Anew interesting afternoon. The bees were busy and the association hive with the test frame last week has drawn emergency queen cells. The bees in that hive are quite old and may struggle to raise a queen. Options were discussed including introduction of a mated queen, adding a couple of frames of brood with nurse bees or culling the cells and uniting with a strong colony.
A nuc which had lost its queen and was dwindling was shaken out. Most of the bees could be seen entering the next door hive on the stand but one or two fights broke out on the landing board.
Next session in three weeks time to put first Apiguard on. All harvesting of honey needs to be done before that time
The association are unwilling to try vapourising oxalic acid but I am researching it's use as subject to use of a chemical respirator it seems a much more convenient and less disruptive procedure.
A nuc which had lost its queen and was dwindling was shaken out. Most of the bees could be seen entering the next door hive on the stand but one or two fights broke out on the landing board.
Next session in three weeks time to put first Apiguard on. All harvesting of honey needs to be done before that time
The association are unwilling to try vapourising oxalic acid but I am researching it's use as subject to use of a chemical respirator it seems a much more convenient and less disruptive procedure.
