2 other elementary questions

[Swarm]

Released a queen in a friend's hive this Summer, the attendants simply strolled onto the comb and joined the rest.

 

[birdsandbees]

Released a queen in a friend's hive this Summer, the attendants simply strolled onto the comb and joined the rest.

It's great when you have a receptive hive, I've let a couple just walk out into the hive after watching the bees reaction to the new queen, if they are welcoming her with open arms in she goes

 

[Cuckmere couple]

i had two failed attempts last year

followed instructions to letter...left in travel cage between frames for 3-4 days or however many it was...first with attendant and second without

released with candy plug in situ

both colonies were v definitely queenless

both queens dead at front of hive a few days later

one colony became a laying worker

the other i merged

 

[Murox]

Sometimes sh*t just happens no matter what you seem to do to avoid it. Hope you enjoy better fortune this coming season.

 

[Swarm]

i had two failed attempts last year

followed instructions to letter...left in travel cage between frames for 3-4 days or however many it was...first with attendant and second without

released with candy plug in situ

both colonies were v definitely queenless

both queens dead at front of hive a few days later

one colony became a laying worker

the other i merged

What time of year was it? Bees can get upset when they don't get what they were expecting, if they'd begun swarm prep, they would be expecting a virgin, not a new laying queen.
Try to load things in your favour, make up a nuc of sealed/emerging brood and the bees on them. Don't shake in extra bees and allow time for foragers to depart the nuc and fly home before siting the nuc in its place. With no open brood, the bees cannot draw emergency cells (but do check before releasing the queen just in case) The nuc will be full of young bees and those emerging will only know this new queen. After a couple of days, check the attitude of the bees towards her, through the cage, they should be making a fuss of her and behaving 'nicely'. Attempt to move them with your finger, it should be easy, if they pile back over the cage and seem agitated put it back and try again a few days later. With the young bee approach, I'd expect them to be fine after two days, at which point I remove the tab (after making sure there are no emergency cells you may have missed) Give it a few days, open up quietly and check the cage, she will be out Personally, I leave them a week before seeing how she is doing.
The introduction at my friend's apiary was to a full colony after a long time in her cage due to a few issues. The bees were totally relaxed as I checked and double checked each comb and the bees on the cage were really feeling the love, with their little tongues through the holes. I suggested we release her straight onto the comb, he agreed and we watched. They all walked out in style and an instant retinue formed all around the queen, it was beautiful.

I would still advise you to work with your bees first before thinking of buying queens but don't make increase through AS, you can encourage the bees by other methods like Demarree or even simply splitting the queen into a nuc, leaving the colony to requeen themselves, my friend in Bulgaria uses this method alone to requeen all his colonies. Make up plenty of nucs with spare queens and possibly offer one or two to new beeks and get a little group going.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Steve

very helpful as ever

it was june time

i have just been watching videos of the Miller method etc and wondering about trying to get capped q cells that way and considering the need for mating hive etc

a. not sure why they put the capped cell into a tapered cage and into a mating hive
b. what time of year to have a go at this (april ish?)
c. re our buckfast colony...people say 2nd generation can be a little aggressive...is using the eggs from a buckfast colony to create q cells akin to this being 2nd generation? prob a daft question....

 

[Beefriendly]

c. re our buckfast colony...people say 2nd generation can be a little aggressive...is using the eggs from a buckfast colony to create q cells akin to this being 2nd generation? prob a daft question....

Lots of depends...it mainly depends on what your local bee population is like. If generally good natured you probably won't notice any difference between an F2 and your locals (F2's are by now 75% local).
If however your local ragtag are quite aggressive (AKA where I live) then F2's can be "difficult".. It's not that they are more aggressive, just that there are a lot more of them......Got 2 late supersedures that are now F2 to sort out come spring....oh happy days!

 

[Swarm]

Steve

very helpful as ever

it was june time

i have just been watching videos of the Miller method etc and wondering about trying to get capped q cells that way and considering the need for mating hive etc

a. not sure why they put the capped cell into a tapered cage and into a mating hive
b. what time of year to have a go at this (april ish?)
c. re our buckfast colony...people say 2nd generation can be a little aggressive...is using the eggs from a buckfast colony to create q cells akin to this being 2nd generation? prob a daft question....

The tapered cage or foil wrap is to protect the cells in case they are torn down.
The presence of Drones will determine your queen rearing, I find it's usually some time in May.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

thanks Swarm

keen to give it a go

worth getting a mini mating nuc to use a smaller number of bees more efficiently given ive only got 3 hives?

considering using the miller method or something to create some q cells and then bring them on in mini nucs

is that viable for a beginner?

objective is to get replacements prepped for our 3 queens which have ? marks over them for different reasons....or, to allow them to build up as nucs if not needed as replacements