My mating hives.

here are a few photos of the mating hives that i use,i have had great success with them over my first two summers of keeping bees and hope that others will maybe get some ideas from them.
when my bees are in swarm mode i cut out a nice queen cell and place it in the wire holder,then shake in a good few cups of bees,feed them with syrup and keep them closed in for two/three days days in the shade.
usually the queen is mated within a few weeks and then i either take her out and place in a new queen cell and some more bees or let her lay away for a few weeks and then set the frame into a nuc with maybe a few frames from another hive.
i have only ever had two fails and both were my own fault.
i have four of these mating hives made up and in use and plan to make more over the winter.
Darren

Mating hives

Darren,
I like the idea, I might have a go at making one or two just for the hell of it, I'm always up for a challenge ! even if its only for the novelty of it. I like the idea of the hinged frame sections.

Dave W

Looks good Darren

Are the hinged to get them drawn out? Been making some myself, but making some small frames from ripped up skids. Like the idea.

mesh above feeder

I can see there is some mesh over a hole above the feeder, whats that for and how do the bees get to the feeder. Also how is the roof made, is it a flat board with a wooden strip around it to keep it in place ?

dave W

and another question

Also there is a plastic sheet over the feeder why ?
Dave W

hey ye,
the hole above the feeder that you see is just for ventilation.
in the feeder at the bottom left hand corner of it there is a 3/4 inch hole drilled that sits in line with the same size hole drilled in the bottom of the box so the bees can pass from one till the other,the feeder can be lifted out,the clear plastic on top of the feeder is there to simply keep the bees in the feeder, there is just a simple crown board on top and a very simple wood and felt roof. i hope you understand this but will add more pictures of it shortly.
Darren

Have you noticed any increase in " swarmyness" from selecting swarm cells?

By selecting queens from a not so swarmy colony over the years ( and years by the chap who gave me the original nuc of non swarmy NZ linguista ) they seem to be happily non swarmy !... and gentle and productive... a line I try to keep going... I never cull drones needless to say.

Tried a similar idea to use a National super, sized comb, but without your incredible hinge system... worked well using tie wraps onto a top bar and put into a 3 frame nuc that was top spaced.... with laying queen attached and a nuc feeder with 1:1 they seemed to race away! saved on supply of nurse bees for the nucs from other colonies.

Why not use the proprietary poly mating nucs , plywood 2 frame and plywood 5 frame nucs?. Is the design here just to save brood when the mated Q is taken away?

i am only going into my third winter keeping bees so beekeeping is all very new to me and at the minute i am only taking queen cells from my best natured hives to get my numbers built up,
maybe a few years down the line i will worry about less swarmy bees and so on,but any bees i have at the minute only try to swarm once a year anywhere so i am happy enough at present.
i have never tried any other mating hives to date and i enjoy making these and they work very well for me.
Darren

Sorry - DIY disaster here - what's the point of hinging the frames please?

Easy Beesy said:

Sorry - DIY disaster here - what's the point of hinging the frames please?

Click to expand...

so they can be lifted out and set straight into a national nuc if needs be,when straightened out there are the same length as a national frame.
when fully straightened out the hinged frame is exactly the same length as a national frame.
Darren

biglongdarren said:

so they can be lifted out and set straight into a national nuc if needs be,when straightened out there are the same length as a national frame.
when fully straightened out the hinged frame is exactly the same length as a national frame.
Darren

Click to expand...

I guessed that that was the idea, but to what end?
As soon as you put it into a nuc or a proper hive, you have lost the mating nuc. When do you retrieve the frame and bring it back into service in the mating nuc?

mostly i just take the newly mated queen out and replace with a queen cell,nearing the end of the season i will just let the queens lay away and then lift the whole lot out and into a dummyed down nuc along with a frame or two of bees from another hive.
Darren

I think I get it - the Nuc is made of one frame made into 4 yeah?

That is quite ingenious, although I am meant to be building a play house for my daughter for Christmas.

I don't need the distraction of additional woodworking projects.

Darren
With lugs on one side only how does the frame sit "straight"? Does it rest on the floor?

Finally, do you get the frame drawn in a full hive before transferring it, or do you just add foundation to it and get it drawn in the mating hive?

I'd seen something like this on Cushmans site ... very clever. I hate wasting brood from my mating nucs.

feed section

Darren, If you could put a few more pics on with the position of the feed area and hole would be usefull. I'm thinking of having a go at making one if I get an hour or two in the workshop/shed all to myself this coming week. Thats after ive de clutterded the work bench and area of other bee stuff.
Thanks again.

Dave W

hey fatshark i usually just cut the foundation from a drawn frame and set it in,if you cut it a mm or two big it tends to set in the best,here is a picture of how i keep the frames sitting straight,you can also see the hole where the bees pass through into the feeder also,the pice of wood that the frame sits down onto has a rounded top edge so not to crush any bees.
also the hole going into the feeder end has two panal pins in the middle of it like jail bars to stop the queen from heading in.
hope this helps Darren

I'm feeling a bit thick, maybe it's just been a long week, but do you fancy putting a how to guide together for this. It seems a brilliant idea to me.

i am no joiner and have very little room to work in so if i can do it anyone can,i also have no power tools,
i will post up the measurements of the hinged frame soon, it isnt even that hard to work out,once you have the frame made you could really build the rest around it till suit yourself,
the only thing i will say is that the next ones i build will have a deeper feeder so that it holds more, or saying as i am setting built up wax into the frames i might try feeding them with fondant.
Darren