The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

Second swarm

 

[karenerwin]

So I got into my hive again a few days ago. They still aren't doing much of anything in the super, but the 2nd deep is almost all honey. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to fix this. I don't know if I have a 3rd deep. I'll have to look in the basement and see what's still down there. If I do have a 3rd deep, should I take the super off and put on the 3rd deep?
Or should I put on the 3rd deep and put the super on top? Or should I do something entirely different? No, I did not get into the bottom deep, no, I did not see the queen {I'm never very good at finding her}, no, I didn't see any eggs or larva and only a couple of capped brood in the 2nd deep. I did not see any queen cells or supersedure {spelling?} cells either.
Yes, there were a LOT of bees, yes, I see lots of bees flying every nice day.
Any advice??

 

[R2elk]

So I got into my hive again a few days ago. They still aren't doing much of anything in the super, but the 2nd deep is almost all honey. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to fix this. I don't know if I have a 3rd deep. I'll have to look in the basement and see what's still down there. If I do have a 3rd deep, should I take the super off and put on the 3rd deep?
Or should I put on the 3rd deep and put the super on top? Or should I do something entirely different? No, I did not get into the bottom deep, no, I did not see the queen {I'm never very good at finding her}, no, I didn't see any eggs or larva and only a couple of capped brood in the 2nd deep. I did not see any queen cells or supersedure {spelling?} cells either.
Yes, there were a LOT of bees, yes, I see lots of bees flying every nice day.
Any advice??

If they aren't working in the super, I would give them time. With the hive body full they shouldn't starve this winter.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

@karenerwin It's annoying when bees don't do what they are supposed to do.
In the 2 deeps you could move the honey frames to the outside of both deeps leaving space in the middle of both deeps for them to put brood.

What kind of bees do you have again?

 

[Apis mellifera]

So I got into my hive again a few days ago.
Any advice??

Its sound like they are backfilling the top deep which is normal. Is the super drawn comb or foundation? Nectar flows do come and go. I would leave the super on. You do need to get into the bottom deep. Start at frame 2 and work your way in until you see a frame of eggs and larva, then your good and close them up. Nows the time to think about doing a mite count in the next couple of weeks. If you have 3 or 4 mites per 300 bees, you need to treat them, or they may not survive the winter.

 

[R2elk]

Needed more supers so made some from 2 by stock to match the new hive.

The new Russian hive already has 5 full frames of capped honey in the bottom super.

 

[karenerwin]

@karenerwin It's annoying when bees don't do what they are supposed to do.
In the 2 deeps you could move the honey frames to the outside of both deeps leaving space in the middle of both deeps for them to put brood.

What kind of bees do you have again?

I think they are Carolians but I wouldn’t swear to it. I just remember that they are “local” bees raised in a town a few hours away from me.

 

[R2elk]

I think they are Carolians but I wouldn’t swear to it. I just remember that they are “local” bees raised in a town a few hours away from me.

Carniolans?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I think they are Carolians but I wouldn’t swear to it. I just remember that they are “local” bees raised in a town a few hours away from me.

I wondered. Carniolans are good wax builders but a conservative bee.
You probably won't be able to harvest honey from them the first year, so it will be imperative to keep them alive through the winter.
Do you have a mite treatment plan? @Apis mellifera has a lot of info on it.
Do you just have 1 hive?
I use this because I just have a couple hives and can buy singles. Keep in mind that the mite treatment stuffs have expiration dates on them.
https://www.bbhoneyfarms.com/store/c-42-beehive-medications/p-700-apiguard-singles

 

[R2elk]