Newspaper combine didn't work — three days on and the bees haven't chewed through, what did I do wrong?
After reading the uniting thread last week I finally did it: found and removed the queen from my five-frame colony in Kent, put newspaper over the strong colony's brood box, set the weak box on top, roof on, walked away feeling very grown up.
That was Monday. This morning I lifted the roof for a peek and the newspaper is completely intact. The bees in the top box are clustered on two frames and there's a little pile of dead ones on the paper. It's been cold and wet since I did it — 11-12°C and drizzle, almost no flying.
Things I'm now wondering: I used the thick weekend supplement paper, two sheets because I was worried about it tearing while I set the box down. I didn't cut any slits. And the top box has no entrance of its own. Was it the paper, the cold, or all of it? Do I take the box off and start over, or just cut some slits and wait?
Mostly the paper. One sheet of ordinary newsprint is the rule — glossy supplement paper is much heavier and two layers of it is a wall, not a hint. A few slits with the hive tool are what give them the idea; the cold slowed everything on top of that. No entrance in the top box is correct, don't add one or they'll never bother to chew. Don't take it apart. Lift the top box, swap in a single sheet of thin newsprint with three or four slits, put it straight back. They'll be through in a day or two once it warms a little. The few dead on the paper are old bees with nowhere to go; normal.
BuckfastLinda · Sep 11, 2026
CorkBeeRon has it. Mine are through a single slit sheet in 24 to 48 hours every time, even in poor weather, and I've done dozens with Buckfast colonies. Two sheets of heavy paper is the one thing I'd never do. Also check when you swap it that the top colony still has a little food nearby — three days clustered on two frames with no entrance is not ideal if the frames are empty.
DevonBees_Em · Sep 11, 2026
Devon, same weather as you this week. Just to reassure you KentishBee, a delayed combine isn't a failed combine — I had one take five days in a cold snap in 2024 and both lots were fine. Thin paper, slits, and a warm afternoon and you'll find shredded newspaper on the landing board by the weekend.
KentishBee · Sep 12, 2026
Swapped the paper Thursday evening — one sheet of the actual news pages, four slits. Friday warmed to 17°C and by Saturday morning there were bits of newspaper on the board and bees flying from the bottom entrance in numbers. Peeked: paper half gone, bees moving between boxes calmly. Thank you both, lesson: thin and slit.