Buzz Buzz from worcestershire

[wibble]

Hi All

Been lurking for a while awaiting my first ever Bees. Done a fab theory cource with a local association and a few practical sessions at thier club apiary.

On Saturday got a call offering a swarm and so I now have my own Bees to look after. To say I drove back wiht with a greater and greater butterflies in tummy feeling is an understatement.

Anyway a very experienced club member helped hiving them. Middling sized prime he reckons and wiht the furious fanning at the entrance reckons I am queenright. Been told to feed them on Sunday and then leave them for 2 - 3 weeks and see how they get on.

Sad thing is now both me & the wife spen more time looking out the window at them then doing anything else !!!!!

Good luck ladies, hope you build up quick

Richard

 

[Vortex]

I wouldn't leave them 2-3 weeks before checking on them.

Swarms are notoriously productive, but you need to wait a couple of days before feeding them - they need to empty their honey stomachs and it's best to get them to do this by drawing wax.

How much feed did you give them? To draw a full box, or even several frames, they are likely to need a few pounds of sugar made up as 1:1 solution over several days.

Having hived a swarm on the 15th, I went in yesterday to find a full frame of laid up brood and a shed load of wild comb (my fault as I couldn't locate my dummy boards). I did have the advantage of having 1 drawn frame which is what the queens used to lay in.

Assuming they spend the first 3 days drawing enough foundation then you should have part of this laid up by next weekend.. so I'd check on the feed before then and do a quick inspection next weekend just to confirm the queen is laying and how much foundation has been drawn.

The novelty of watching them through the windows or by standing by the hive never really wears off and with experience enables you to have a good idea what is going on in the hive.

 

[alldigging]

Hi All
Sad thing is now both me & the wife spen more time looking out the window at them then doing anything else !!!!!

Not sad at all!

We've thought about a web cam so I wouldn't have to leave my desk to see how they are!

 

[bpmurray]

Sad thing is now both me & the wife spen more time looking out the window at them then doing anything else !!!!!

Welcome. At least you've realised what a life-changing event the arrival of bees is!

 

[wibble]

Many thanks for the welcomes & the advice.

I was told the swarm was about 24 hours old when I took it so I put in 2 pts of 1:1 syrup in. Had a quick check 2 days later and wasn't convinced they had taken much but topped it up just in case. They seem to be flying off with a purpose big time now so must have found something to bring back

The nuc the swarm was supplied to me only a single super foundation which they had started to draw out and fill with nectar. Advice was to leave in main hive but on every inspection gradually move it out to a side, the bees will draw wild comb from the bottom of it and it should mainly contain drome brood. Sacrifice this as varroa control.

Indeed Alldigging, I am already laying in a power point close by and am awaiting delivery of a water proof IP cam. That way I can login from anywhere and make sure they are not up to any mischief.

We are so wary of them absconding that my wife sends me hourly activety updates and panics when she sees any more that 10 bees milling around the entrace.

 

[birdsandbees]

Hi Wibble

I'm from Worcestershire too! Worcester itself to be more precise, welcome to the wonderful but sometimes frustrating world of beekeeping.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Many thanks for the welcomes & the advice.

I was told the swarm was about 24 hours old when I took it so I put in 2 pts of 1:1 syrup in. Had a quick check 2 days later and wasn't convinced they had taken much but topped it up just in case. They seem to be flying off with a purpose big time now so must have found something to bring back

The nuc the swarm was supplied to me only a single super foundation which they had started to draw out and fill with nectar. Advice was to leave in main hive but on every inspection gradually move it out to a side, the bees will draw wild comb from the bottom of it and it should mainly contain drome brood. Sacrifice this as varroa control.

Indeed Alldigging, I am already laying in a power point close by and am awaiting delivery of a water proof IP cam. That way I can login from anywhere and make sure they are not up to any mischief.

We are so wary of them absconding that my wife sends me hourly activety updates and panics when she sees any more that 10 bees milling around the entrace.

Welcome to the madhouse
The bees will know what to do in building a new home, just make sure your frame spacing is correct. Using DN4 frames and keeping them tight together will look after that aspect.
If they aren't using the 1:1 syrup it sounds as though they are using up their stomach content and have located a good source of forage. Give it a couple of days then take it away or it may ferment.
Beekeeping is a practical application of the main sciences which occasionally extends into chaos.

 

[alldigging]

Hi Wibble

I'm from Worcestershire too! Worcester itself to be more precise, welcome to the wonderful but sometimes frustrating world of beekeeping.

I'm originally from Lower Broadheath!

 

[wibble]

aw gawd, It's like having a new family menber. Today I saw 10 dead bees on the landing board. We both can't stop fretting about them, are they happy, are they feeding ok, are they well is the current behaviour normal, are they absconding, etc,etc. Does it ever end ??

 

[AndyTh]

Welcome Wibble, it doesn't have to end, ever. Some beeks manage the fear of losing a colony by making sure to have more hives next year.
But it can take over a bit, though nice to have the wife enthusiastic and I hope it lasts.
I too live in Worcs, WR11 by the way.

 

[wessexmario]

aw gawd, It's like having a new family menber. Today I saw 10 dead bees on the landing board. We both can't stop fretting about them, are they happy, are they feeding ok, are they well is the current behaviour normal, are they absconding, etc,etc. Does it ever end ??

I wouldn't worry about just 10 dead bees.
Different hives do things differently, some undertaker bees carry dead bees some distance from the hive, others just kick them out of the entrance so you notice them more.
In summer workers only live for 6 weeks or so, which means that 2% of the population die every day, so a small colony of 20,000 will have 400 deaths per day.

 

[wibble]

Second inspection yesterday and am a bit concerend as this is were my inexperience shows. From having 5 frames stuffed with sealed brood, loads of larvae and a nice queen scurrying around last week, today lots of hatched brood cells, a few older larvae but I struggled to see any young larvae or eggs ( can't spot those at the best of times anyway!) and queenie presumablay hiding somewhere. Loads of hawthorn pollen and some sealed stores and colony grown to ocupy 8 frames now, 2 others with only partially drawn comb.

Now, does this mean Queenie has gone taken a laying rest ? Is this affected by nectar flow, which is, I am told, not very good at mo' due to all the rain. Loads of bees foraging, comming & going at almost 2-3 per second.

Sacrificed drone brood showed no varroa.

Is this situation normal for this time of the year ?

 

[Chris B]

I wouldn't worry. Sounds just like some of mine. Weather is looking fairly good from now on and just in time for the main nectar flow so the queen will get going again after the slowdown.

 

[enrico]

Take one frame with open cells. check thoroughly to make sure queen is not on it. Hold it above the space it came from and make a quick down action without knocking it on any other frames or the hive. Stop the down action suddenly and most of the bees will be propelled into the space. Do it again. Hardly any bees on the frame so now have a really good look at it and see what is really going on!
Good learning experience too.
Get your partner to take a photo so you can inspect the blown up image
E

 

[wibble]

Thanks for the calming words. I noticed that very little wax had been drawn since the last one and the bees did look a bit lethargic. Bearing in mind I had been told about a current poor nectar flow I plonked a feeder with 2 pts of 1:1 syrup. Well that lasted 1 day so I refilled again today. Once all the frames are drawn I'll take it off. Could be low food storges as the issue ?

 

[wibble]

This is all very odd now. Had a quick look yesterday and still no eggs, no larvae and about 30% of the capped brood left to emerge. However, I accidentaly destroyed a charged Queen cell but found another capped 2 frames further into the hive.

Checking more closely, I found about a total of 20 or so 3 day oldish eggs on one frame only.

Tis most odd, QC was in middle of frame so is this superccedure ? If it is, so soon after the swarm was hived ? When i did see the Queen she looked big & energetic amd managed to fill 5 frames full of new brood in 2 weeks.

There is pleny of space, still 2 frames left to fully draw out, sheds loads of pollen stored and still being brought in. Some drone brood, a bit of stores. They Bees, themselves were pretty fiesty during this inspection instead of their usual calm selves.

Any fine words of wisdom ??

 

[Vortex]

If we go by the book descriptions ..
If it's large and fat and in the middle of the frame then it's most likely a supersedure cell.
If it's small and "anywhere" then it's most likely an Emergency Queen Cell.
Finding eggs usually gets more difficult the older the comb is .. finding them on new drawn comb is usually a piece of cake .. it's the only time I don't need my reading glasses on and/or the assistance of an LED pen torch to do it.
My gut reaction is it's an EQC (which I hope you didn't knock down - I never destroy QC when I find them until I've been through the whole hive and made a thorough assessment of what's happening).. I'd leave them alone for 3 weeks and then check if you have a queen. Remember it can take up to 6 weeks for the queen to come into lay.