Originally Posted by
Kate Atchley
DILEMMA: a local beekeeper has langstroth hives and needs to pass on a couple of colonies to free up boxes/hives for Spring swarm control. Most beginners - and we have lots of them - are buying national equipment. Langstroths here are rare.
I'm suggesting she could put a national brood box beneath a langstroth, with a customised board between them to cover the margins between the boxes, where the langstroth overlaps the national box. The entrance would be at the bottom, into the national. So the bees will gradually colonise the brood frames in the bottom/national box.
Ideally, if the colony is strong, we could then split them to achieve two colonies, OR make sure the Q is below in the national, under a Qx, gradually clearing brood from the langstroth box for reuse in swarm control with other colonies. The colony on national frames can be given to a new beekeeper.
QUESTION: Has anyone experience of these manipulations and/or other suggestions?
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