Brand new to beekeeping and advice required. Emergancy action taken!

[jellybeans85]

Sorry in advance for the length, complex situation!

I have two hives which I received as part of a course I took on beekeeping, one of which is very, very strong and the other quite weak. The weather lately has been dire so I’ve been unable to really have a good look through however I was concerned of the possibility of swarming on the strong hive – this hive has both a brood box and super with which the queen can be in to lay (as advised by course tutor due to the weight of having two brood boxes). On Sunday the weather was finally good enough for me to have a good look and I have tons of queen cells, mostly all in various stages. Three were capped – but there is definitely no loss from the colony so old queen cannot have swarmed. In the weaker hive I have a drone laying queen.

The problem I have is that neither of my queens are marked and despite searching for a very long time, going through the hives several times, I cannot find either. The hive with the drone layer is extremely skittish and I am worried may not survive much longer with no workers hatching. I sought advice from an experienced beekeeper who said I would have to take action immediately so yesterday I did the following as an emergency measure:

Hive 1 (strong colony): Can’t find Q – super (above Q excluder) given to weak colony – introduced through newspaper – plus a frame with a good Q cell and eggs and brood. All other Q cells removed.

Hive 2 (weak colony): Introduced as above, however cannot find Q despite looking for very long time and worried about disturbance. Hoping that Q cell accepted or emergency raised and drone layer superseded successfully. I am worried new Q will be injured but short of constant disturbance cannot think of what else to do!

Hive 3 (new hive from strong colony): As Q cannot be located I have taken end frames from experience Q is least likely to be and placed into new hive along with good Q cell and workers. Also some bees taken from supers where I know Q will not be and frames with eggs and larvae in all stages. Really, really hoping that I have gotten away with this and they will raise a Q or accept Q from cell in new hive. Plenty of waxwork etc to be getting on with in meantime.

These were emergency measures and I am now concerned that a) I have done completely the wrong things and b) I am going away in a few days for 5 days. My father can look after the bees whilst I am away but he has same experience as me so we are dumbfounded. I know with such young queens it is unwise to open hives for at least a week from hatching of cells (which as sealed could mean anything up to 15 days, which is after holiday anyway) so my plan was to monitor hive 1 at which point it will be apparent if the Q has gone missing and leave the two newly Q hives to it unless there’s unusual activity outside the hives.

Can anybody offer any advice as to how to proceed or if what we have done is OK for the time being?

Thank you so much!

JB

 

[drstitson]

sealed cells = swarmed (unless the weather has held things back). if queen still present she'll likely go when possible.

any eggs seen?

you say no loss from colony. yet haven't had a good look in recently because of weather. we are still in peak build up period - loads of emerging bees. colony may be as busy as before BUT may have since lost a swarm.

 

[oliver90owner]

there is definitely no loss from the colony

Capped queen cells means she had likely gone already or was about to go (may have been weather-dependent).

Weak colony (drone layer) first. Box underneath brood in which you will just place a couple of frames of brood. Shake all bees into this box from all brood box frames, cover with Q/E and replace old brood box(es). A day later the queen will be easily found in that bottom box provided it is not so small as to be able to negotiate the Q/E. Deal with queen and proceed. I hope the queen cell was in a shallow frame, or it may already be dead. It is possible it is anyway. Find out in about a week.

Strong colony next. Likely no queen and no queen cells. Were their eggs when you inspected at length? If not, I suggest you hope and pray. There may be the opprtunity for them to build emergency queen cells (if there was no queen but were larvae less than three days old).

New colony. It will need more bees than you think, as any flyers will return to the old location (although you don't say if you have repositioned any hives). It may be better placed gently on the original site, so at least flying bees will reinforce it.

You may be lucky and get out of gaol, but quite easily be further in the mire. I suggest you take on board the above possibilities and hope you finish with at least two colonies.

You may need to unite and start again. You may need a frame with eggs to initiate a new queen. Not all lost in any scenario. Just depends if you come up trumps, smelling like daisy or if you sink further in the mire.

Steep learning curve. Shame the experienced beek did not give you more hints.

Get a mentor is another suggestion.

RAB

 

[jellybeans85]

Hi guys, thank you for getting back to me quickly.

Weak colony - OK, I will do this. Thank you for the suggestion.

There are definitely eggs in strong colony and new hive on old site to get flyers in. The weather has been shocking here and my thinking was that Q was delayed by weather (exp beekeeper agreed). I shall find out soon!

I am aware it was a hope and prey situation, experienced beekeeper was my tutor but unsure with what to do and unable to come and look with me. I thought some action better than nothing and am just on tenterhooks keeping everything crossed.

We received emails saying not to go through the hives due to weather unless indication something amiss, although when I did check (although weather still not great but was so concerned due to size of colony) there were swarming plans if not swarming underway.

Can I look through all colonies this coming weekend still if possibility of young queens?

Thank you so much for your help!

Gosh - I enjoy my beekeeping time but am literally a few months in and thrown in the deep end! I hope I can make it through the next few months OK and get all in order!