Lesson 47: Uniting Two Colonies

The newspaper method: combining colonies without a fight

Sometimes two colonies are better as one. Uniting (combining) colonies is a simple job, but it has to be done carefully, because bees from different colonies smell different and will fight if they're just dumped together. The trick is to let them mix slowly so they end up with the same colony smell.

When to unite colonies

• A weak colony going into winter. Weak colonies often don't survive the winter; combining them with a stronger one gives a better chance (lessons 14 and 52).
• A queenless colony, or one with laying workers, when you don't have a new queen or it keeps rejecting them (lessons 43–44).
• A nuc with a new queen that you're using to requeen a larger colony (lesson 45).
• Two small colonies that would do better as one.

Only unite healthy colonies. Combining a diseased colony with a healthy one spreads the disease (lessons 58–67). And uniting a colony that's weak because of mites won't help unless the mites are dealt with.

The newspaper method

1. Decide which queen to keep. A combined colony can only have one queen. Remove the weaker (or older) of the two queens a day or so before uniting. (A laying-worker colony has none to remove.)
2. Open the colony that will be on the bottom (usually the stronger, queenright one). Take off its lid and inner cover.
3. Lay a single sheet of newspaper over the top of its top box, covering it completely.
4. Poke or slit a few small holes in the newspaper with your hive tool. The holes get the bees started.
5. Set the other colony's box (or boxes) on top of the newspaper. A laying-worker colony always goes on top. Put the inner cover and lid back on.
6. Leave them alone for several days to a week. The bees chew through the paper gradually. By the time the paper is gone, their scents have mixed and they unite peacefully. You'll find shreds of newspaper at the entrance as they clear it out.
7. After a week or so, rearrange the combined colony: brood together in the center of the brood boxes, food around it, and remove empty or extra boxes.

Tips

• Unite in the evening, when foragers are home, or on a calm day.
• If the two colonies were in different spots in the same yard, the foragers from the moved colony will fly back to their old location. Put a box there briefly to catch them, or unite colonies that are already next to each other.
• Don't unite during a strong robbing period without reducing entrances (lesson 50).
• Check the combined colony a week or two later for eggs from the queen you kept.

Other uses of the same idea

The newspaper method is the standard, safe way to: - add a package that lost its queen to an established colony (lesson 26); - requeen with a nuc (lessons 45–46); - combine weak colonies in the fall (lesson 52).

What to remember

• Bees from different colonies fight if mixed suddenly; newspaper lets their scents blend slowly.
• Unite only healthy colonies; keep one queen (remove the weaker one first).
• One sheet of newspaper with a few slits, weaker colony on top; leave it a week.
• Rearrange afterward and check for eggs.

Quick check

1. Why does the newspaper method work?
2. Which colony goes on top when uniting a laying-worker colony with a queenright one?
3. Why shouldn't you unite a diseased colony with a healthy one?

Adapted from: UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: A Synopsis of Bee Management in Georgia; Purdue Extension, Advanced Beekeeping (4-H-1059-W), "Newspaper method" and "Colony Troubleshooting"; NC State Extension, How to Install a Package of Honey Bees (rev. 2024); UF/IFAS Extension, Overwintering Honey Bee Colonies in Northern Climates (IN1006).

Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.