Part two of what we now affectionately call the ‘Treehive Beehive’

Thumbs-up she has arrived safely at our quarantine apiary

The girls are okay but…

…the Cardboard box is starting to flag – so need to get this TREEHIVE BEEHIVE in to a safer state.

Box starting to collapse

Here are the steps Margaret followed;

Step One: place the new bottom-board or base board away from the cardbard box and start to set-up new boxes.

Solid-Bottom board placed, added extra riser so no entry from beelow

Note: 4 risers so that no entry can bee made from the bottom.

Add first box, Margaret has used a 3/4 hive box, it was necessary to allow for the drawn-out comb to bee able to fit without getting damaged.

Place on 3Quarter box – to enable the drawn-comb to fit in

Add the second hive-box with the two wood-ends cut-out. This is where the Bees will enter and leave the hive-boxes.

Next place on 3Quarter box with cut-out ends

Adjust so all hive-boxes are aligned.

adjust box

Go to the cardboard box and using the branch ends, lift high and then place in to the new hive boxes.

Place branch in and rest in cut-out ends

Remember to trim off excess little branches.

trim little branches with no comb attached

Make sure any comb on the branches has no brood in.

Checking to see if some frames can bee added

To help the colony – Margaret added a couple of frames with foundation (not drawn) just in case they want to build on.

adding cut-out wood pieces to front

Using the wood-end, cut-outs – place them over top of the branch ends, then Tape the cut-out wood ends in place – use a robust tape which is weather resistant.

both cut-out wood pieces in place

top view showing woodends taped-up

Add an extra box above so that the colony have the ability to start moving up and use drawn frames from a ‘clean’ hive. At this time of the year they may choose to stay on their own comb on the branch.

adding extra box with frames and wax foundation

Ensure that the areas of the added cut-outs are not accessible by robbers and wasps, the rear of the hive is closed-off completely.

rear of treehive, sealed to prevent entry

By adding extra tape over the entrance it is hoped the guard bees can manage the entrance bette if the space is not too big.

Extra seal to close entrance more

The last move is to place the new hive boxes into the position of the cardboard box so the girls can start going back to their colony.

move the treehive back to original position of the cardboard box

yep all in place

…thumbs Up

Fantastic……

Already the girls are returning and entering the new hive boxes…yay…



Those pesky wasps !!



Added more tape



….unfortunately the quarantine apiary has high wasp presence so the girls have to bee very strong to keep them out.

So what next for this TREEHIVE Beehive?

Our next steps are to inspect and look at treating…a bit of a challenge but we will figure something out.

Well because this is the first of its kind for us, we’ll bee looking at answering some questions..

1. How will we treat for varroa?

1a. How well will they cope with the wasp threat?

2. Will they survive Winter in this hive-box?

3. Are they diseased?

4. Is there a Queen?

5. Will they move into the frames above or the ones beelow?

5a. if they move into the lower frames with just wax, when will we see drawing out start?

6. How will we inspect?

7. Will we keep them in this manner or will we cut them out in to frames?

…to bee continued…

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy Margarets next update on this interesting and read about the challenges she will face as Spring starts to approach and what it will mean for the TREEHIVE Beehive.

…thanks for beeing part of the kiwimana buzz…