I'm glad you found the queen and I'm glad you figured out how to post the pictures. I was running late on posting them for you. I just got home. I got your emails but haven't been home since 630 this morning and was in GA most of the day.

To move the box take a piece of screen wire and put it in the entrance and put them in the bed of your truck, like you said. I usually wrap the whole hive with a ratchet strap to keep it held together. Move them real late one evening so most of them will be in the hive.

Every single bit of the comb that I can see in your pictures is brand new. It was obviously a swarm that your brother saw moving into the wall. Any comb use for brood comb from last year would be really dark brown, almost black by now.

It takes a lot of resources for bees to draw comb. I have read that it takes 8 lbs of honey to make 1 pound of comb. I would try feeding the bees 1:1 sugar water and if they'll take it, keep feeding them. A good goal for you will be to get that deep box and 2 medium supers drawn out this year by that hive. Once the flowers slow blooming they'll definitely take sugar water and you'll need to keep feeding it to them constantly to keep them drawing comb.

It's easier to keep them drawing comb than it is to get them to start back once they've stopped.

If you plan on using any plastic foundation, buy some beeswax, melt it and paint it onto the frames. I have been using Ritecell foundation from Mann Lake and it comes waxed, but the bees will draw comb much faster if I add another coat of wax to it.

I'm trying Acorn double waxed foundation for the first time this year. No need to add more wax to it, it has a thick coat on it. I don't know how well it works yet, I just started using it. I found a source for it in Birmingham or it would cost too much to buy it after I paid shipping on it.

We got it moved last night to the house fur. I just drove by there and there are very few bees flying around. I cracked the cover and seen a few though working over the comb we put in. Will they generally be flying all over the place or does the sun need to be up a bit more.

They'll be flying at daylight but much more when the sun comes up.

One thing I figured out the other day. Park your truck right in front of the hive. I'm talking 2-3 feet in front of it. Sit there for about a minute then back up and watch the entrance. Some of mine will have 1000 or more bees go in the entrance after one minute of backing up outside. They won't go in with the truck sitting there.

It gives me a good idea of how strong they are and how much foraging they are doing.

I don't remember what day you moved the hive, but if you're sure you got the queen I'd check it 5-7 days after you put them in the box to check for queen cells. Sometimes disrupting a hive will cause them to think the queen is failing and they will often times try to replace her.

I found out last year that honeybees don't like somebody wearing dark sunglasses.

We just moved out last night. Checking it now and they are eating sugar water and flying all around it probably 30 eating the sugar water. There also going in and out of the entrance

Fur. They eating and look to be thriving. Pulled a frame up and they already have it combed in around the partial we put in. They have a white film on the closest frame to the three Frames we put brood in

Good deal. I caught another swarm this evening, that makes 4 for the year. Fortunately the beekeeper the guy called didn't have time to come get them so the beekeeper called me. It's not a big swarm but big enough to make a hive. I bet they have a virgin queen with them.

Fur,

When you rob this hive, do you take all of the capped honey off? How quick do you get supers back on to give them room. And, how many supers will you leave on to take them thru the winter?

Checked my 2 hives yesterday and I have a deep and a medium full of honey and added a super to each hive. I'm up to 4 supers on each one with 3 deep and one medium on one and 2 and 2 on the other one. I guess I'm going to have to get some more supers if I keep up this bee stuff. Just wondering what to do to get ready to rob them. I'm probably going to rob them in mid June and then let them build back up for the winter.

When is the latest you could take some brood and bees from this hive and do a split? Thinking about starting a new hive from my best hive but not sure when to do that now.

Wade, I just came in the house from making 2 splits. I have grafted, capped queen cells to put into them so I'm about a week ahead of where you'd be if you made a split today. IMO, it's too late to make splits unless you plan on feeding them. Our main flow will be over here in another few weeks. If you don't feed the splits after the flow is over, they won't build up strong enough to make it til fall. Our flows in the fall are hit and miss anyway.

I lost so many hives this past fall and a few more this winter that I had already planned to feed this summer to get built back up.

I've made splits in July that did fine, but I fed them pretty much constantly until September. A 3 frame split won't break the bank eating sugar water.

I will rob my honey mid to late June. I don't put the supers back on. I kept them "wet" this past year and put them back on wet this spring and they did great. I'm going to try it again.

The hive in the picture overwintered this past year in the 2 deeps and one super. Most of my hives have a single deep, and on those I don't leave less than 2 supers on them. If there were no brood in the first super, I guess one super would probably be enough but most hives will run at least one deep and one medium as a brood chamber this time of year. They're already slowing down on making brood and the brood nest has shrunk from a deep and 3-4 supers down to a deep and one. I do not run queen excluders, I just let the bees push the queen down and back fill the supers. She won't cross a solid honey dome to lay eggs.

countryjwh, how is your hive doing?

Thanks, good info as usual. I appreciate the feedback.

What is "wet"?

Fur. So far so good. All i habe is that one box though. Are they gonna male it or do i need to get a super on there? Still feedibg and they are going through 3/4 quart a day. They don't have all the frames filled in though. They only have four or five. What's my next step. Me just going back there watching them everyday probably ain't helping.

Countryjwh,

I apologize for laughing but when I look back at the picture of you in a klan hat and chain saw cutting your way in the bathroom to pull out the transgender guy using the wrong toilet just cracks me up.

Wet with left over honey. Not cleaned up by the bees.

Have you checked it for eggs and larvae? If not, you need to make sure the queen didn't get squished.

You do need to try and get a super of comb drawn out this summer. While they are drawing comb, keep them drawing comb. I've read that feeding them 1 part sugar to 2 parts water will keep them drawing comb but I don't know that to be true from experience.

Be careful feeding, if they start plugging the brood nest with nectar they will swarm. If the frames with brood are spotty, with nectar and brood mixed through the frame, they are plugging the nest. If that's the case, slow down on feeding them.

EDIT: Watching them doesn't hurt a thing. If you have time it's actually a good thing because you can tell when they slow down bringing in pollen, meaning the flow is about over.

Fur. There is no doubt there are larvae being produced. So do i need to add a super on it with a quenn extruder or what??

If they've only got 4 or 5 frames drawn you don't need to add a super yet. Just watch the brood nest to make sure it doesn't get plugged up with nectar. It may already be plugged up. I would suggest checking it.

Also, when you put a super on, don't put a queen excluder on the hive. The bees don't like to cross it and it will slow down the comb building.

It's going to be hard to keep that hive from swarming next spring with so little drawn comb. You may have to try a Taranov split. Remind me early next spring and I'll explain how to do that or you can look it up on Google.

Why are they going to swarm?it's there a possibility of another queen cell in there don't see or just because it's not built up yet.

They aren't going to swarm now. Next spring... Well, actually they could swarm if the brood nest gets plugged with nectar but I was talking about next spring.

You need comb to open up the hive in the spring to help keep them from swarming.

K. Bout to read up on swarming .

Sure looks like they building a queen cell