New colony new keeper

[Alfred]

Hello
I'm a semi new beekeeper,having had a very brief attempt in the pat.
I've recently gained a little knowledge which makes me very dangerous....
My nuc arrives this week and I would appreciate a little advice to ensure I don't make any serious mistakes.
It will be no more than 5 frames so my plan was to put a frame or two of new foundation either side with a dummy and a frame feeder at the outside of the cluster of frames.Crown board with a 2pint feeder on top-al I have at the moment.

Depending on the take up,I would shut them in for a few days then if they've nearly filled the foundation give them more until the box is nearly full.
If this happens If put a super underneath.
Would they have the whole super in one go or introduce frames with dummy's outside?
What else would I be doing wrong?

[Chrisbarlow]

What's your location?

I personally wouldn't bother with the dummy boards, I would keep feeding. They will expand much more rapidly.

Apart from that , all sounds good

[Alfred]

Thanks Chris
That's encouraging-my wife thinks I'm like a chimp with a shotgun.
I'm in the Welsh borders so nothing on the list fits for the location
I've joined the local association branch and hope to get to some events when my schedule allows.
Until then it's pestering forum members and watching dubious YouTube videos!
It's my tightfistedness that pushed me towards dummy frames- I would want them to fully utilise each frame before letting them fritter away half filling them
I'll leave them with that luxury then.
What ratio syrup would you use and do you boil yours?
I'm really just after a strong colony this year rather than taking honey.

[Chrisbarlow]

Be careful about restricting space this time of year. Your frugleness might mean the bees get too crowded and swarm on you which equates to false economy. The bees can easily work multiple frames at once especially when strong and bring fed syrup.

As for syrup , imo double strength and no I don't boil. I use a plasters paddle in a 5 gallon bucket with cold water and whisk every ten minutes for an hour and that does it for me. Then when the bees start to get to the outside frames which will most likely be undrawn, move those frames toward the centre and the drawn frames to the edge.

[Chrisbarlow]

And welcome to the forum. Keep us updated on how you go

[Jim Norfolk]

Alfred a couple of things.
Why would you shut them in to draw the foundation and why would you put the super underneath?
I agree with Chris, don't bother with the dummy board to expand the brood box and put a whole super of foundation on when the time comes. I would also not bother with the frame feeder but put a feeder over the crown board using 2:1 syrup (2lbs sugar to a pint). Stop feeding as soon as the super frames are drawn or if you see signs of them storing syrup in the super. I would also stop feeding if there is a natural nectar flow, which hopefully we will get back to once the weather improves. You should get some honey later in the year if we have a decent summer.

[Patrick]

Hi Alfred

That's encouraging-my wife thinks I'm like a chimp with a shotgun.

. I like it!

An aspiration to simply build them up is a good one but depending on the forage around you, you may be pleasantly surprised. A strong colony only needs a matter of days with a good nectar source and favourable weather to fill a super. Blackberry in July could well give you a super or more. What I am saying is make sure to give them enough space to store a crop whether you decide to take it or not. Likewise don’t overfeed - if the frames become congested with syrup and there is not enough empty drawn comb for the queen to lay in, they could decide to swarm.

Re your first post I would not add a box of foundation under a brood chamber. Put it over. Are you thinking to run the nest as brood and a half? A single national and supers over the queen excluder is simple and should be fine. And finally...if you do not know already, ask your nuc provider the age of the nuc queen. It is easy to assume it is this years but may not be and if not, is more likely to try and swarm or supersede.

Don’t worry about pestering with questions, we love ‘em! It’s partly what the Forum is about. But don’t be surprised if the answers vary, thats entirely a matter of choices. Just remember to enjoy your bees and be prepared for a few surprises along the way, welcome or not!!

Yours, a fellow chimp.

[Patrick]

Oops sorry went for a coffee and hadn’t seen other replies in meantime.

Apologies for repetition.

[Alfred]

Thanks people.
I have seen postings on other forums,and put together a pick and mixed plan to try and see me through until I gain a little more experience.One forum was very quiet and pious,the other much livelier but the trolling and cowboy practices were pretty unpalatable.
This one seems just right Goldilocks
Yes its a National Brood and half setup,I'm remaining fully conventional until more confident,especially being vulnerable with just one colony.
The super underneath idea is supposedly to mimic the hollow tree habitat and let them build downward.
Until I can get some more kit I'm stuck with the frame feeder and the small rapid feeder .It's an "out apiary" so I wanted to maximise my fluid capacity with what I have in the first month or so in case I couldn't get to them for a few days.When the clocks go back this will stretch to a week.
My former wish for full frame usage is also the lead for my next albiet unseasonal query.
My previous experience was taking over someone elses captured wild colony in mid winter
They were ill prepared and perished in the spring.
If the all frames are all partially used in autumn what do you do ?
These bees had a full box of partially drawn foundation and virtually no stores.I revived them with thymol candy for a while until they couldn't even get to that and then they starved.
How do you choose which to take out?
This is my priority over anything else-getting them safely to this time next year.

[Caroline]

Hi Alfred, and welcome to the forum.

Firstly, I'm going to echo the advise given by Patrick, and suggest you maintain the colony as single brood, i.e. the brood nest is restricted to a single brood chamber. This is by far the easiest for a beginner such as yourself, and also should be fine for the bees too.

Additional space during the foraging months is provided in the form of supers above the brood chamber, with the use of a queen excluder between the brood box and first super, so that the queen is confined to the brood box.

At the end of the foraging period, the supers are removed leaving the bees with the single brood box, which is where they will need their winter stores. At this time if you have a super that is partly filled with stores, this can be placed below the brood box (no queen excluder required) and come spring you will find the bees have cleaned the stores out and you have a super of dry combs ready for when you need to start 'supering' again. I have done this many times without any problems, and I think Jim may have also used this method.

As a beekeeper you will have the responsibility of ensuring there are sufficient stores within the brood chamber (either from natural forage and/or supplementary feeding of sugar syrup) in the Autumn to see the bees through the winter.

You have joined your local association which is good, but you mention you will find it difficult to get to any of their training sessions. May I suggest that you contact them and ask if they have any members close to your location whom would be willing to mentor you in your first year.

You need to know what to look for during inspections. It's easy to find the list of what you should be looking for, often referred to as 'Hoopers five'.

The other thing you must learn is the life-cycle of the 'three casts' (works, drones, queen). This knowledge is fundamental to swarm prevention and control.

I would recommend inspections every 7 days even if the queen is clipped, others may suggest longer if clipped, but if you plan on every 7 days and the weather delays you by a two or three days you'll still have time to sort out any potential swarming situations.

You mentioned putting a super under the brood box so that the bees could expand their nest downwards - there is a method of beekeeping that operates that system, but that is the Warre Hive system, where all the boxes are the same and when additional boxes are required you place the new box at the bottom of the stack. All of us replying to your original posting are assuming you are using a British National Hive.

Don't be persuaded to acquire additional colonies in your first year. Many beekeepers say you should have at least two colonies to compare / resolve problems, but you have a steep learning curve and a single colony will be plenty for you cope with for this year.

Good luck.