[cloddopper]

So long as the queen is in the hive the longer the bees walk the hive and any wild comb etc the more chance of them staying put.

When I used to make my national hives I used marine ply for the walls  I fed them well but they didn't draw comb . The little beggars evacuated the hive four times onto some low level ash branches which made recover of the swarm so easy before I realized what was irritating them ...........  I found the data for the marine ply , it had also been treated with an insecticide .

 Once I'd put them in an old cleand &  scorched hive they settled well and became good producers .

It took a couple of scorching's with the old paraffin blow lamp and a years opened up weathering to the elements before I was able to use that batch of six hive & supers .

[Olly398]

Just by way of an update, the bees stayed, they have built out around 15 bars of comb in my TBH. It has not been plain sailing though, because they didn't want to build the comb straight and I've had a few problems trying to sort it... however I am getting there. I took a tiny bit of honey yesterday which was really delicious.
 
I've learned so much and gained confidence working with the bees, so its been a good season for me. I hope to build a second TBH (haven't told the OH yet!  ) for swarm control / expansion next year. I'll change my bar profile to a deep "v" or perhaps waxed foundation strips (which I have had success with here), but definitely not a waxed saw kerf!
 
All my notes and photos are documented here
 

 
 
 

[Bionic]

Intersting blog Olly and good pics too 

[Victorian Farmer]

Very good read ,we'll worth the efort would love that swarm I've got  8 running at the mo did have 12 so let us no haw things are going good read

[Olly398]

Thanks both     

[cloddopper]

Looks like they are in for the long haul.
 As mentioned previously a 1/8 inch wide thin bead of molten bees wax poured along the kerf9 cut in the top bar gives the bees an anchor point in the right direction
 Do look up what the bee spaces should bee and cut you top bars as wide as to the width of the comb plus !/2 a bee space either side that way you'll get really even well drawn comb that easy to work , de cap or make cut comb from .

To make a molten wax pourer  I found that a small 2 " dia can of tuna  formed to a lip / spout like a jug was ideal.
A word of warning though .......
 When you heat bees wax over an open flame it can break out into a ball of flame as it explodes the light volatile gasses given off from the flower oils in the wax.

 It's best to heat the wax to melting by sitting  the can in a tray of hot water and pour more in from an electric kettle if needed to complete the melt down .
 Don't have any naked flames any where near you and do have some room ventilation going. Don't play with the light or electrical switches either just in case the volatile fumes are ignited by the spark in the switch .

[Olly398]

Thanks Clodhopper. There is a legendary family story of my Uncle's short-lived career as a French Polisher that has taught me to heat wax over a bain marie. Don't worry, he is still with us, his eyebrows gre back and I believe he has learned to laugh about it. 
 
Waxed bars didn;t work for me; perhaps I did not lay the bead prominently enough. This type worked much better in my hive:
 

[cloddopper]

That's good as well , though a wee bit more expensive    perhaps experiment and see if you can use half the width of wax srtip.

 When I ran the beads of wax on my saw cuts they stood proud of the frame by about 2.5  mm . The saw cuts were made with a cheapie new " Jack"  tennon saw.

Then one day I got a Dremmel for my birthday and used the little saw blade to make a 1.5 mm slot using another bar  clamped to the bar as a guide

[Olly398]

Well there have been a few ups and downs including a re-queening and some cut'n shut national brood frames (full story here, scroll down), but the bees are still with us and I have recently installed a bottom board and some roof insulation.
 
They have been taking 2:1 sugar syrup strongly and and I saw them bringing pollen into the hive a week ago (the last time it wasn't raining  )
 

 

[cloddopper]

I'd tend to fight shy of the newspaper in the top as an insulator for it attracts moisture and turns mouldy .

You can make a simple flat top/ crown  board with several mesh covered air vents along its length , the bees will block up any mesh they don't want with propolis or wax .

 In wild nests in hollow trees or in small porch roofs there is usually lots of air flow . It is usually the mould that will kill your bees not dry cold ( so long as they have supplies to bring them through the dry cold spell .

[Victorian Farmer]

Well things turning out for you at last iv had 70 pound of honey this time .Time to get them redey for winter lost all but 4 last winter .

[Olly398]

Yes I had read that they need good ventilation. Next sunny day (!) I will lift the roof and check the condition of the newsprint, might remove it.
Cheers

[cloddopper]

You can work your bees on calm dark nights about an hour after darkness has fallen
 The cooler air will cause the bees to cluster tight  very few will fly so long as your not really clumsy.
 Here's how

 Get yourself one of the head band LED torches that has RED LED's put it switched onto red under your veil /hood go and play with the bee's .

 If your worried about any bees being on your suit simply go and stand under a flood light or in the light of  car headlights on main beam the few bees on you will fly to the bright light .

Many a night I've taken honey off from midnight to four in the morning or syrup fed the bees if things didn't work out in day light hours  .

Occasionally with the 12 hives on the homestead apiary I'd just walk back in the bee room and start boiling a kettle for a cuppa at various un godly hours of feeding or manipulating the hives . A few bees would arc up to the fluorescent strip light and stay their save for one time when one sneaky little bugger  had crawled inside my trouser leg and said hello to my ankle when I took the bee suit off . When I'd finished doing what I was doing I'd open the vent window and turn the light out come sensible daylight hours the bees on the light fitting flew back home . I rarely found a dead bee save for the one that stung me on my ankle.

[Olly398]

That's great advice, thanks! :-)

[Olly398]

So sadly, after all the hard thought and work, the colony died out a few weeks ago. I have written a detailed write up of my analysis and the lessons learned.
 
I am not giving up with beekeeping, nor necessarily TBH's, but time for a more considered approach. watch this space!