- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Messages
- 151
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Cumbria
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 1
I have a hive that is bombing, currently on 7 frames of brood, wall to wall with bees in the BB and super (just added another). She is a third year queen, was slow to build up last year. I was worried this year could be worse so had them on Candipolline Gold and side insulation early on and seems to have helped massively with an early start.
They are now on the rape, which has only just started to flower and judging by the amount of play cups in evidence yesterday I need to start making plans.
I have done a lot of research on the Demaree method but I have a few questions that I hope could be answered.
a) Should I Demaree now or wait for queen cells?
b) It is often mentioned to have an excluder below the top BB as well as the obvious one above the bottom BB, I haven't grasped the reason for this. Is this only if raising a Queen from the top box or just a safety net?
c) Sounds like hard work when on OSR - Does the top BB eventually fill up of Honey? If so does swapping frames from top to bottom help this matter or just further hinder the Q?
Hoping someone can assist that has been there and done that! Cheers Ginger
They are now on the rape, which has only just started to flower and judging by the amount of play cups in evidence yesterday I need to start making plans.
I have done a lot of research on the Demaree method but I have a few questions that I hope could be answered.
a) Should I Demaree now or wait for queen cells?
b) It is often mentioned to have an excluder below the top BB as well as the obvious one above the bottom BB, I haven't grasped the reason for this. Is this only if raising a Queen from the top box or just a safety net?
c) Sounds like hard work when on OSR - Does the top BB eventually fill up of Honey? If so does swapping frames from top to bottom help this matter or just further hinder the Q?
Hoping someone can assist that has been there and done that! Cheers Ginger