We had a good look through the horizontal hive today, as there was finally a nice day and the time! The bees were a bit agitated, which was of some concern, but we proceeded to see what was going on.

Each side of the brood section was going quite well, though virtually no capped honey. There was plenty of comb being built and a fair amount of uncapped honey, so not too bad given the setbacks this hive have had. Of more concern was the bees agitation, which increased the longer we went.

In the brood section we only had chance to check out three frames, all of which had capped brood and larvae of varying stages. We couldn’t see the queen, but that isn’t surprising as we did need to close up – partly because the bees were agitated but mainly because our grandchildren arrived for the day and we didn’t want to annoy the bees any further as the hive is quite close to the house.

So, we will need to check again and see if there is a queen or any eggs, or maybe a queen cell. We have never replaced the queen of this hive, and given the changes it has undergone (from a wooden box to a topbar, then when that was smashed by a tree to a Langstroth, then to the horizontal), perhaps it is time.

Plenty of bees inside, and coming and going!

In the photo above you can see the original topbar comb in the centre, and he comb the bees have built either side to fill the Langstroth frame. This frame was pretty much full of capped brood.

Spring has arrived in Perth, and with it some (slightly) warmer weather, so the ideal time to transfer the Langstroth to the horizontal  hive. We decided to transfer from a different Langstroth, the one that used to be a Topbar but was smashed by a tree!

The move was very successful (but a bit too busy to take photos during the process). One of the benefits of the horizontal is that it is possible to open one lid at a time, and that was very beneficial for the transfer. We put some of the frames from the top super of the Langstroth straight in to either side. As they were WSP frames, each one was separated with a full depth (the horizontal is all full depth). When that was done each side was covered with the lid.

Then we opened the brood box and transferred the full depth frames straight into the centre of the horizontal (which has a queen excluder on either side). Most of the bees transferred in on the frames, and what was left in the boxes were shaken in. The centre lid was replaced, and all looked fine.

The bees were coming and going and using the new entrance very well! Once they have all settled, we will move the hive and stand slightly forward to be more central on the site.

Horizontal hive

We had been hoping for a swarm to repopulate our now repaired top bar hive but it was getting too late in the season to find one that would be strong enough for the coming winter. So, we managed to buy a top bar hive that a fellow beekeeper had started as a nuc (short for nucleus) but it had grown far too big and strong.

Although her bars were slightly longer, the main issue was that the shape was different and it would involve cutting the comb to fit into our top bar hive. We planned and prepared in advance, knowing it would be messy and there would be some losses.

Suited up, table cleared of all but the tools, and ready to go

As expected, it was a messy job with lots of bee losses from the flowing honey, but overall we were happy with the result. We used the follower board from our top bar hive as the template to cut the comb on the bought top bars to the same size. This proved to be more complicated than we thought because long thin dowels had been inserted into the bars, and these needed to be cut off as well as the comb cut.

Dowels each side of the bar

Where we had originally thought we would hang the bar and cut vertically, the dowel proved too difficult and we lost a fair bit of comb this way, so they we used the follower board as a horizontal support as well as the template and had much more success. After brushing or smoking off as many bees as we could, the bar of comb was laid onto the follower board and trimmed to size.

Cutting the comb to the size of our follower board

The cut offs dropped into the basket and honey oozed down into the tub, which gave more bees the chance to get away rather than being trapped in the wax/honey mess.

After trimming the comb to size, we used a Ryobi multi tool to cut off the dowel, which proved to be the smoothes and quickest way. The bar of comb was then placed into our top bar hive.

Most of the bars in situ

An extra piece of wood was placed on the floor of the hive just in front of the entrance as there was so much honey (leaking from the cut comb) on the floor of the hive that bees couldn’t get in the entrance without getting stuck in honey.

There were bees everywhere- in our top bar, all over the cut off comb, and all inside the bought top bar.

Almost done

We were fortunate enough to see the queen, and made sure she was safely transferred to our top bar. When the job was complete, we packed away all the tools but decided to leave the tubs of comb cut offs which were completely covered in bees in the hope that most would make their way into the hive at dark.

The next morning, the tubs were removed, and there was some coming and going from the hive entrance, and lots of orienting bees. Fingers crossed it is a successful transfer!

It is great to have the top bar back again, to add to the Langstroth and Warre in the same area. Soon our horizontal hive will be completed and our other Langstroth will be transferred to it. this should be a much smoother transfer as the frames are interchangeable!

Our transfer of bees from the top bar hive that was damaged, to a Langstroth, was very successful! We had obviously managed to save the queen even though we couldn’t see her, and she has been laying well. The worker bees have made repairs and strengthened the comb that was attached to the frames, as well as built comb to fill in empty frames.

Top bar comb secured to Langstroth frame

We are certainly happy about the success! Even better, the top bar turned out to be salvageable, so that is now back together awaiting some bees which we hope to pick up in the next couple of weeks. Our plans for a ‘long Lang’ or horizontal hive are also in progress- our plan here is to move the frames from our original Langstroth into it to make it easier to manage (no lifting heavy boxes).