29/03/2026
Here is a post about what probably shouldn't be done in beekeeping and what the outcome has been. I'm not recommending this practice, but read on and see what you think about it.
I have just two hives, one, a single brood box and the other with two brood boxes and one super.
The last time I opened these hives was April 2025, almost one year ago. They had both swarmed several times before the end of 2025.
As you can see in the photo, both hives have the small anti beetle entance and they also have open mesh bases without the tray.
During that 12 month period both hives have appeared to be very healthy. Today, I opened both hives and carried out an alchohol wash on each.
The one box hive had 3 mites in the wash and the three box hive had 6 mites in the wash. I spotted 2 beetles in the one box hive and four beetles in the 3 box hive.
The one box hive had 7 nearly full frames of brood and one double sided frame of honey, with patches of capped honey in with the brood frames. I put 2 foundation frames in the hive and added a second brood box filled with full (or nearly full), honey frames stolen from the 3 box hive along with 2 foundation frames. I am leaving this hive so it goes through winter nice and full of bees with plenty of food.
The 3 box hive had 16 fully capped frames of honey, several nearly empty frames of honey with some brood and the rest of the hive had mostly capped brood varying from completely full to half full. Again, I placed 2 foundation frames in the upper and lower brood boxes.
I removed 6 fully capped honey frames and moved them to the small hive, leaving 10 full frames for this hive to feed on during winter.
Apart from the joy of finding these hives in excellent health, there is the added plus of not having to use the extractor with all the honey being left for the bees.
As I wrote earlier, maybe this program of neglect is not to be recommended, but in this case the bees have proved to be masters of the dual threats of Varroa and small hive beetle.
Finally, I really believe the small anti beetle entrance is the reason these hives have survived despite my lack of attention.
