Search results

Sorry, I meant to ask if it was the yet to emerge queen who was piping

Well well. The above mentioned apidea had produced a nice looking emergency queen cell and I had decided to leave it to its own devices. The other day i heard a queen piping, as there was only one queen cell I decided to leave it alone, ten I remembered about the airborne queen. Sure enough...

Thanks...hasn't she already orientated herself to the apidea though, albeit a few weeks ago

Today I took it upon myself to release a queen that had been introduced 4 days ago.....fondant too hard etc. The bees were crawling over the cage but not clinging or showing aggression. I gently slid open the cage with the entrance facing down into the hive. My decision to mark said queen with...

Thanks again

Oh dear. Added foundation yesterday evening, left them to settle in for the night and moved them to the apiary. I plugged the entrance with grass this morning and left them to it. A significant number of them have headed back to the empty bait hive location....I wonder should I put a box up...

Fair enough...they only arrived today though.....maybe I'm hijacking jules's thread?!

Thanks for your reply. They're current in a manky old nuc box that I was using as a bait hive....there's just the one drawn comb in there. Would your advice be the same? Add the comb to the box in its current location, move when they're asleep and let them unplug the entrance tomorrow?

So it's generally considered a bad idea to move a swarm right away? A swarm just arrived here this morning....about 20 yards from my apiary, unfortunately I don't really have anywhere miles away where I can put them. I read somewhere that putting a frame of open brood into the box will ensure...

Im I'm beginning to wonder if the bees aren't huddled in a tree laughing hysterically at me. Went to collect this swarm and found the box empty. Put it back and was pleasantly surprised to see it busier than ever all of yesterday. Steady traffic throughout the day, lots of bees at the...

Would it be ok to transfer them at their current location, late in the evening before moving them elsewhere tomorrow.....as opposed to taking the current box +3miles away before doing so?

Tbh I cant remember. It's a cheap plastic storage box from homebase...I'd say theres probably one brood comb and maybe one old strip of foundation. It's been there since last spring! I'd say it'll be fun transferring

Delighted to see one of my swarm traps had been deemed suitable by what looks like a decent sized colony. I'd been keeping an eye on every trap but this one, so they could be there for weeks. I suppose my next move is to get them to another location and then transfer them into a hive or nuc box...

Sounds a bit like my wedding, but with fishing rods and waders instead of badges and bee suits. Still...it was for my own good.

This might be useful, though it could be made easily and you'll need replacement frames from your apidea....they also do packs of 5 apidea frames for 10 euro https://www.donegalbees.ie/products/national-apidea-frame

Yes, kinda works for me

Thanks for all the advice. I was using a fine artists brush myself. I dont have any difficulty lifting the larvae...just work blind and trust the brush to do the work. However I assumed approaching the larvae from the inside of the curve was the way to go. I see Ted Hooper's book advises...

Today I had another go at grafting, after limited success with my first attempt. I understand that it's important to lay the larvae down in the same way as they were picked up....and not turn them upside down. Would the bees correct my mistake if I put some in upside down, a bit to the side etc...

Part of the job done anyway. I closed them in, moved the 2 brood boxes, set up a new brood box on the old stand, added the honey supers and let the bees out of the old hive. 2 smokers just in case, nitrile and latex gloves, 3 layers of clothes and plenty of masking tape around cuffs and zips...

Thanks, some young bees and larvae on a frame with brood at all stages...