I know you posted this a year ago - but the timing on seeing it for me is amazing - hoping to order our first nuc, and as I have back probs, I want to go with a TB... hubby is a handyman... so sending this to him now :) Any other tips you may have learned in the last year about this type of transfer are welcome... & Thank you :)
Thank you so much Nathalie! I just stumbled upon this video and saw that it’s,you and Bemindful so , I liked and subscribed and am looking forward to more.
Great idea. I just had a $120.00 package of bees abscond today. Installed two days ago, they chewed the candy out and freed the queen VERY fast. This morning the hive had bees everywhere but when I checked at lunch... all were gone, including the queen. $120.00 just flew away. Nucs are less prone to absconding because of all the brood and a laying queen present but it is a PITA converting Langstroth nucs to top bars... except for your way. :) I'll give it a try.
T Video... And others. If you had Closed In that Package, inside its New Hive, with a Vent Dial only (No Bees leaving / or entering to Rob )with some pre Drawn Wax Comb Frames, for the Queen to lay up ! BROOD is a Magnet to keeping Bees ! Works every time. 😎 While Closed Up, provide some Food eg 1:1 Syrup (Rapid Round Feeder) and or some Fondant over the Crown Board. And wait at least a Week. By then the Queen should have been 'helped' out of that Travel Cage (Candy Plug eaten away) And She and her Colony should be 'grounded' in a good way. As "Home Sweet Home." Sounds like you were a Rookie, making a rookies mistake. Sure you learnt the hard way watching $120 fly off into the Blue Yonder. Maybe someone Tanged themselves a very nice (Expensive) Swarm ! 🙃 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Use the top bar hive entrance not the nuc, I presume, to encourage growth in that direction as well. Nice idea. I am looking in that direction for Langstroth to Layens migrations as well.
Great question, thanks for your comment :-) Once the bees have built at least 3/4 combs into the top-bar hive and have brood, comb and food in there, the queen can be moved into the top-bar hive side of the brood's nest (if she's not already there) and a queen excluder can be slid between the Lang box and the top-bar hive. Eventually the bees will abandon the Lang frames and expand horizontally into the TBH. Lang frames can be removed from the outer edge once at a time as they empty out of at least brood and most of the food :-) Once most of the nest has moved into the TBH, the Lang Box, queen excluder and "conversion kit" can be removed, and the end piece put back into place. Voila!
That looks really useful. I may have to adapt a little as I use my nice wooden lang nucs for all sorts of things in Spring. My first thought would be to use a smaller connecting opening from the nuc to the tbh. Perhaps a circular removable hatch in the side of the nuc and a short tube connecting to a circular opening in the side of the tbh. That would allow the tbh construction to stay the same as the plans apart from a removable circular hatch the same as in the nuc. The nuc supports would need to be a little bit different. I love that the completion of the transition is gently managed by moving the queen to the tbh once there is comb there for her, then excluding her from moving back to the nuc. Brilliant solution. If I catch a swarm this Australian Spring I will try this out.
I know you posted this a year ago - but the timing on seeing it for me is amazing - hoping to order our first nuc, and as I have back probs, I want to go with a TB... hubby is a handyman... so sending this to him now :) Any other tips you may have learned in the last year about this type of transfer are welcome... & Thank you :)
Thank you so much Nathalie! I just stumbled upon this video and saw that it’s,you and Bemindful so , I liked and subscribed and am looking forward to more.
Wonderful! Thank You So Much - we need to post more videos soon...
That's perfect. Good out the nuke box thinking. Thanks
Lol, nice pun ;-P Glad you found this helpful...
Great idea. I just had a $120.00 package of bees abscond today. Installed two days ago, they chewed the candy out and freed the queen VERY fast. This morning the hive had bees everywhere but when I checked at lunch... all were gone, including the queen. $120.00 just flew away. Nucs are less prone to absconding because of all the brood and a laying queen present but it is a PITA converting Langstroth nucs to top bars... except for your way. :) I'll give it a try.
Still figuring UA-cam here.... yes, glad you found this method useful... have you tried it yet?
T Video... And others.
If you had Closed In that Package, inside its New Hive, with a Vent Dial only (No Bees leaving / or entering to Rob )with some pre Drawn Wax Comb Frames, for the Queen to lay up ! BROOD is a Magnet to keeping Bees ! Works every time. 😎
While Closed Up, provide some Food eg 1:1 Syrup (Rapid Round Feeder) and or some Fondant over the Crown Board. And wait at least a Week.
By then the Queen should have been 'helped' out of that Travel Cage (Candy Plug eaten away) And She and her Colony should be 'grounded' in a good way.
As "Home Sweet Home."
Sounds like you were a Rookie, making a rookies mistake. Sure you learnt the hard way watching $120 fly off into the Blue Yonder. Maybe someone Tanged themselves a very nice (Expensive) Swarm ! 🙃
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Thanks Nathalie that was great. Will the Queen eventually move across to the top bar box? Is the entry still in the Lang Nuc or the top bar ? ☺️🤗
I just read your replies to similar questions. 😅thanks
Use the top bar hive entrance not the nuc, I presume, to encourage growth in that direction as well. Nice idea. I am looking in that direction for Langstroth to Layens migrations as well.
yes, that/s correct.... let us know how your conversion works!
First comment ever! 😁 How do you eventually get the bees off the Langstroth frames for good?
Great question, thanks for your comment :-)
Once the bees have built at least 3/4 combs into the top-bar hive and have brood, comb and food in there, the queen can be moved into the top-bar hive side of the brood's nest (if she's not already there) and a queen excluder can be slid between the Lang box and the top-bar hive.
Eventually the bees will abandon the Lang frames and expand horizontally into the TBH. Lang frames can be removed from the outer edge once at a time as they empty out of at least brood and most of the food :-)
Once most of the nest has moved into the TBH, the Lang Box, queen excluder and "conversion kit" can be removed, and the end piece put back into place.
Voila!
@@beemindful1027 thank you!
@@Swarmstead thanks for the opportunity to explain things a bit better! :-)
That looks really useful. I may have to adapt a little as I use my nice wooden lang nucs for all sorts of things in Spring.
My first thought would be to use a smaller connecting opening from the nuc to the tbh. Perhaps a circular removable hatch in the side of the nuc and a short tube connecting to a circular opening in the side of the tbh. That would allow the tbh construction to stay the same as the plans apart from a removable circular hatch the same as in the nuc. The nuc supports would need to be a little bit different.
I love that the completion of the transition is gently managed by moving the queen to the tbh once there is comb there for her, then excluding her from moving back to the nuc. Brilliant solution.
If I catch a swarm this Australian Spring I will try this out.