I moved a couple colonies into more accommodating lodging recently. One a Langstroth hive and the other a top bar hive. This involved moving the existing hive, putting the new hive in its place, and moving the combs into the new box. The bees know where their entrance should be, so they quickly accommodate to the new box as long as their brood and queen is there.

For the Langstroth, this has been a nuc all read, at that time a five box nuc (5 by 5 = 25 frames) into four medium boxes (4 x 8 = 32 frames). I had another medium hive (two boxes) nearby that had become a laying worker. Somehow the queen never developed, and with no new brood some of the workers starting laying drone eggs. So I took that box, shook out the bees so they would have to find a new home, and used it in place of the nuc. The rest was just moving frames. The below pictures show the hive before on July 8, after on July 9, and more recently on July 21. They seem to be doing well.

The top bar hive (TBH) is a different story. This was my big hive Saturn, which in May was looking very poorly with no sigh of a queen, and I suspected European Foul Brood (EFB). I consolidate the bees into a smaller 15 frame hive and added two frames from its healthy neighbor Jupiter. My hope was it would make a new queen a recover.

A month later in June it was doing well, and I was rather pleased with myself. I saw a new queen, good brood, and gentle bees. So on July 9 I move it back to the full size hive. The below pictures show a very packed 15-frame TBH on July 8 and the larger hive earlier today (July 21). The larger hive holds 24 frames, and the bees seem to be doing well.

May you prosper and find honey.