apidea management and grafting photos

[Jon]

I use this mesh to replace the inner cover when combining a queenright and a queenless apidea. The queenless one goes on top. I transfer the frames to an apidea super which fits neatly over the bottom unit.

Click photos for bigger images.

apidea-mesh1.jpg apidea-mesh2.jpg apidea-mesh3.jpg apidea-mesh4.jpg

The hole is plugged with fondant and it takes the bees a couple of days to eat through.
The smell of the queenright colony rises up through the mesh so there should be no fighting when they combine.
They first combine in the feeder compartment in the lower apidea - from which the queen is excluded.