Obee1
Field Bee
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2014
- Messages
- 962
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- South Wales
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 11 ish plus some nucs
I have a national hive which started as a 5 frame nuc in July which grew so fast I added a second standard size brood box above in the summer. Being a new hive I did not take any honey off it this year. All through august both boxes were full of bees with the brood being in both boxes. I put apiguard on half way through September but when it was time to add the second treatment the bees had reduced in number and only filled 7 seams in the lower box. Maybe they swarmed but there were no queen cups or anything I could see. They had a fair few frames of empty foundation at the edges of both boxes. I fed them 2.5 litres of inverted syrup which lasted 2 weeks plus. Refilled the feeder 4 days ago and yesterday found they had consumed 2.5 litres in 4 days flat. As there were too many frames to fit into one box But not enough full ones to fill two boxes I decided to remove the end frames and replace with insulation board inside the hive. only able to fit one board at back of bottom box as the rest (9 frames) is full of honey and a little brood (from the little I can see peering in from above). Top box I squeezed in board at front and back. This leaves 8 frames of mainly capped honey and one drawn frame. But it is a very very tight fit. So to my question. Should I remove insulation and put foundation frames back so they can pack yet more honey in? And I assume there is no point in feeding them anymore if there is nowhere to store it?
This is my one and only hive so I am somewhat limited for options. (Hence the osb idea)
Obee
This is my one and only hive so I am somewhat limited for options. (Hence the osb idea)
Obee