An 'interesting' weekend

[chalkie]

queen still walking around laying

If only 4 cells, I would suggest that is supercedure? How many other queen cells? If none, then they are likely not swarm cells at all.

Hi Rab,
There where a few charged cells that i ripped down before i spotted the sealed ones, panicked a bit as i didn't expect to find any with it only being 4/5 weeks in the hive and with 3 - 4 frames still empty for expansion.

 

[FreeFall]

So, a quick update from my inspections last Saturday (9th).

Hive 1 - (original AS swarm)- No QCs on test frame, bees still calm. It's been almost a month since the prime swarm from this hive and still no queen or eggs seen. This is the only one I'm worried about at the moment - will be keeping a close eye out for a DLQ and laying workers at next inspection and have a concerted effort to find any queen that might be in there. They did fill a super with 30 lbs of honey though but the number of bees in there is noticeably less now. If I can prove that there is no queen in there I will unite with one of the others, probably the AS parent. As I understand it, queen cells on a test frame means definitely no queen but no cells doesn't necessarily mean that there is one - can anyone enlighten me further?

Hive 2 - (AS parent) - Queen seen, young larvae and eggs on 3 frames.

Hive 3 - (Small swarm from hedge) - Loads of eggs and BIAS across 5 frames. Plenty of stores (never been fed).

Hive 4 - (Prime swarm from Hive 1) - 7 frames of BIAS and eggs, rest is stores. Added super.

Hoping for some good weather next week so I can take another good look and hopefully get more pics for those interested.

Nick

 

[FreeFall]

Looked in Hive 1 today and found a queen wandering around on one of the outer stores frames. Quite thin and moving fast. Still no sign of laying but at least I now know they are not Q- plus there were a lot of noisy drones around the entrance, so maybe hope yet.

Was debating whether to put her in a nuc box with a couple of frames (so I could unite the rest with a colony that has a laying queen), took my eye off of her for a second and she disappeared again. Decided that seeing her was enough for now - I'm going to leave her alone for another 10 days and if she's not laying by then I think I'll get rid of her and combine with the AS parent (hive 2).

Any thoughts?