Thanks y'all.
Brad - don't hold any more tidbits such as the electric knife trick. It was definitely better. My only problem now is getting the crappies scales out of the honey.
You already taught me everything I know about bees so don't stop anytime soon. I'm going to try a flyback split when I get caught up on work stuff. Been itching to try one since you posted last year. I'm assuming you have plenty of honey on hand, let me know if you need some. What did you do with the beeswax? I've got a few gallons of cappings in the freezer I need to do something with.
I did lose my first hive to small hive beetles. I have two hives about 120 miles away and just didn't keep up with them like I did the closer hives. One hive absconded and I lost 2 supers of honey plus the bees. I think I did catch them in a swarm trap though. I've had a pretty good year catching bees in traps. My only problem is that once I transfer them to a nuc some make it and some don't. Haven't figured out the difference. Some early swarms are already filling their second deep brood box and some are still trying to fill a nuc. ??
Cedar - it can be fun and frustrating all on the same day. Stay with it until you think you have it figured out.
