# New Bee here



## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

I have my first hive and am trying to learn as I go. I bought a hive and put a super (deep 10 frame) they have filled it with what I assume is brood and some honey. It is full, all frames are complete to the edges. I added a medium super for honey, but they havent built anything in it. they are always in there when I check them, but nothing has been built in the frames. We have been in a serious drought so I've been feeding sugar water for a couple of weeks. If they don't build anything in the top hive can I remove the frames and use it for a feeder when it get cold? I thought maybe pans of sugar and pollen ? Any help is appreciated..


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

Hello Copperhead. Hard to get bees to make comb this time of year. You need to do a hive inspection so you know what you have. If you are not comfortable get someone to help. A lesson or 2 from some local beekeeper and you will know what you are looking at. I would find local club and join. Meet new people with similar interests. Someone there will help. Your hive is probably fine. Nice to know how much brood and food, hive beetle etc. Good luck. Keep us updated.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

When in a drought tough to get the bees to do more thatn just try and get by.

What kind of foundation in the Medium?

 Al


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## txsteele (Nov 19, 2014)

This is a hard time of year for bees. There is not much blooming/flowering for them. You can’t make them draw out comb. 

Having said that, I would not remove the Med Super you have on there. The fall bloom will get going soon enough and the girls will have something to work with. 

Additionally, IMO, this is not the time of year to feed them. They will make it. They are surprisingly hardy.


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

Hi copperhead welcome and I look forward to reading more posts I’m new as well and the guys above on this thread have helped me a whole lot many coudos . I am thinking that the bees will move up when they are ready. I think they work on there own schedule but as your fall flow kicks in I’d bet they use it more.


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

I agree about trying to find a club. In fact I was just at one tonight. Cool speaker tonight. He had been keeping bees since 1987. It’s also cool to interact with other beekeepers.


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

Also copperhead I think your in a similar situation as me. In that I had read it’s good to leave any honey on the hive for winter the first year. I’m gonna be patient this year so that my bees will have the best chance of making it through winter. One article I read stated that in a natural tree hive that a beehive would store several years worth of honey if conditions permitted. I’m hoping patients pays off with strong bees in spring and in 10 months I’ll have more honey than I can deal with


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

ed/La said:


> Hello Copperhead. Hard to get bees to make comb this time of year. You need to do a hive inspection so you know what you have. If you are not comfortable get someone to help. A lesson or 2 from some local beekeeper and you will know what you are looking at. I would find local club and join. Meet new people with similar interests. Someone there will help. Your hive is probably fine. Nice to know how much brood and food, hive beetle etc. Good luck. Keep us updated.


Thank you, I do want to join a bee keeping club, it's just a 35 mile or better drive to get to one, so I usually forget or remember too late to get there.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

RonTgottagoat said:


> Also copperhead I think your in a similar situation as me. In that I had read it’s good to leave any honey on the hive for winter the first year. I’m gonna be patient this year so that my bees will have the best chance of making it through winter. One article I read stated that in a natural tree hive that a beehive would store several years worth of honey if conditions permitted. I’m hoping patients pays off with strong bees in spring and in 10 months I’ll have more honey than I can deal with


Yeah, everything I've read has warned me not to expect honey this year, I just want to get them throught this drought and thene winter. they go through a quart of sugar water a day, now !


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

Yeah I’ve been feeding. The guy who I got my hives from said when your feeding bees your making bees. So that’s what I’ve been doing 3 hives have frame feeders and the couple mics I’m trying to grow Queens in are getting inverted jars on top.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

alleyyooper said:


> When in a drought tough to get the bees to do more thatn just try and get by.
> 
> What kind of foundation in the Medium?
> 
> Al


 It's just the yellow foundation frame that came in with the hive. I put a deep on the hive as soon as I brought it home, so when I saw it was filled out, I thought it needed another box on top. It's always full of bees, but I guess it's just a place to hang out in this heat, cause they sure aren't building anything in it !




txsteele said:


> This is a hard time of year for bees. There is not much blooming/flowering for them. You can’t make them draw out comb.
> 
> Having said that, I
> 
> ...


We've been in such a drought that I thought they need some help. The clover and all the grass has burned up, very little in my garden is blooming


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

You should check out barnyard bees and how he makes queens with nurse bees and eggs as backup or increasing your colonies


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

You can over feed your bees. They will fill every cell leaving no room for brood or the fall flow. A quart a day for one hive is to much.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

*"It's just the yellow foundation frame that came in with the hive"*

That doesn't tell me much. Is it plastic or real wax foundation?

During a drought when there isn't much for the bees the queen will slow down her laying because there just isn't any thing extra for them.

 Al


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If it is real bees wax foundation lift the deep off the bottom board and set the medium on the bottom board and then place the deep on top of that. If it is plastic paint it with bees wax so they want to build comb on it.

Myself I would feed them as much as they can and will take during a *Drought. *If the drought continues there will not be a fall flow. Where there is no water there is no flow. 

I have went thru a drought year here before. Feed till it gets so cold the bees won't take it then place candy boards on the top bars so they can get to it all winter.

 Al


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

If they need to build comb they are going to need nectar or sugar syrup if natural sources are not available feed them.
Summer and flying days are precious dont waste any for a lack of feeding they cant build comb in the winter.

Pretty much what Alleyyooper just said


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

ed/La said:


> You can over feed your bees. They will fill every cell leaving no room for brood or the fall flow. A quart a day for one hive is to much.


 A quart a day is not too much if they are taking it if a hive gets blocked with honey or syrup it can always be extracted and the honey/syrup fed back during colder months or under supered if you have spare supers.


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## siberian (Aug 23, 2011)

Guessing if it is yellow it is probably plastic. Check out Randy Oliver site, scientific beekeeping. He went 25 years (I Belive) without feeding, then found out the benefits of feeding. He is a scientist by trade so he goes from facts not I feels. As was mentioned it is possible to overfeed and you probably don't want to eat the honey they make when you feed. Good luck and keep posting your results.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

It is his first hive. Not very many people ever harvest honey their first year unless they are well, greedy. Bees need the first year to build comb and become strong for the first winter.

 Al


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

You can feed all they take if you inspect the hive now and then. A quart is a deep frame a day. 7 deeps a week. I monitor mine and had to cut back. They probably are not building any comb now. Mine are not and I tried. Honey bound brood box will hurt hive. He needs to look and see. I would think a pint a day. Feed heavy in the fall. 2 to 1


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## siberian (Aug 23, 2011)

ed/La said:


> You can feed all they take if you inspect the hive now and then. A quart is a deep frame a day. 7 deeps a week. I monitor mine and had to cut back. They probably are not building any comb now. Mine are not and I tried. Honey bound brood box will hurt hive. He needs to look and see. I would think a pint a day. Feed heavy in the fall. 2 to 1



I couldn't tell you how much per hive, it seems to vary. Agree that the hive cant get honey bound and need to watch for wax build up as an indicator. I would highly suggest pro-sweet since it has sucrose, glucose and is already inverted. Saving the bees the trouble of inverting sugars has had huge benefits here.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

alleyyooper said:


> *"It's just the yellow foundation frame that came in with the hive"*
> 
> That doesn't tell me much. Is it plastic or real wax foundation?
> 
> ...


 I think its plastic..


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If you have some burr comb melt it in a double boiler and use a throw away paint brush to paint the bees wax on the plastic to make it exceptable to the bees. I would also set it on the bottom of the stack for a few days to a week.

 Al


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