Bandini
New Bee
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2011
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- herefordshire
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 3
Dear Beekeepers,
yet again i need some advice (i hope i'm not exceeding my quota!)
After inspection yesterday I found a few problems that I'm a bit stumped with. My mentor is on holiday, so i turn to you generous folk for advice...
I have 2 colonies with problems: (both in Nationals)
The first is a a swarmed colony, see :
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12307
Yesterday I was relieved to find brood after a few weeks of waiting with no sign of a laying queen. Obviouly a queen has successfully mated and is now laying. However i also found (and destroyed) 5 queen cells! Could this colony still have the swarming instinct? Some QCs were in the centre, but at least 3 were at the bottom of the frames toward the edge. Do I just keep vigilant and destroy new QCs? Or, as I couldn't find the queen (and it must be very late for swarming), should i be concerned that something has happened to her?
The other trouble I have is with a Nuke on five frames, now in a brood box. One frame of brood I introduced from my other strong colony last week and I have been feeding them up using a small contact feeder which they keep emptying. Yesterday I found 3 Q cells in this colony, 2 sealed and 1 unsealed!
I looked and looked but couldn't spot the Queen (might just be lack of experience) so i destroyed the sealed QCs and left the unsealed until i sort some advice.
In addition, while inspecting the overhang on one side of one of the frames snapped off! (this is an old frame given to me by my mentor) It's full of brood and unfortunately it broke in my hand and I dropped it. It now sits tilted in the brood chamber with the bottom at one end touching the floor. Clearly it needs replacing but, as i said, it's full of brood and in a relatively weak nuke.
Anyone know a method of running repair for this kind of problem.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long post, any advice on the above would be greatly appreciated.
yet again i need some advice (i hope i'm not exceeding my quota!)
After inspection yesterday I found a few problems that I'm a bit stumped with. My mentor is on holiday, so i turn to you generous folk for advice...
I have 2 colonies with problems: (both in Nationals)
The first is a a swarmed colony, see :
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12307
Yesterday I was relieved to find brood after a few weeks of waiting with no sign of a laying queen. Obviouly a queen has successfully mated and is now laying. However i also found (and destroyed) 5 queen cells! Could this colony still have the swarming instinct? Some QCs were in the centre, but at least 3 were at the bottom of the frames toward the edge. Do I just keep vigilant and destroy new QCs? Or, as I couldn't find the queen (and it must be very late for swarming), should i be concerned that something has happened to her?
The other trouble I have is with a Nuke on five frames, now in a brood box. One frame of brood I introduced from my other strong colony last week and I have been feeding them up using a small contact feeder which they keep emptying. Yesterday I found 3 Q cells in this colony, 2 sealed and 1 unsealed!
I looked and looked but couldn't spot the Queen (might just be lack of experience) so i destroyed the sealed QCs and left the unsealed until i sort some advice.
In addition, while inspecting the overhang on one side of one of the frames snapped off! (this is an old frame given to me by my mentor) It's full of brood and unfortunately it broke in my hand and I dropped it. It now sits tilted in the brood chamber with the bottom at one end touching the floor. Clearly it needs replacing but, as i said, it's full of brood and in a relatively weak nuke.
Anyone know a method of running repair for this kind of problem.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long post, any advice on the above would be greatly appreciated.
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