105 Today And I Do My First Cut Out

[Jen]

What Was I Thinking!! Whew It Was Hot! But actually my friend Phill and I were so focused on this cut out that we didn't really feel the heat that much. It was a great day of bee discovery, and Phill now has his own hive.. And A Lot Of Learning Ahead Of Him. And I learned how much carnage there is with a cut out and all that honey all over the place. A bucket of water recommended by Scott and Perry was definately my favorite tool.

This hive is about 4 years old. Didn't find the queen, looked and looked. Plenty of capped brood, plenty of nectar, plenty of capped honey. No eggs, no larvae, not much stored pollen. Not much in bloom right now, so maybe she was taking a rest. I didn't even see any pollen on the bees. I sure hope queen made it.

battens are off, pulling the board up and out and getting a glimpse of what we're in for ~


Four big paddles of comb and it extends over and behind the board on the right. That is where all the honey was stored.


I think that is a 1 inch layer of bee poo on the cross beam there


Working our way paddle by paddle towards the back, then we'll move to behind the board on the right


Phill using hand vac which worked pretty darned good, I don't think we killed that many bees with it.


The second batch of carnage. Sticky bees everywhere


We managed 4 deep frames of all brood, and one frame of selected pieces that were newer wax.


I have to get the blank frames and foundation together this week and have him insert them to complete his hive.

Or maybe I should find a couple of deep pulled frames from my deeps to help the queen start to lay, if there is a queen in there.

How long should we wait to see if there is eggs in this hive.

[blueblood]

Nice work Jen!  It is indeed messy! I don't seem to remember seeing JP making a mess like I make,  .  I would wait up to 7 days but that's my opinion only.  It takes approximately 16 days from egg to queen.  So 5-7 days should reveal some cells if you managed to band some eggs.  If there is a queen in there, that's a different story.

[iddee]

You will have wild comb hanging from the lid in 24 hours if you don't get frames in there. Queen cells capped in 6 days if they have new larva.

[Jen]

Yeeah Blue Right?!? That would be JP and Scott. Their vids make it seems so casual and tidy. NOT!

[Jen]

Hiya Iddee  Dadant send the wrong frames. I wanted the frames that have the 'break away' brace that you staple the hooked wired wax in with. But I didn't want to bother returning and all of that, so hubby and I are going to jimmy the wax into the frames tonight, then I'll take them to him tomorrow.

 On the other hand, there is a method to my madness. Because of my huge learning curve this last 6 months on this forum, I thought that if the bees make some wonky or wild comb, then my friend would see why it's imparative to keep the frames pushed closely together ~ thinking.. always thinking 

[LazyBkpr]

hehe, theres usually quite a lot of washing done in the bucket. Not many people like to watch that so it usually gets edited out..  Maybe one day I will take all of those trips to the bucket and make a vid out of them..   

   I am with Iddee..  I really don't like leaving empty spots in the box. At this point in time, the less they are disturbed the better they will adapt and settle into the new hive.
   One drawn frame is usually good, but it sounds like you rubber banded in some drawn comb that was empty already??  If you did she will go right to work, as long as the comb was oriented correctly. Five or six days to find eggs and maybe some small larvae if your lucky, queen cells if the comb you installed, had eggs/larvae and there is no queen.
   If after five or six days I do not see good evidence of a queen I will drop in a frame of eggs/larvae and maybe a frame of capped brood depending on how many bees are there, and don't forget to put syrup on them!
   Sounds like it was a good experience!  Hopefully you can get that hive up to snuff in short order!

[Gypsi]

empty frames frames with foundation, just anything, but I'd get something in the box, a feeder on it, and a screened bottom for ventilation, and close it up for at least a couple of days.  Queen excluder will require opening the box to remove it if you have a young queen trying to make a mating flight, more work and some risk. However, I've had bees stay right where I put them just fine without any box closing or excluder.  So whatever floats your boat (meaning whatever is easiest for the point you are at now)

[Jen]

Scott- " Maybe one day I will take all of those trips to the bucket and make a vid out of them..

   We were about half way into the job and I had to glove up, the bees had my number, took a lot of stings, Phill took 3. I had to glove up and kept rinsing off the gloves. We also had a spigot just a few feet away as well, that was delightful.

Scott- "I really don't like leaving empty spots in the box.

    Reiterate:
Dadant send the wrong frames. I wanted the frames that have the 'break away' brace that you staple the hooked wired wax in with. But I didn't want to bother returning and all of that, so hubby and I are going to jimmy the wax into the frames tonight, then I'll take them to him tomorrow.

Scott- "One drawn frame is usually good, but it sounds like you rubber banded in some drawn comb that was empty already??

     Yes, I took some of the larger scraps and banded them in. I just talked to Phill and he took a peek late last night and said all the frames made it home still banded intact.

Scott- "If after five or six days I do not see good evidence of a queen I will drop in a frame of eggs/larvae and maybe a frame of capped brood depending on how many bees are there, and don't forget to put syrup on them!

     Cool! we have an appointment to open his hive next Monday. He lives quite a ways out, so should I take a frame of brood and a frame of eggs/larvae out with me just in case I need them. And, how do I do that? wrapped in a towel?


     

[Yankee11]

Nice job Jen.

Ive never seen one of those hand help vacs used before.

[LazyBkpr]

Scott- "I really don't like leaving empty spots in the box.

Jen- Reiterate:
Dadant send the wrong frames. I wanted the frames that have the 'break away' brace that you staple the hooked wired wax in with. But I didn't want to bother returning and all of that, so hubby and I are going to jimmy the wax into the frames tonight, then I'll take them to him tomorrow.

   Understood completely..
   In my situation it usually means putting a medium frame or three in a deep box I aquire somewhere, but to me it makes more sense to have a frame in that spot rather than a "paddle" as you so eloquently put it earlier hanging from the lid. Rolling or killing the queen when trying to get the lid off is a very real risk.  It may have a lot to do with how my LUCK runs..   The bees in my yard would immediately begin building comb in the empty spot rather than one of the provided frames, which means there would be a high likelihood of finding the queen there, as most other comb has brood in it. Hopefully your luck runs better and they ignore the empty spots for now.

Scott- "One drawn frame is usually good, but it sounds like you rubber banded in some drawn comb that was empty already??

Jen-     Yes, I took some of the larger scraps and banded them in. I just talked to Phill and he took a peek late last night and said all the frames made it home still banded intact. 

   Scott- Good deal! That will give her someplace to get the ball rolling while the bees begin fixing repairing and building.

Scott- "If after five or six days I do not see good evidence of a queen I will drop in a frame of eggs/larvae and maybe a frame of capped brood depending on how many bees are there, and don't forget to put syrup on them!

Jen-    He lives quite a ways out, so should I take a frame of brood and a frame of eggs/larvae out with me just in case I need them. And, how do I do that? wrapped in a towel?

   Scott-
   Having given them their own brood, they should be capable of maintaining as that brood emerges. The question would be.. did they have any eggs in those frames you added? By the time the trauma of the event begins to subside and they realize they are queen less will they be capable of creating queen cells? Do they have a queen that is currently laying?
   By Monday you should be able to tell if they have a queen or not, if they have queen cells built etc..
    If they have built their own cells, or the queen is among them, the extra frame will give them a boost in population as long as there are enough bees to cover it when you arrive.
   Can you spare a frame of eggs/larvae? If you can there will be no harm in providing another frame. If your accomplice lives a few miles away AND you are willing to give up the frame of brood, then I personally would do exactly that, if for no better reason than to avoid another trip and opening the hive again.
   I transport brood/eggs wrapped in a towel..   If I have more than two or three miles to go I set the wrapped frame inside of a foam cooler for a little extra warmth retention.

[Jen]

Heading out to the country tomorrow to check on my friends cut out hive. If you remember, he took the hive home with only 5 rubberbanded brood frames. I have the other frames ready to insert. It's a blast assembling frames, I'm in the garage with the music blaring and hammering away. I should video that, "Assembling Frames With A Feminine Touch"    actually it's not that feminine... 40 years of raising kids and raising a husband goes into those nails ~ Snark!

Anyway, I'm anxious to see this hive, my first cut out, and Phill's first hive ~ wish me luck 

[LazyBkpr]

40 years of raising kids and raising a husband goes into those nails ~ Snark!

   Umm...   Splinters and balls of wax from wadded up foundation dont fit into hives very well Jaybird...   

   Heres to wishing you LUCK!

[Jen]

 I'll have you know that I assemble a mighty fine frame complete with straight foundation Mistah! 

   Thanks for the Luck! 

[riverbee]

lookin forward to an update jen.....

[Perry]

Just catching up.
I am amazed at how quickly many of you have progressed in this wonderful thing we call beekeeping. From just having gotten bees to doing cut-outs, etc. I have to say I am very impressed.

[iddee]

Take a sharp knife and rubber bands to cut the wild comb and band it into the frames.

[Jen]

Perry- "I am amazed at how quickly many of you have progressed in this wonderful thing we call beekeeping. From just having gotten bees to doing cut-outs, etc. I have to say I am very impressed.

     Thanks Perry, that means a lot coming from you ~

Iddee- "Take a sharp knife and rubber bands to cut the wild comb and band it into the frames.

     Will do Mr. Wizard, thanks for the reminder ~