Newspaper Combine question

[Springtide]

So my trapout is going well, I think, after a couple of false starts, thanks IDDEE for the links. I'm probably going to do a newspaper combine with my weaker hive this weekend, weather permitting. (Garden zone 6b, we've had one unusually early frost, but giving warm weather for the next week or two at least.)

That will make about 10 days since I know they finally accepted the nuc, BUT 3 weeks since I started the trapout. So, my question is, do I have to worry about the queen cells the "new" hive is working on? Any tips/tricks/hints are welcome, because like the trapout, this is new to me.

Btw, the pics are before and after stacking a second nuc box, because it looked like the bees were running out of room. I'm working on a ladder about 25 feet up in the air, so this seemed the easiest solution, rather than transferring the frames to a regular deep.

[Perry]

From a 3 day old egg to a hatching queen is only 13 days.
You should at least have capped queen cells in there now. I would be inclined to leave well enough alone until your trap-out is done, and then do the combine.
For a first attempt at a trap-out you are doing great.

[iddee]

Keep in mind that the hive is gaining weight faster than we do Christmas week.    You want to be able to carry it down the ladder safely.

[LazyBkpr]

Yes, what Iddee said...  I found this out with a swarm box about nine feet up..   It was really easy to put up, taking it down did not go exactly as planned..  It was a LOT heavier than I expected it to be when that last screw came out..  The box and I ended up on the ground, and the bees were NOT impressed!

[Springtide]

So Perry you think I should wait a little longer then? (I'm directing this to Perry because he's the closest geographically to me, but anyone is free to answer PLEASE.) I am planning to do the combine on a hive that has 2 deeps and a medium on it. (Not sure how much they are working in the medium.) If I put frames in a deep, put that on top to make the combine, will it be too late in the year if I go back in a week or 2 and consolidate/manipulate them into 2 deeps and a medium, or 2 deeps?

[apisbees]

You could be putting the laying queen into jeopardy if the bees decide to keep the cells over keeping the queen and there are not the drones, or weather for the queen to mate or the quality of her mating. If I was going to see what happens to the new queens I would place it on top of the hive with a double screen with there own entrance to see if the queen mates and starts to lay. Or assume it is not worth the risk of loosing the bottom queen and get rid of the queen cells if I was not confident that the new queen will mate properly.

[Gypsi]

That and the larva and the butt patter is why I pulled my trapout early, working on ladders lifting down heavy honey frames is NOT a fun thing.

[Scott Derrick]

That and the larva and the butt patter is why I pulled my trapout early, working on ladders lifting down heavy honey frames is NOT a fun thing.

No it's not. Trapout are my least favorite thing to do. Really!

[jayj200]

the boxes do not have to be hand carried down.

if you have strapped the box together real good. pass the rope through the ladder,  tie a rope around the hive box and lower away be sure to have good hold of the rope.
note to self rope must pass over at least one rung. using that as a pully

[Springtide]

So a bit of an update. The trapout did not really work, mostly due to newbie mistakes. They were raising a queen, at one time, but either she didn't survive or something happened to her on her mating flights. Plus the bees kept finding their way back in to the original hive -- who knew there were so many holes in my house! The good news is I beefed up both of MY hives by doing newspaper combines with the extra bees, and the original hive is still alive in my tenant's kitchen wall. I'm pissed at my roofing contractor for not showing up at all, so I'm going to leave them until spring and then do a cutout from the outside. Too late to do it this year :( 

I was all ready, even built a bee vac out of an old shop vac, but now I will be totally ready in the spring. And the bee vac did come in handy for transferring bees from the nuc box during the second newspaper combine.

In the meantime I removed the duct tape and some caulking so the bees would have freer access.

[LazyBkpr]

Sounds like you learned a lot, and I applaud the fact that you are going to leave them until spring..  If they make the winter, there is no doubt they are survivors and will be a great boost to genetics!

[Perry]

How about that! First year and already got a bee vac. You're starting to make me look bad!