Hives come through the winter in varying strengths. Some are busting at the seams with bees
causing anxiety that the hive is going to swarm. Then there are the weak hives. These weaker hives can go in a number of directions
depending on the population of the hive.
They may recover or remain weak all year or get robbed out or slowly
dwindle away. If their population is
large enough to have “critical mass” they recover. Your duty as a beekeeper is to provide them
with that “critical mass”.
Most beekeepers have more than one hive. So you can relieve your anxiety that the
strong hives are going to swarm by transferring one or two frames of bees and
capped brood to the weak hives. First
locate the queen in your strong hive, so you don’t transfer her by
mistake. Set aside the frame with the
queen and then select a few other frames for transfer. The bees emerging from the capped brood will
give the weak hive a boost by greatly increasing the nurse bee population. This then allows the queen to increase her
rate of laying.
Now it the time to perform this equalization. The main honey flow is still about a month
away. The strong hive will easily
recover. The population boost to the
weak hive will give it a fighting chance to be ready for the honey flow and
also lessen the chances of it being robbed.
Remember to keep the entrance reducer on the weak hive in place until
the hive recovers.
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