Having united the queenless hive with the new colony on the 20th I enlisted my son to hold up the top brood box while I checked the newspaper sheet. It was full of holes, allowing the bees to mix freely so removed it along with supporting qe and closed up.
The bees were noticeably less aggressive although it must be said I had not lifted any frames out of the brood.
Finished off by looking into the last swarm hive and this time spotted the queen. Not a very strong colony yet so likely to need lots of support or uniting with a stronger colony to overwinter. Thinking about an insulated nuc. A lot will depend on their reaction to varroa treatment scheduled for all my colonies on Sunday.
The bees were noticeably less aggressive although it must be said I had not lifted any frames out of the brood.
Finished off by looking into the last swarm hive and this time spotted the queen. Not a very strong colony yet so likely to need lots of support or uniting with a stronger colony to overwinter. Thinking about an insulated nuc. A lot will depend on their reaction to varroa treatment scheduled for all my colonies on Sunday.
