Managing Dadant Deeps through the season

A young hive is a gentle hive...

...but don't bet your life on it, and don't expect it to last.

Wear your veil. You want to be able to run if you knock over the hive. Bees can go right for the face, in that kind of situation. Wear your veil any time you are opening the lid.

For a new hive, or an overwintered one that is growing, the hive is gentle. Even a strong hive is gentle when inspected gently and slowly. See my inspections page for more inspecting tips and tricks.

First step for a new hive: getting all the frames drawn out.

Remember you need to feed 2 gallons/week until all 10 frames are drawn out. I like to feed 4 quarts at a time, so it's 2 feeding trips a week. However... the bees kind of think they are done drawing out frames when they get to frames 2 and 9. They often lose steam there, and instead act as though they should swarm. You can trick the bees into drawing out all the frames beautifully. It requires some frame moving.

Once the hive has 6-8 frames drawn out, then each week you rotate an undrawn frame into the center of the brood nest. And FEED!!! Over a couple of weeks, the bees will fully draw out all the frames.

A hive is aiming to be a functional unit that is a sphere. The brood (brown) is in the center. There is honey on the top of the brood area, as well as the sides (just picture it - work with me here). Then, there are drones and pollen on the outer edges (green and purple). Once the bees have drawn all the frames out, and put stuff in them, moving frames to a new spot in the hive should only be done with caution.

You don't want to move a frame intended to be at the center of the brood nest - which has lots of brood but not much honey - out to the outer edge of the hive. I know it will seem like this is countermanding everything written in the prior section, about moving frames to get the bees to draw them out... the problem with a hive that is drawing out comb is that they can decide an undrawn frame is basically a hive wall. We want them to interpret an undrawn frame as an empty space in their brood nest, which they will work to repair, top priority.

So if the weather is warm, and the bees are being fed, this kind of insensitive manipulation is not dangerous to the developing brood.

Working with a Dadant hive through the Summer and Fall of its first year.

When a Dadant hive has all its comb drawn, and it was recently being fed, you are at a decision point.

Ready for Winter, or ready for Honey?