Moving around frames

[HEver]

Hi all,

I ma just wandering whether or not it is ok to move frames which have been drawn out from one hive to another with capped brood, larvae and eggs but no bees (obviously). The hives are quite close together and I really want the best for them so don't want to do it if it will damage either - just want to kickstart one of the hives so thought moving a frame would be a good way.
Thanks

[NigelP]

It's fine, common practice Often used to strengthen some colonies, give frames of eggs to others etc.
If you want to kick start faster look for a frame of sealed brood where you can see a few bees beginning to emerge (not always possible).
Main caveat is spread of any disease.
And it's often worth thinking about why one colony is behind another in strength. They don't all grow at the same rate, some queens are just poor. I'm about to squish one of mine which is simply underperforming

[Patrick]

Hi Hever

What a sensible question. In an ideal world from the point of view of minimising the risk of disease transmission as far as possible of course we would not. However in the real world there may be clear greater risks associated with not doing so, including dwindling, queenlessness, suspected queenlessness or other issues. Likewise making up nucs, the bees and combs needed have to come from somewhere.

So yes, do so as and when you think necessary but exercise the sensible caution you are obviously already doing.

As a more general point I would not generally weaken a strong hive to bolster a weak one without at least a working theory as to why the weak one is underperforming. Adding bees to a colony with an old queen running out of puff or with a disease issue of its own, is not going to do much beyond cover up the real problem temporarily. Ironically, Beekeepers with effective swarm control or unswarmy strains may inadvertently keep queens well past their prime. After two consecutive unswarmy years I went into this year with several old girls I was completely unsurprised they wanted to replace. Ho hum.

[AndrewLD]

That's good advice from experienced beekeepers
Two thoughts to chuck in:
I am currently waiting on the (very helpful) Bee Inspector and just wondering if my swapping frames hasn't spread a virus around my hives
I visited the birthplace of an American president Galvin Coolidge, unremarkable in many respects and from a humble background except for an abundance of home-grown country wisdom - "You don't make the weak strong by making strong weak" - I didn't see any beehives but it was one of the highlights of a trip to New England (apparently I missed meeting George Bush senior by a day when I ate in a restaurant - he lived close by and shook everyone's hand when he came in to dine) - where did they go wrong?

[NigelP]

just wondering if my swapping frames hasn't spread a virus around my hives

I think you should be fine Andrew. CBPV 2 main methods of spread are between worker bee/ worker bee close interaction and from bee faeces on the floor of hive (not very likely).

[AdamD]

Welcome HEver,
I do move frames around - probably too often. If you are boosting a new colony, Nigels suggestion of sealed with just emerging brood is a good one -but you can never find one like that when you want it). If the small colony doesn't have enough bees to really cover an additional frame, you could swap a frame of open brood from the small one for the frame of sealed. Provided, of course, the small colony is not small due to disease.

I do try to be careful between apiaries and clean my hive tool/smoker with a bleach / washing soda solution and use disposable gloves. If a colony is one of concern, from, say the previous inspection, I leave that 'till last.