New to TBH and lots of ????

[NC Queen Bee]

I have jumped head first into TBH.. Tuesday, I was minding my own business and there it was , a nice picture of this beautiful cypress TBH..complete with a hinged window, stand and bars.... So, I placed an order for one!! Oh, why not-- I know zero/nothing/zip about TBH but that has never stopped me before...  I have been a beekeeper for 12yrs, I have 7 hives, live on 100acres (so space is no problem) and am willing to study, read, ask questions  and learn by doing!..

A few questions to start with...

1. I am in zone 7 (central NC). Is it too late to start a hive? Should I wait until Spring?
2. With optimal conditions how long would I need to feed them, now? Would I need to feed them thru the winter?
3.  Can you add two packages of bees to help boost the production of wax? Or will one package be enough?
4. Are there any really good sites w/ pictures of the parts of the TBH?

Any ideas, suggestions, resourses you could share would be great... Thank you, NC Queen Bee

[Maryland Beekeeper]

Hi NC,

Good on ya ! My two cents:

1. Not to late, especially if you can get a swarm which I would recommend over package bees.
2. If you do get a package I'd feed them for @ least a week until they get some comb built, if you catch a swarm no feeding necessary.
3. One package should suffice.
4. Check out the Natural Beekeeping Network, lots of TB info.

Cheers and best wishes,
Drew

[AllenF]

You have hives, so do some splits.    You can cut out some brood from a frame and tie it on to a  top bar.   You can shake bees in as you see needed.   Go for it.   

[Joe D]

Allen covered just about everything.  Go for it and good luckwith your hives.



Joe

[Sundog]

Answers vary for different geographical locations.  Where are?

Have fun!

[JPBEEGETTER]

If you want to see some good vids on tbh's go to outofabluesky.com  McCartny Taylor he is a good instructor as well as an engineer.   hope this helps. That is what I did   Have 3 tbh doing well, as well as 8 lang's
  gl from a nother NC guy..

[sid8]

cool information.