don't want them to decide to visit daily. I used my kids old turtle sandbox (the kiddos are in college and don't miss it!). I filled it with rocks (so the bees don't drown). Most of the time the rain is enough to keep it full. Sometimes in the summer I have to haul a 5 gal bucket of water down to it. Some people use bird baths, buckets, whatever. Just be sure that there are places for them to land on and sip the water so they don't drown. It's important for them to have access to water at all times. The demand for it is high in the spring when they are raising a lot of brood and also in the summer to cool the hive.

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
Your bees will need a reliable source of water. You can use a birdbath or something similar. Make sure that you add stones ot something to prevent the bees from drowning.

This is a simple water dish, but will need to be refilled almost on a daily basis


Another idea

 

[Deb B]

Your bees will need a reliable source of water. You can use a birdbath or something similar. Make sure that you add stones ot something to prevent the bees from drowning.

This is a simple water dish, but will need to be refilled almost on a daily basis


Another idea

Ooohh.... love those ideas.

I forgot to mention that I also have one of those stone fountains.... the kind where you dig a 5 gal bucket into the ground and then lay stones on top. The stones have a hole that a tube fits though and you use an underwater pump to pump the water up and let it cascade down the rocks. Both the bees and the chickens love to drink from that!

 

[OHhappychicks]

FYI- the boxes on the bottom that the bees raise brood in are called brood boxes. The boxes on the top where they store only honey are called supers.

I supply water for my bees because the stream behind my house also dries up in a hot spell and my next door neighbors have a pool I don't want them to decide to visit daily. I used my kids old turtle sandbox (the kiddos are in college and don't miss it!). I filled it with rocks (so the bees don't drown). Most of the time the rain is enough to keep it full. Sometimes in the summer I have to haul a 5 gal bucket of water down to it. Some people use bird baths, buckets, whatever. Just be sure that there are places for them to land on and sip the water so they don't drown. It's important for them to have access to water at all times. The demand for it is high in the spring when they are raising a lot of brood and also in the summer to cool the hive.

Thank you Deb B! I have a lot to learn!

 

[OHhappychicks]

Your bees will need a reliable source of water. You can use a birdbath or something similar. Make sure that you add stones ot something to prevent the bees from drowning.

This is a simple water dish, but will need to be refilled almost on a daily basis


Another idea

Great Ideas! Thanks

 

[OHhappychicks]

Ooohh.... love those ideas.

I forgot to mention that I also have one of those stone fountains.... the kind where you dig a 5 gal bucket into the ground and then lay stones on top. The stones have a hole that a tube fits though and you use an underwater pump to pump the water up and let it cascade down the rocks. Both the bees and the chickens love to drink from that!

I've always wanted one of those fountains!! That might be an alternative and a good reason to get it!!

 

[mpape067]

You can use any size as a brood box, mainly it just depends on how much weight you want to lift. I'm slowly changing mine out with med..

 

[sgtmom52]

You can use any size as a brood box, mainly it just depends on how much weight you want to lift. I'm slowly changing mine out with med..

I wish we would have started with mediums ~ if you use mediums for brood boxes & honey supers all of your boxes are interchangeable. Usually it takes 3 medium brood boxes to equal the space of 2 deeps.

We could cut down our deep boxes, but with 20 hives it would be costly to switch out all of the frames. Maybe we will do a couple each year.