Combining Hives

Combining Hives (Uniting Hives)

Top Tip

Make sure you are not combining a hive with either a Virgin Queen or Laying Workers with that of a Mated Queen.  The former will kill the Mated Queen with the risk that you go into Winter with no possibility of the Queen laying worker bee eggs and hence a risk of the colony dying.

Please read my post Laying Workers Killed My Queen before considering combining hives.

When To Combine Hives

One hive is queen-less. Use the hive that has a queen as the bottom hive and use its location, then place the queen-less hive on top.

One hive is weak. If the weak hive has a queen, dispatch her before combining. Keep the stronger hive on the bottom and put the weak hive on top, using the strong hive’s location.

Two hives are weak. If both weak hives have a queen, dispatch one before joining them. Combining weak hives may be needed before winter, if bees are light on honey stores. Each beehive needs at least 30 Kilos of honey to get through the winter without starving.

If you can’t find the Queen, let them fight it out and hopefully the stronger one will survive.

How-To Combine Hives

Get a sheet of newspaper and cut 3-4 slits in it.

The newspaper will allow the hives to combine with less fighting. The slits allow pheromones to be exchanged between the hives. The theory goes that the bees chew through the newspaper and will be integrated without fighting.

  1. Identify the strong colony
  2. Smoke and open the weak colony
  3. Manipulate the frames so that you end up with a single hive body containing your best ten or eleven frames of bees, brood, and honey
  4. Smoke and open the strong hive
  5. Remove the lid and any supers and put a single sheet of newspaper on the top bars. Make a few holes in the newspaper.
  6. Take the brood box from the weak colony and place it directly on top of the strong colony so that only the sheet of newspaper separates the two colonies
  7. Add a feeder and fill it with sugar syrup
  8. Check the hive in a week
  9. The newspaper should have partially been chewed away and the two colonies united into one strong colony
  10. Consolidating the frames back into a single or double brood box combination selecting the best frames of honey, pollen, and brood.  If you are using a double brood box, frames with mostly brood go into the bottom box, and frames with mostly honey go into the upper box
  11. Shake the bees off the surplus frames into the hive

It was difficult to find a decent, succinct clip on the Internet.  This was the best i found.

Read About My Disastrous Combining Experience

  1. Full of hope, combining my hives: Combining Hives = Less To Worry About
  2. But I quickly realised something might be wrong: The Course Of True Love Never Did Run Smooth
  3. And there was: Breaking News – No Eggs
  4. So, I tried to give the colony a new Queen: Giving My New Queen Bee A “Good Home”
  5. But the bodies started piling up: Dead Bees – the Body Count
  6. And I had reason: Laying Workers Killed My Queen
  7. The final diagnosis: Bees – RIP
  8. And more about the culprits: Laying Workers

If you have found this guide helpful, please use the “like” buttons below.  If you want me to let you know when I have created new guides, then please follow this blog.

These how-to guides are provided for general interest and information only.  No liability is accepted for any injury or loss arising out of the contents of these pages.

11 thoughts on “Combining Hives”

  1. Fantastically informative… The article I read previous to this had no information about the risks, and only assumed the weaker queen would naturally die without complication. I’m sorry to hear about your bees, at least people like me can learn from their sacrifice.

    1. It’s surprising what is left out of the beekeeping books and information articles. I only found out through experience and the luck of having a bee inspector listen to my story and explain what had probably happened. Thanks for your comment. Happy beekeeping.

  2. “Bee inspector?” Personally I would not rely on his/her advice. Bee keeping advice is not their primary focus. Enforcement is. Same as animal control. Not welcome here

    1. Hi,
      Thanks for your comments. Always useful to get different perspectives.
      My understanding is that the National Bee Unit (NBU) aims go well beyond enforcement and that they are here to protect and increase the number of bees. Their website says they “support Defra, WAG and Scotland’s Bee Health Programmes and the Healthy Bees Plan, which set out to protect and sustain our valuable national bee stocks”. They “provide an apiary inspection programme, diagnostic, consultancy and research services and extensive training and advice to Defra, Welsh Government, The Scottish Government, commercial enterprises and beekeepers. These services contribute to the NBU’s role of protecting the honey bee, an important pollinator of crops and wild plants, from threats such as serious pests, diseases and environmental damage.”
      Roger

    2. Most inspectors are also beekeepers with years of experience and don’t mind advising newbees, at least in my area.

    1. That’s your decision depending on your circumstances. You might want to keep them both or try to combine. Me … in my circumstances, I would keep them both. I have had weak hives survive the winter.

      1. What about in the spring, like right now? Both hives are weak, lots of dead bodies? Can I combine them now?

    1. You probably can’t. They will kill any queen you introduce. I would take the colony 5 miles and throw the bees into an isolated hedge.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.