Beekeeping Year - Jobs to do

Early Spring - Changing Floors

As a preparation to spring cleaning it is often advisable to change the floors early in spring. This gets rid of the debris that has built up through winter and removes any wax moth larvae that have been living on the floor feasting on the dropped cappings.

	Here is the hive - a British Standard National - ready to have the floor changed.
	Roof off. Exposes the empty super placed on top of the brood. Every year I feed the bees a batch of candy around Christmas. As you can see here the candy is poured into a large margarine tub and then suspended over one of the escape holes in the quilt. Re-exposed you can clearly see half the candy has gone but the tub still has lots of bees in it. I later decided to go back and feed this colony on light syrup. They do not take the candy unless necessary.
	Have a little look around this picture. The smoker is well alight using dry rotten wood from under the trees. Works well. What you can see behind the hive is a cheap stand I made from 2" x 2" fencing posts. The width of the runners (see the end of the stand on the right) is wide enough to hang National Frames from it - either end. It allows me to pick up supers and brood boxes and place them by me at a good height. The stand also has a flat moveable work surface about 10" (the smoker is standing on it) that slots into the gap. You can rest the smoker, frames, tool, all sorts there whilst you work. You can see the empty super I have taken off and put on the stand. Now, with the candy pack removed, you can see the crown board (Americans hate that phrase) and lots of spider nests.
	With the Crown Board (Quilt) removed you can now see the frames. These frames are oriented 'cold ways' at right angles to the entrance. On top of the frames you will see a small clump of bees there are positioned over the brood and were quite active. Gentle smoking will get them to calm down.
	Close up of the bees on the frames.
	Big jump here but I'll explain. Have moved the empty super away and then covered the brood box with the Queen Excluder. I have then take the brood box, complete with Queen Excluder, off the original floor and placed it upon the stand. Looking back at the original site you now see the varroa floor. I don't used solid floors as this method gives excellent ventilation. Also to the right you can see my home made entrance 'block'. This is a 3" wide exterior plywood strip with two blocks of pine nailed and glued to it. It was then varnished several times to seal it. This gives a good wide area for the bees to land on and can be angled to allow rain water to run outside (not important anyway with a solid floor but there you go!). OK, yes, I forgot the mouse guard this year as I need the conventional entrance block to fit it and never got around to doing it.
	Closer look at the varroa floor. You can see the debris that has collected. The picture is fuzzy I am afraid because I think this is a weakness of the camera but can't have everything. (Mustn't grumble) Here are a pile of dead bees, big chunks of fallen burr comb and several wax moth larvae alive and well feeding on the debris (take my word for it - honest). Also, notice the stand. Good sized slab, two breeze blocks and two timber runners all ensure the hive stands clear of damp weeds.
	Floor cleaned, entrance block replaced.
	Brood box back in place with Queen Excluder on. Looks from the photo that the QE is on the wring way around but it is a trick of the photograph. The wires of the excluder run in parallel with the frames.
	On goes a super complete with frames of drawn comb. These are from last years extraction. The super itself was one of my first and, lacking experience I thought it a good idea to paint it. In some areas of the world this may be a nice idea but in the UK it is a waste of time and can be detremental as it prevents the box breathing. Also here, you get a clearer view of the stand. You can see the two top rails and the little work surface the smoker is standing on. The smoker is still smoking!
	On goes the crown board.
	On goes the roof and brick to hold it down. Done.
	Seen eight legged freaks? Here's one I found on the super.