Search results

:iagree:

Very sad. Is there any point where the colony 'needs' them? :ot: Rights for drones! :ot:

This is really just an observation rather than a request for advice. One of my hives has kicked out all of its drones, the same hive still had some crawling around in early October last year. Stores are good, same queen.

As Master BK says, it's probably just a precautionary measure. If they're drawing out more comb that's a good sign.

Could be quince. we have a quince orchard next door and you could describe the undertone as lemony

You may need to act quickly on this. So the first point to make is that workers will occasionally throw up QCs even if the colony isn't going to swarm. Was it a cup or a sealed cell? Secondly, the key thing here is going to be space. If your queen has run out of space in which to lay eggs then...

Thanks for the replies. I mentioned in another thread that in this particular hive the queen has been prolific in her laying. As I mentioned she has gone up into the 4th super and it's a perfect chimney shape stretching from the brood box. Far too much brood in my opinion (drones and females)...

Wasps do have an important role to play in the ecosystem so don't kill them unless you have to. A strong colony of bees will have no problem seeing off wasps.

Very low OK but not great. Lots of brood up into the 3rd super. The queen had laid in the 4th until recently but that's mostly been backfilled now. 2nd year queen, she started laying very early this year. These are the youngest drones, straight from their cells.

Seems a little early, but I'm seeing very young drones being dragged from their cells and flung out of the hives. I know this is normal but the last two years I recorded it as happening 7 weeks from now. Anyone else seeing this?

Yes, but it's not just the drones. I would argue that the hive doesn't need as many bees of (both genders) as the current laying pattern is providing for. We credit bees with knowing what they're doing but in this instance I'm starting to suspect that whoever is in charge of project management...

A hive packed with bees and brood and almost no stores. Are you saying I shouldn't feed?

Yes. Mostly in the top one. The laying pattern's not bad, the queen's just being extremely prolific. I had a peek into the brood box and that was nearly all brood as well.

I've experimented this year with one of my hives going completely excluder free. So this morning I carried out a quick examination and discovered that I have 4 supers full of brood (about 25% drone), in fact it's so prolific I've started feeding and I'm back on swarm watch. With 10 frames per...

OK gotcha, thanks Bill

Good idea, but in this instance no

It doesn't matter, but the cheapest and easiest way is probably syrup. We tend not to get a June gap here in surrey but I know some beeks at our apiary use syrup right through until the end of July ('cheating' as I like to call it :eek:)

I understand the way a colony works, but I don't understand why you're telling me about brood cones, when I make it clear in my post that this is not what's happening in this particular colony. I'm laying out a situation where the behaviour is abnormal and you're telling me what is normal. I...

Thanks for the responses. I'm not going with a QE for now but may have to if she repeats this months laying pattern. I'll move some stores and the super order around

Not sure what any of that has to do with what I posted, but thanks anyway