Bee Yard Shuffle

Equalizing Hives Across the Bee Yard

Bee Yard Shuffle – Sounds like a dance, doesn’t it?
In reality, I guess it kind of is!

For those of you new to beekeeping, I have some wonderful news: you can take components from one colony and give them to another in need! Yes—it’s that easy!

So often, we see bee yards with multiple colonies, even on the same platform, where one or two are underperforming. I should clarify that I’m not referring to colonies suffering from untreated pests or diseases. Instead, I’m talking about colonies that had an issue—possibly pests or diseases—that caused a shortage of nurse bees, foragers, and/or brood. Most often, the root cause is queen problems.

When you think about what happens when a queen fails, it all makes sense. Any interruption in the brood cycle leads to a disruption in the workforce. It’s simple logic!

So what do you do when this happens?

First, correct the original problem—whether that means replacing the queen or getting Varroa mites under control. Rule #1 in the book of successful beekeeping: a healthy, young queen is key. Once you’ve got that, the rest is just housing, nutrition, and management.

Hive Correction

One of the hardest management skills to build confidence in is frame manipulation. After all, it was drilled into your head as a new beekeeper to put frames back exactly as you found them, right? Well... not this time! Take a breath, put on your confidence hat—you’ve got this.

Hypothetical Hive #1 (HH #1)

You requeened this hive three weeks ago because the old queen had died (insert your own scenario here). The colony had been queenless for about two weeks before that and is now very low on nurse bees and foragers. The new queen can only perform as well as her workforce allows. If she’s not well-fed or there aren’t enough nurse bees to clean cells and feed larvae, her laying will be limited. You want her to lay like gangbusters—but to do that, she needs support!

Hypothetical Hive #2 (HH #2)

This hive is thriving! The young queen is laying up a storm and everything is working like a well-oiled machine.

What HH #1 Needs:

Nurse bees, nearly emerging brood, and foragers.

Solution:

• Take 1 frame of capped (about to emerge) brood with adhering bees

• Take 1 frame of open brood (uncapped larvae) with adhering bees

• Add both to HH #1

Important: Locate your queen! You’re not trying to move her.

Next, trade the physical locations of HH #1 and HH #2. This way, the returning foragers from HH #2 will fly back to HH #1, giving it the boost it desperately needs.

Bonus: You’ve actually helped HH #2 by giving it drawn comb from HH #1, which provides immediate space for the productive young queen to continue laying. Boom—both colonies win!

Have you ever heard the phrase “Rob Peter to pay Paul”? That means taking a problem from one and giving it to another. That is not what you want to do here.

• Don’t give good resources to a failing colony that hasn’t been corrected.

• Don’t give bad resources to a strong colony.

Make sure mites are under control and nutritional needs are met before attempting this equalizing method.

Equalizing Populations by Location

Sometimes, a colony simply needs a population boost. It’s lagging behind despite having plenty of brood. In this case, just trade its location with a stronger colony. Watch the magic happen! A fresh wave of foragers can make a huge difference.

Pro Tip: Do your hive swap in the middle of a warm day when the foragers are out. When they return, they’ll boost the colony that truly needs them.

If I had to point to one under-emphasized aspect of beekeeping, it would be the forager-to-house bee population ratio.

A colony is truly a well-oiled machine—when given half a chance. It takes a balance: workers (foragers) bring in resources to pass off to another worker (house bee), who in turn feeds the queen, cleans the cells in which she’ll lay, feeds the larvae, and minds the front door!

Without this balance, one of those steps goes undone. And when a step is missed, it throws the entire ecosystem off. It begins a downward spiral that, if not caught, can—and likely will—lead to the loss of your colony.

I can already hear someone asking, “But don’t the bees fight when you move them from one colony to another?”

Short answer: Not really.

Think about what causes fighting at the hive entrance—it’s usually a bee trying to get in with nothing to offer. In other words, she’s there to take, not to work or give back.

When you exchange or trade frames with bees, or even swap colony locations, the bees are somewhat caught off guard (no pun intended). Plus, you’re typically moving them with the frame they’ve been living on. They just continue working as if nothing happened. The new colony sees it as a gift—because it is!

Time of Year

When can you do this?
Honestly—almost anytime.

The only real exception is smack dab in the middle of a nectar (or honey) flow. Why? Because doing so increases the risk of robbing behavior and may slow your honey production.

Get comfortable with equalizing colonies.
It’s an essential part of successful beekeeping, and it’s actually one of the easiest management maneuvers.

If you haven’t already, take the time to learn frame identification—it’s key to knowing what you should have in the hive so you can recognize when something’s missing.

Simple as that!

Chari Elam