# Realeasing the queen, and comb checks? Help?



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Practice on that smoker before going back out. You need the smoker to move bees around with, so your non working smoker failed your plans for the day. Light a small amount of material in the bottom and get it going good and hot to create a live coal in the bottom. Then start adding more material slowly while pumping. Get the smoke really boiling out. Then add more fuel and pack it down tight and keep pumping. Once you get it lit well, it'll help it to stay lit throughout the day. The material used for fuel is important also, I myself prefer dry pine needles but use burlap occasionally as well and like it also.


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

Good information to know. When we smoked them, it seemed to tick them off, at least the buzzing increased, but I don't really know what I'm doing.

We're going to try to have a smoker lighting party tomorrow.


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## Merlinspop (Nov 4, 2010)

As fas as closing bars without smooshing bees, there are lots of techniques, but the ones that seem most promising to me are the scissor method and a bee-get-down tool. I tried the former today and it worked. 

Picture how the blades of a scissor pass by each other. Now take the bar you want to replace and slide it as close as you can without squishing anyone. Lift it a bit over the adjacent bar and lower one end. Slowly bring the rest of the bar down like the blades of a scissor. Go slow, but it does work.

The next way is to get something long and thin (thinner than a bee). Strip of cardboard, metal yardstick, whatever. Close the bars to one bee width, then insert the thin strip down between the bars. There won't be room for the bees and the strip, so they'll be pushed down. Then squeeze the bars together and slip out the strip. Done!

Good luck!

B


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## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

Merlinspop, I had trouble visuallizing the scissor method you described but got the bee get out method. Sounds like a good idea that I will try.

One of the problems I have with the two bars on each side of the queen cage when I hive a package is the bees make the comb longer than they are supposed to there since the queen cage holds the frames further apart. In that case, it looks like I will squish two frame faces of bees if I put them together so I will put an undrawn frame in between. The bees will then build the undrawn frame out to whatever length they need to fit "bee space". I'm a newbie too and am probably not hanging the queen cage right so this is how I compensate. Not sure if this is what you ran into but thought I would pass it along.

Good luck.


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## Merlinspop (Nov 4, 2010)

Yeah, that wasn't the best description. The best I can come up with is you angle the bar you want to put in place such that one end is where it needs to be on one side of the top bar hive body, up against the next bar and the other end 2-3 inches up forming a horizontal Vee. Then slowly lower the high end, scraping up against the other bar, pushing bees down as the Vee gets smaller and smaller. You have to go slowly, as you can pinch bee feet as you go, but they do move out of the way. Hold up an open pair of scissors in front of you and slowly close them. That's the effect and why people call it the scissor method.

Hope that helps visualize it. Chances are that there's a you tube video out there showing it.

Bruce


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

I'll tell you one thing, I lost all fear of actually working with the bees. I'm a bit hesitant because I don't want to muff the whole thing again, but in the end, I was brushing bees and reaching in the hive and even poking them back in with my finger and I never got stung. I'm afraid I got their comb all out of order, but they're in. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and rainy, but Wednesday I think I need to open the one hive to make sure the queen didn't get squished. The other one I should maybe open because I dropped the queen cage in as I closed it up but just left it because I had it closed and everyone had survived.

The only cross comb I had was what they built on the queen cage. But everything else is so beautiful!


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## dachewitt (Jan 28, 2011)

Out of a Blue Sky's you-tube video 'Top Bar Hive Comb Manipulation Lesson' http://www.youtube.com/user/OutOfaBlueSky#p/u/9/lCJ-G8qmdjI shows the scissoring technique-and some other great information. I found it yesterday when researching how to get the bees out of the way for me to correct comb in my new hive. 

I too feel that my bees aren't as well behaved as the bees in videos or what I've read (will you _please_ get out of the way so I can get the box lid that I left in the hive?). I thought with all my research the learning curve wouldn't be so steep-
Debbie in MD


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## Merlinspop (Nov 4, 2010)

Debbie - I'm with you! I've been reading constantly since November, but I found myself standing there, surrounded by swirling bees, thinking, "what the heck am I doing?" Or words to that effect.


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

Yeah. I read every book the library had to offer and watched about every youtube video, too. But there isn't that much info on TBH. None of it helped once the hive was open. If the queen in the white hive survived my attempt, it's all good. I didn't expect it to go problem free. A squished queen is a high price for inexperience, though. 

I will say that I've lost my fear of the bees in the process of opening the hive. My only fear now is my own inexperience!


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

While I've used a "bee down" stick, I generally just use the scissor method. After enough practice you'll be able to move through the hive very quickly. Make sure that while inspecting you keep the bars together as much as possible. Once you're done inspecting a few combs, push them together so that you don't end up needing to scissor 20 bars to put the hive back together! Also, try and move 3-4 together at a time when putting everything back, that way you only have to scissor a couple times.

Best,
Matt


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## kevinhnc (Oct 27, 2010)

I've opened my TBH a total of about 3 times since my install, and the bees seem to be less and less threatened by me every single time.

I don't use any smoke, and I only take 1 or 2 bars out at a time at most. This latest time that I inspected, I didn't even have any guard bees bumping into my veil. Very cool, as I feel like they've accepted me in some way.

They're building up like gangbusters too, nice beautiful comb on about 7 bars, and lots of capped brood, with about a 4-5 to 1 worker to drone ratio. They're hived at my cabin in the woods, and the dogwood trees are blooming like crazy all over, so I'm sure that's helping the build up. They were installed April 1st.

Anyway, to close two bars together, I use a gentle (but quick) back and forth motion. The bees must feel like they're going to get squished between the bars(but I never squish them of course), and they fairly quickly all move out of the way. I don't think I've squished a single bee except for the first time I opened the hive (then I was a little nervous and hurried).


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

Well, y'all have restored a little of my confidence. It is too cold to try to check anything today. They aren't even flying at all. But tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and sunny so I may make sure the white hive does have eggs so I know for sure the quee survived.

Inside, they look very much the same. They are all in a ball hanging at the center where the comb is in the white hive. In the yellow hive, they are in two large balls because I got some bars in between their comb when I was rushing to get it closed.

No cross combing that I can see except where the queen caqes were. They seem to be ignoring the bit of comb left there. We broke most of it off, but by the time we should have scraped, I was nervous about not getting bars in and changed my focus.


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## Merlinspop (Nov 4, 2010)

I briefly opened up today to add syrup and poked my cell phone in to take a quick picture. I saw that the queen cage was hanging very low, right at the bottom of the cluster. I had folded the strap over and stapled it on the side so that the candy plug was on top. The little staple must have let go and it lowered down. That makes me worried that she'll get cold. 








You can barely see the cage at the lower right. Also, the bottom was clean when I shook them in... Is the corn meal looking stuff on the bottom wax flakes?

Bruce


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

Yes, I think that's wax. It's all over the bottom of mine, too. And such beautiful comb! I only keep bringing that up because it is the one positive. Tomorrow we're going to a funeral so I won't be able to get back in the hive until Friday, but hoping it will go a little better.

Dana
Life more abundantly @ Roscommon Acres


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Until you really get the hang of it try to light your smoker 1/2 hr or so before you use it and pump it every now and then while you get ready. If it stays lit that long it's fairly likely that it will stay lit. Dump out the old contents before you light it - at least that seems to work better for me.


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## Roscommon Acres (Mar 21, 2011)

Thanks! I knew I was going to have issues because we were already having trouble keeping the smoker going for long, but there were two of us so I *thought* we'd be OK. My daughter would be there to relight it. But I was only thinking about angry bees, not that I'd need it to keep them from oozing out of the hive! I didn't get stung, even without the smoke. Unfortunately, my daughter did. Right on the leg, but she was wearing dark pants.


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