Hi Dawn,
lots of clues from just that photo.
- You have the legs on stone so they won't rot. Good.
- Plywood walls. Some people say the glue in plywood is potentially bad
for bees. Ignore. They survive whatever 8)
- Key thing is to maintain insulation and eliminate draughts. Wood looks
adequate (just) for that. Walls are a bit thin. Consider how to insulate
for winter. If interested in this contact me for more info.
- That wood looks like it is beginning to show its age but has 2-4 years
left in it yet. A coat of painty stuff would protect it but you need to be
careful about type and DO NOT PAINT OCCUPIED HIVES as the fumes can kill
bees. When you feel up to painting contact me for types to avoid.
- Luckily Nationals are modular and you can tart up boxes when not on
the occupied hive.
- Lot of dead bees. Not a problem: expected after a move. The nice thing
is you can see them clearly. If you get a pile building up it's a Useful
Warning of Things Going Wrong.
- Yay, looks like some propolis blobs are being used by the bees to
partially block the entrance. Implies they use propolis a lot. This is a
Good Thing.
So in summary yeah could be better (so could my own hives) but perfectly OK.
Need to go sort out an old person. Any other photos of the other box parts?
Thought you said it was the roof that worried you?
Paul
On Wed, 10 Apr 2019 at 16:54, Dawn Gosling <magikmum49@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Does this look healthy. They are definitely busy
