How to Combine Honey Bee Hives

Combining hives is a way to strengthen a colony.

When you're faced with beehives that are unlikely to survive on their own, combining them is a way to strengthen and grow the colony. One method of combining hives is the "newspaper method," so named because a sheet of newspaper separates the supers of the two hives while the bees acclimate to each others' scent. By the time the bees work their way through the newspaper by chewing and tearing at it (about six hours), the new arrivals' pheremones will be familiar rather than a signal of danger, and the freshly combined hive will be one big, buzzy family.

Things You'll Need

• Bee suit, helmet and veil (optional)
• Gloves (optional)
• Smoker
• Hive tool
• Full-size sheet of newspaper

Instructions

1. Smoke both hives to calm the bees. Continue using your smoker throughout the process.

2. Consolidate all of the frames and bees of each hive into as few supers as possible.

3. Locate and kill the weaker queen. This will prevent fighting between the two queens, which could result in a queenless combined hive if both queens are severely injured.

4. Remove the outer and inner covers from the destination hive, which will now be the bottom of the new hive. Place a sheet of newspaper on top of the hive directly over the frames. The paper should completely cover the super, with no gaps around the edges.

5. Cut two or three small slits in the paper with a hive tool.

6. Stack the other hive's super on top of the slitted sheet of newspaper.

7. Replace the inner and outer cover on what is now the top super of the combined hive. You will have an extra inner and outer cover, bottom board and hive stand.

8. Remove any remaining newspaper after two to three days.

Tips & Warnings

• The simplest situation when combining hives is to join colonies from two different bee yards that are at least 2 miles apart. If you combine hives that are closer together, you run the risk of losing bees that are gathering nectar when the hive moves. If you must combine hives in the same bee yard, gradually move them closer together to orient the bees to a new location over a week or two before combining the hives. Alternatively, move the bees at night or in late winter, when virtually all of the bees will be in the hive.

• If you can't find the weaker queen to kill but know she is there, place the weaker queen's hive on top of the stronger hive when you combine them; the queen on top is less likely to survive.

• The paper serves to keep the bees separate while their pheromones mingle. The slits are there just to get them started chewing through the paper; do not create numerous or gaping holes.

• Suit up for protection against stings while combining your hives. Although some beekeepers prefer to wear light-colored street clothes with no protective gear, others use a full suit, helmet, veil and long gloves.

• Identify queenless hives before combining. If your hive has been queenless only a short time, it's generally no problem to combine hives. However, if a hive has been queenless for weeks, workers have likely started laying. In this event, the other bees will think the laying workers are queens and will kill a new queen added to the hive.

• Although combining hives increases the likelihood that weak colonies will survive, there is no guarantee that the combined hive will make it. Nonetheless, there is no harm in trying to save a hive that most likely will not survive alone.

References

• Catherine Skove; "The Honey Lady"; Newton, NJ

Resources

• You Tube: Combining Hives---the Newspaper Method
• You Tube: How to Do a Newspaper Combine of Two Beehives