# How to keep Queen alive ahead of hiving...



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

A laying worker hive will most likely kill the queen no matter what you do unless you give them open brood for at least two weeks (preferably three) before you introduce her.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Thankyou for that Micheal, and I have read your page. Alas it does not address my situation, _new beekeeper with a single hive_. I have no brood and no hope of getting any, no other hives to give the bees to.

This is still a big hive as it boomed in the summer. I have little to lose trying to requeen as queens are $25 and the packages I would have to buy next year if I let these girls die out are $200.

So while I know the requeening is a tough sell to the resident ladies, I would appreciate advice on everything I can do to try and make a requeening work.

Regards,
Janet


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Janet, Michael Bush has been at this a lot of years and is no doubt correct in his assessment however I might be able to add a suggestion here that might help you. One thing you might try is to build a push in cage for the new queen using some type of stiff wire mesh that you can bend into a 3"x 3" or larger open bottom cage with a height of about 3/4". Then remove a comb from your hive that has some open cells and honey in it and shake all the bees from it, place the queen and her attendants into this open bottom cage and press it into a part of the comb that has some honey and open cells for her to lay in, then place it back into the hive. Leave her in here until the workers outside stop tearing and biting at the cage. One word of caution, the outside bees will often start trying to dig under the comb so keep a close eye on her and perhaps they will accept her, and it might be best to shake out all the bees from the hive about 50 yards distant before inserting the queen and perhaps the laying workers will not return to the hive, you must act quickly to resolve this problem, time is of the essence.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

WWW gives good advice. It is risky to try and requeen but a large push in cage will give you your best hope. I would make it bigger than the one in my video.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I keep mine in a card board box with an open top. Then keep them on top of the refrigerator, give them one drop of water each day. You want to keep them at room temp. out of drafts. Other than that there is nothing special you need to do to keep them for a day or two.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

All good advice gentlemen! I have made a push in cage, and will proceed. Wish me luck, I will report back once all is done...


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

MB's advice is excellent. Do the dump-out *about 25 yards away and right before dark*. The LW's are less likely to make it back, as they probably can't fly. Some folks dump them onto paper hoping to spot the "fat, long," laying worker(s). If you spot her, kill her. Even a suspect. She / they will be some of the last ones still hiking across the paper. *Don't be afraid to repeat the dump-out process a few days later.*

The push-in cage is the best introduction method. Dr. Harry Laidlaw, Jr. recommended a 5" x 7" inside dimension x 7/8" tall push-in cage with a sheet metal strip that digs into the comb 3/8". The metal strip tends to prevent them from digging under to kill the "invading" queen. It may take more than 3 weeks before they stop balling (attacking) the intro cage, so you might even add some queen candy. The 7/8" height of the wood frame gives her a safe distance so they cannot rip off wings, legs, antennae, etc.

Some studies also indicate that queen acceptance chances are better without attendants in the cage.

As a last resort to get them to accept her, you could try adding Bee Boost inside the push-in cage, but I would give them plenty of opportunity to accept her first. Let her lay some brood and get her own pheromones up.

If it were earlier in the year, I would have suggested splitting them and adding a queen to each nuc by the same method described above, but you have only one hive, and it is likely best to keep it strong for winter.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Thankyou KiloCharlie! I adapted a plumbing part...a plastic joint reducer and put a screen on one side, pushed in the other. My one concern is that I was not able to get metal screen...had to settle for soffit screening, which is plastic, so in time the bees may chew through it....should take them a while though and I hope in two days to release Her Majesty. I put the queen and her 3 ladies inside and pushed it into some comb which had some honey and pollen, sprayed some sugar water with wintergreen and vanilla around the hive and frames, and closed it up. 

Three weeks?! Ack. Wish me luck!


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Do not release her until they stop "balling" (attacking) the intro cage! You should see nurse bees trying to feed her. If they are acting aggressive toward her in any way, don't let her out!

BTW, nice idea, the plumbing part. I thought of an electrical box, myself, but made a run of 50 Laidlaw intro cages, anyways. I sized them to fit neatly into a Miller hive-top feeder for storage.

Oh, and of course, GOOD LUCK! We all dread LW's. Michael Palmer once wrote that he actually saw a laying worker trying to lay in a cell. It was funny - she had her wings out, trying to reach the bottom of the cell. She didn't know to fold her wings, and she wasn't long enough to reach bottom without almost going in too deep. I got a good roflmao out of that!


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

kilocharlie said:


> but made a run of 50 Laidlaw intro cages, anyways.


What is a laidlaw cage.?


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

You might try putting a drop or two of lemongrass essential oil in the hive. I would not put more than 1 or 2 drops though. It sure does help keeping a newly caught swarm in the box, and might help in getting your queen accepted more readily.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

The Laidlaw queen introduction cage is a rectangular wooden frame 7/8" (~22mm) deep that was built in several sizes, but the best was the larger one, 5" x 7" (~13mm x 18mm) inside dimension. #8 hardware cloth is stapled over the top - I staple with a thin 3/64" (1mm) strip of wood over the cloth all around the rectangle - and a strip of sheet metal 18 to 22 guage is attached to the inside surface extending down 3/8" (~11mm). I make the strip about 1" (~25mm) wide and staple it onto the inside surface. You could sand the wood to make it more "bee-friendly".

You put the mated queen onto a flat, empty comb frame and trap her under the cage, pushing the metal strip down into the comb until the wood frame bottoms out. This prevent attacking bees from digging under the cage to kill the queen. You may need to remove one frame from the box in order to fit the frame with the intro cage "piggy-backed" on it into the box.

The bees first perceive the introduced queen as a foreign invader, and will attack and kill her. This is called "balling", as the attacking bees form a ball over the intro cage. The Laidlaw push-in queen introduction cage allows her to start laying eggs, bringing up her pheromone production, causing them to accept her as the new queen. The bees getting re-queened should be queenless for at least 2 hours prior to introduction. Laying worker colonies usually take much longer.

If you read the link Michael Bush put in post #2, this is the best of the push-in cage designs he mentions in option 9 for laying workers.

To date, I know of no queen introduction system that even comes close to the Laidlaw cage for introducing mated queens, except possibly a full-comb queen introduction frame, which is basically a giant Laidlaw cage. 100% acceptance rates are common with Laidlaw cages, and if significantly lower than 100%, you either need to leave her in longer, or there is something wrong with the queen. The cage's only drawbacks are that it damages comb, and the lack of a self-release candy tube, but it was specifically designed without one. Release is controlled by the beekeeper when the balling behavior stops and the nurse bees start tending and feeding her, and not a minute sooner. Slot cages, 3-hole cages, Miller intro cages, and others with candy tubes usually hold the attacking bees off for 2 or 3 days before the candy is eaten up. That is enough with very good queens, but 5 - 9 days before release is much better for stragglers. Sometimes, acceptance occurs at 15 to 31 days. With empty worker-cell comb to lay eggs in, the push-in cage allows the new queen to begin laying. This increases her output of queen substances, especially pheromones, and the bees tend to accept her when this happens. With queens at $20 a piece, I'll take the Laidlaw cage, please!

To me, it was a no-brainer - just build them and use them! Oh, and you can modify the size a bit to make it fit in a super, a Miller-type hive top feeder, an old drawer, a milk crate, etc. for storage.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

I have never tried the Laidlaw cage but I have kept a queen alive for 5 days while making a hive ready for her introduction. I kept her on the kitchen table in my air conditioned house, under a loose cardboard box that was dark, and gave her and her attendants a drop of water a day. Temp was about 70, relatively low humidity. She lived until my hive was ready for me to introduce her to a nuc (I could not find the hot queen - finally gave up and started another hive) and is still laying and running a hive today.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Gentlemen, this has been most interesting and helpful. The cage I made is a bit small as the diameter pushed into the comb is only about 5". However, I peeked in today when I put on the hive top feeder (honey/sugar thick syrup into which I mixed a couple of drops of lemongrass oil) the bees were all over the frames, and while some were definitely checking out the queen cage, no crazy behaviour. I gave them all a light spritz of vanilla sugar water and closed it back up.

I was not sure how to handle the queen cage as mine is too deep..about 3". So I put some free built comb I fortunately had, which also had some honey and pollen, onto a thin board. I rubber banded that at both ends to secure it to the board, pushed in the queen cage till it touched the board, and rubber banded that on for safety too. Then I laid that on top of the first deep frames, facing up...and in the box above, hung above the queen cage only half height frames, which were just the right size or nearly. This means I can take off the top cover, move one short frame and peek into the top of the queen cage. I would have put her in an empty super above the main hive where the bees had access to her and a feeder, but I was not sure it would be warm enough at night.

This is me, learning as the wise man said, beekeeping one mistake at a time! I am keeping my fingers crossed for this lovely queen....

One outcome here is that next year I will put into my hives some frames with no foundation to get the girls to draw out some free comb for me. It comes in handy.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Do you have a photo of the Laidlaw cage or the process of making one? I was unable to find one. This would be a good wintertime project...


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Dr. Harry H. Laidlaw, Jr. 's book, Contemporary Queen Rearing  available from Dadant and Sons, has a picture of several designs, also a picture of bees balling a queen.

I'll go take a pic and try to post it. Oldtimer tried to teach me how to post pix using www.photobucket.com in that fantastic thread of his, Raising Queens Without Grafting. In and around Post #197, I think. Wish me luck, and yes, it is a great project, winter or a.s.a.p.

Gypsi - now that's an achievement! Good thinking.

Western - good, practical adaptation! Impressive, and very clever.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

WesternWilson said:


> Do you have a photo of the Laidlaw cage or the process of making one? I was unable to find one. This would be a good wintertime project...


Photo please. It would certainly help.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Laidlaw queen introduction cage...bear with me as I learn www.photobucket.com


_______________________________________________
l\..........................................................................\
l.\............___________________________...................\
l..\............\++++++++++++++++++++++++\.................\
l...\............\++++++++++++++++++++++++\.................\
l....\............\++++1/8" hardward cloth +++\..7"................\
.\....\............\+++ (wire screen with open- ++\.................\
..\....\............\+++ ings 1/8" square) +++++++\.................\
...\....\............\++++++++++++++++++++++++\................\
....\....\............\++++++++++++++++++++++++\................\
.....\....\............\___________________________\................\
......\....\.................................5"......................................\
.......\....\..........................................................................\
........\....\______________________________________________\... ____
.........\....l..........................................................................l........l
..........\...l..........................................................................l........l
...........\..l..............(Wooden Rectangle)..................................l......7/8"
............\.l..........................................................................l........l
.............\l______________________________________________l...___l_
.......................\xlxxxxxx(sheet metal strip)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl, which extends down past the bottom of the rectangle 3/8"
........................\l__________________________________l, and is inserted into the comb. I staple it to the inside.

I hope it comes out as clear as it did on my screen, and I know, I know,...learn photobucket, you lazy, technophobic newbie!
I will post the photo asap. Apologies, Casey.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Thankyou KiloCharlie/Casey...awesome ASCII drawing!! 

I have never worked with sheet metal before...how do you cut strips? And do you just hand-bend it into place? Do you have to sand off the edges or anything? If you can put together a step by step set of directions, I am happy to tackle posting a web tutorial with photos.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

The Laidlaw cage is quite impressive and the ASCII drawing truly a work of art but I think you may be adding work when you don't need to. The push in cage made from wire mesh only takes a few seconds to make and puts the queen on the comb which I think is essential. Is there an advantage with the Laidlaw cage that I am missing?


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Alas my home made cage with soffit screening was not worker resistant enough. When I checked this morning the cage was full of worker bees, cleaning up the comb. By the look of things the cage lasted 2 days.

I decided that as HRH was either dead and beyond my help, or accepted and running around the hive somewhere, to close it all up and will check in a few days to see if there is any evidence of a laying queen.

It is so late in the year I am afraid I will have to let this hive die out over the winter and begin again with packages next spring. And be much, much more careful with queen management next year. I think the first thing that went wrong was doing aggressive queen cell cutting out, then having the hive swarm anyway, with no replacement queen in the works. With no other hive to swap out a frame of brood with, I was dead in the water. Next year I will definitely run two hives, more if I can find a place to set up a couple more in a beeyard somewhere.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Mr. Comello, you raise an excellent point. I take it the Laidlaw is deeper than the wire cage you made, to prevent the workers from grabbing at the queen, but you could easily make your wire cage deeper. That's a very nice looking queen in your video, by the way!

For both cages you need to be using plastic foundation, right? Otherwise the bees could chew in from the other side?


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

From what I know of the Laidlaw cage it has a wooden perimeter and the advantage of this cage is that it takes a lot longer for the workers to dig out the queen because they have to traverse under the wood border then are halted by a plate steel inner border that would have to be circumvented as well. They are determined little bugs so they will eventually get to her however the Laidlaw gives the queen much more time to be accepted before they do.

Janet, you had stated that things were calm before the bees got to your queen ( no gnawing or biting the cage ) so there is a very good chance that things are ok with your queen.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

I sure hope so Bill. Without her I will have to get all new packages, instead of being able to do splits off this hive. I will report back when we do my hive check, a local Master Beekeeper (Julia) and another more experienced than I am beekeeper friend (Heather) will be here as extra sets of eyes!


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Janet, I hope all works out well for you and this inspection would be a good time to mark your queen to make her easier to find in the future. All my best to you.....


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

WWW has it right. The balling homie bees have a lot farther to dig to try to kill her. They usually get frustrated / tired, and the "invading" newly mated queen has enough time to lay and get her queen substances up to an acceptance level. The Laidlaw cage usually wins. IT IS A FANTASTIC WAY TO RE-QUEEN KILLER BEES WITH AN ITALIAN QUEEN! 

I go to a heating and air conditioning shop that has a sheet metal sheer and ask for the scrap. They gladly cut the scrap into 1" strip for me (I bring honey or mead) but I do it myself with my 18" Wiss metal shears sometimes. I cut 2 pieces of 1" wide strip about a thickness of the sheet metal short of 12" (5" + 7" = 12", right?) and I bend it sharp 90 degrees at the 5" mark using a vise and a mallet. I clamp it on the inside of the rectangle using a vise grip clamp, and staple it. This is not good for you stapler! You could pre-drill 2 holes for the staple if you are good at aiming that thing...I just go with the thinnest size aluminum or galvanized I can get and shoot right through it. PLEASE WEAR YOU SAFETY GLASSES WHEN SHOOTING STAPLES. Thank you. Pre-drilling and small brads also work fine.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

So I was just outside, late afternoon on a warm but not hot, hot day, sunny and there were a lot of bees nasonov fanning on the front of the hive. This is not typical behaviour for the hive in this kind of weather. Foragers also going in and out but more fanners than I generally see. 

Of course I am on tenterhooks wondering if the new queen they released was killed or accepted, but need to give her a few days to settle in if she is ok...any thoughts on the significance of the fanning?


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

They are fanning the hive in hot weather, throwing Nasanov gland scent while they are at it...why not? Temperature control is the priority, though.

Out in the Mojave desert, the bees were on Mesquite so thick we thought it was a car coming, then I was sure it was a swarm. They were just feeding on their main and favorite nectar flow. As the thermometer reached 101, the bees disappeared for several hours to go fan the hive. When it cooled back down in the evening, they were back on that nectar flow like Christmas shoppers on a mall.

Western Wilson - I would make every effort to make a quick and dirty Laidlaw cage - it doesn't have to be perfect - and re-queen that colony for winter ASAP! They deserve a chance, and kill all the drones and drone brood NOW to save honey for the girls. Take empty comb and spray water-thinned honey into the cells if you have to. Frame feeder, Miller feeder, or 5-quart pail on a holey board - all inside the hive feeders - work best. Also give them a hard fondant inner cover. When a hive has laying workers for a long time, they are usually out of food, or severely depleted. Heck, feed them a pollen patty, too.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

I am going through the hive tomorrow with the local Master Beekeeper to assess queen status. Interestingly, the hive is well provisioned as even with all the weird missing queen situations I had, the hive is HUGE and the workers kept putting up honey and pollen. To the point where, since no brood was being laid, they were filling every cell with nectar. I had to open up the (potential!) brood nest area, which I did during the shakeout and requeening by putting in empty frames, some drawn. I have put on syrup and pollen as the weather is turning and I felt if the queen has survived, she could use the boost to get her going before the season ends. 

We have sunny and 65 degrees for the next week or so, and usually have pretty decent, if cooling, weather here till the end of October. When the monsoons set in. 

If we do not find a queen or evidence thereof, I will see if the supplier still has queens and make a final attempt to requeen using a 1/8" wire mesh cage pushed into the comb, as you suggest. Worth one more shot!

Again, thanks all for your help and advice...it has really supported my decision making process and progress as a beekeeper!

Janet


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Thankyou all for the help and advice. It was very much appreciated.

We opened the hive today and on the second frame pulled found a very fat and sassy queen. Gorgeous red rear, big as all get out. What a huge relief!!!

So the shakeout and requeening, in spite of my fumbles, was successful. I am grateful, grateful, grateful!

Will check in a week to see how she is laying and hope to see some capped worker brood. 

It is a night for celebration!:gh:


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

Yeah! Good for you!


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Hooray, Janet! Glad to hear re-queening worked. I guess that plastic screen lasted just long enough. I would feed those bees this winter with a Miller-type hive top feeder just as a precaution, and insulate and ventilate the hive as appropriate for your area. Good luck, and I hope next spring finds your bees increasing like a storm!


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

I am leaving the lower hive bodies strictly alone, letting HRM get settled. I have harvested frames in an extra super on top as well as a feeder, but they were starting to store in the frames I am trying to get them to clean, so I will not worry about feeding them for a week...we are on for a good stretch of weather and the bees are flying well and foraging. Pollen coming in too, I see. After that I will take off the cleaned frames and put on a hive top feeder for a while.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Janet, sounds like you have done quite well with your bees and leaving the lower hive bodies alone is a very wise decision, the bees need this time to set up the hive for winter. I am very glad that everything has turned out ok .


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Well Bill, I am sorely tempted to see if there is new worker brood in the hive, but will limit myself to perhaps peeking at the top hive body frames, and will not pull the hive bodies apart. I have mused long and hard on how to winterize the hive....not sure yet just what approach to take in the rainy Pacific Northwest.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Janet, If you do a quick peek please let us know what you find, This time of the year the upper box should be loaded with capped honey and the brood nest should be in the bottom box. I checked the lower box on one of my hives a month ago just to be sure it was queenright and it was. At this point all six hives has pollen coming in with bees hurriedly zipping in and out on sunny days which is enough to tell me that things are ok in the hives, pulling frames this time of the year is not for the faint of heart as the bees are very defensive, I find that if I sit for about 20 min. and observe the landing board I can tell a lot about what is happening inside the hives.

The way that you go about winterizing will be determiner by several factors.

1. How much does the hive have in honey stores?
2. How big is the cluster ( do you have bees covering frames in only one box or both?)
3. How humid is it in your area? 
4. How cold does it get on average in your area?

These are just a few things to look at, when the temps drop a smaller than normal cluster cannot provide enough heat for itself and could starve to death because they are unable to move to new cells of honey when needed, so if your cluster is on the small side and you are expecting real cold weather for long periods of time them insulating the hive would be in order which would also conserve stores if they are a little lite. A top vent should be provided to vent off excess moisture in the hive, especially important in a humid climate.

Where I live in southeast Ohio I will be wrapping my hives in 15 pound felt paper, then place a queen excluder on top of the hives, then a 2 1/2" tall shim box with a 1/2" hole drilled through it it for a vent with a window screen stapled to the bottom. I will fill the shim with cedar chips to absorb any moisture, top with an inner cover, then place a 1/2" foam board on top of the inner cover and top it all off with the telescoping cover. ( The foam board is to help prevent condensation under the inner cover ).

You will need to assess the winter weather in your area and decide a course of action best suited for your hive. Talking with fellow beekeeps in your area can be very helpful as well.

I wish you the best in your winter preparations.....Bill


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Ok I did a peek. I did not pull the boxes apart as I figured the bees should be getting things sealed up for winter. 

I pulled off the empty super that presently holds a hive top feeder (it sits over the ventilation hole in the top inner cover) and pulled the three middle frames from the upper of the two hive bodies. I found tons of densely laid capped brood (which should begin hatching over the next few days or so). At least three and possibly 4 frames were laid on and capped. I saw the queen, she is a beauty, just huge.

When I put her in, apart from full frames of honey and pollen, she had 4 largely empty, drawn out combs in the centre of the bottom super and another 4 largely empty and not drawn out frames above them in the top super. So she has done a terrific job. The bees are still bringing in some pollen and nectar, with present daytime temperatures of sunny and 60 degrees (17 centigrade), nightime of 47 degrees (7 centigrade) due to continue at least one more week. It has been an exceptionally dry and sunny fall here, but our weather should break soon and our usual winter day is wet, chilly and with night temps just above freezing.

The shakeout bees are in a spare hive and are busily drawing comb, putting up honey from their syrup feeder and laying drone comb. Definitely a laying worker in there. I will let them carry on and hopefully they will die off over the course of the winter, leaving a fully furnished flat for a spring split off my requeened hive.

Local beekeepers advise a simple tarpaper wrap. I think I will insulate the non sun facing sides of the hive with styrofoam insulation sheets beneath the wrapping, leaving the east facing side wrapped but uninsulated to catch the weak sun it will get on nice days. And I am thinking about some kind of airy rain shelter as well; it really pours here all winter....possibly a box affair with the east side open, and with plenty of clearance so the air can circulate but wind gusts and driving rain will largely be off the hive.

Regards,
Janet


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Janet, that is fantastic news where your new queen is concerned, your winter prep sounds like a good one, you have thought things out quite well. If you have not considered top insulation yet I might suggest a sheet of Styrofoam be placed on the inner cover to help prevent condensation on top. take care and have a successful winter.


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

Bill a good suggestion. I can fit a custom cut piece of styro insulation inside the top box, under the feeder against the inner cover. I am using the Bee Smart Designs "Ultimate Hive Cover" and so far like it a lot...although the real test will be how it handles the winter. Just looking at the design it struck me it should help with condensation/dripping issues.

Now I can turn my thoughts to planning for the 2013 season! 

Thank you all again for the help and advice given this season. I have lots to learn.

Regards,
Janet


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Just a friendly update - I may have mentioned it before...the "heft test" is inadequate going into winter, especially in your area. A scale should be used. Two 10-frame Langstroth deeps with inner cover, telescoping top, and bottom board, brood, bees + honey should weigh in excess of 130 lbs before winter, otherwise the bees should be fed. As Bill mentions, the cluster size is important. If they are smaller than 5 frames wide, consider combining them with another colony using the newspaper method. One exception is the Russian strain of bees, which winter quite well in very small clusters (probably not a bad choice of subspecies for British Columbia).

Oh, one more thing...I was admonished recently by some Northern Beek's AGAINST using liquid feed in freezing or near-freezing weather as it can be FATAL to the colony. Fondant, patties, and dry sugar are the choice, again inside the hive.

Also, I really like the roof idea to keep the bees dry. I am considering making 40-hive wagons or trailers with corrugated steel hip roofs that overhang 48". If I can come up with a design that fits and chains down on a semi flatbed efficiently, I won't need a forklift, just a trailer dolly and a winch. It will probably include pallets though, as the operation grows, a forklift will probably become an option for efficiency. The geography of some sites may dictate the final answer.

Good luck!


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