Search results

Well, absolutely nothing again with this crappy weather!

You are welcome, this is one the benefits of this forum. Keep an eye out for APHA's awareness days on diseases, they sometimes run it through local associations. Quite often they will bring real combs with various diseases.

All clear, it was a mix of sackbrood and neglected larvae induced by varroa and lack of young bees to tend to the brood! Worst frame out and replaced by a healthy frame of emerging brood to boost the nuc + a good vaping.

Yes but make sure you take the Qx out. They would go through a super that quick at the height of the season when they are really active, at their strongest, and unable to gather due to poor weather. In the winter it all slows down.

How long is a piece of string.... depends on how strong it is, how hungry or frugal they are, and the weather we have. I have had strong hives at this time of the year going through a super in 8-10 days!

Usually the case, feeding frenzy starts on seeing the headline, leaving no space for the queen to lay throughout autumn and leading to colony failure during the winter withthe usual statement of 'they had plenty of stores left'.

I had set aside 22 brood frames full of honey for winter stores, they have now all been used in nucs and colonies!

I have had to feed a few of my hives already, they were on their last bit of stores.

Seal the lot and use 2 strips of sulphur, done

Good to hear. I am blasting them with OA today again. There is only one frame showing signs of this which makes me think that it may have been triggered by something, stress combined by early robbing perhaps and the colony can sort it out.

Gonna have to fit a tracker on you 🤣

No I don't Dani. It's only a couple of days to wait and pretty sure it's sackbrood... Just want his opinion for peace of mind.

I had to call out the inspector after inspecting a nuc made a few weeks ago from a split and one of my 2023 queens. Bees were vaped a couple of weeks ago. Pictures are not the best quality but the frame pictured had a fair bit of pierced cappings, dead larvae some of it gone black or brown...

Nothing is guaranteed with beekeeping. If the nuc hasn't been left queenless for too long, they may accpet her. Leave the tab on for 24h then remove it and let the bees eat through the fonadant. If they have material to make their own queencells, make sure you do not leave a single one or they...

In that case you probably can putting the queen back into an introduction cage or push in cage if you have. Personally, I would remove the queencell and unite the 2 together and try another split next spring.

I assume you did a split as they were about to swarm? If you put the queen back in now and leave the queen cell, they will swarm with her, simple. If you remove the queen cell and put the queen, they will wait until she lays so they can make more queencells and swarm with her.

While on a topic of queens and rather than starting a new thread, could someone enlighten me as to how the UK suppliers of imported queens store them until sold? Are they just banked and could stay for a little while in the introduction cage hoping to be sold quickly?

Never know, could be children or sensitive souls on the square, you don't want to offend them 😂

Tied up almost naked in the middle of the square with 4 vile hives tipped in front of him?

Absolutely gutting. I turned down a couple of sites as they were visible from the road and easily accessible. These worthless scumbags must know a thing or 2 about beekeeping and easy way of getting rid of them. Can't be random opportunistic thieves.