Can the girls leave with no queen cells?

[Erichalfbee]

I’d have left an open QC. You know there’s a larva in there and you have a good idea of emergence
If there are very young larvae in there still I’d return in 4 days to check for more QCs

 

[Wilco]

Ok will do.
Thank you so much for your advice. It makes all the difference not feeling alone.
The only reason I mention a split is because all frames are full and there still plenty of foraging going on...
I will follow your instructions of course. Is it OK to take a peak at the super in about a week to see if they are capping the crop?

Probably fine but leave the brood alone. If checking look at one middle and one edge frame to get an idea.

Undrawn is good, it needs drawing at some point, there's presumably a flow on and it will give them something to rather than filling the brood with nectar as the capped larvae emerge.

Happy to (try to) help, it can seem daunting at times. Pay it forward though!

 

[italic63]

I’d have left an open QC. You know there’s a larva in there and you have a good idea of emergence
If there are very young larvae in there still I’d return in 4 days to check for more QCs

What about the risk of more swarms?

 

[Erichalfbee]

What about the risk of more swarms?

There is none if you leave them only one queen cell.

 

[italic63]

Probably fine but leave the brood alone. If checking look at one middle and one edge frame to get an idea.

Undrawn is good, it needs drawing at some point, there's presumably a flow on and it will give them something to rather than filling the brood with nectar as the capped larvae emerge.

Happy to (try to) help, it can seem daunting at times. Pay it forward though!

Ok so second super added (

Probably fine but leave the brood alone. If checking look at one middle and one edge frame to get an idea.

Undrawn is good, it needs drawing at some point, there's presumably a flow on and it will give them something to rather than filling the brood with nectar as the capped larvae emerge.

Happy to (try to) help, it can seem daunting at times. Pay it forward though!

Probably fine but leave the brood alone. If checking look at one middle and one edge frame to get an idea.

Undrawn is good, it needs drawing at some point, there's presumably a flow on and it will give them something to rather than filling the brood with nectar as the capped larvae emerge.

Happy to (try to) help, it can seem daunting at times. Pay it forward though!

OK so new super added with 10 frames of new foundation. (blue one in the picture).
Upper super looks like Acacia honey. It's very light in colour and is the Acacia session here so makes sense. Il check the super for capping in a week and leave the brood chamber for 3 weeks.

 

[Wilco]

View attachment 31939
Ok so second super added (

OK so new super added with 10 frames of new foundation. (blue one in the picture).
Upper super looks like Acacia honey. It's very light in colour and is the Acacia session here so makes sense. Il check the super for capping in a week and leave the brood chamber for 3 weeks.

You mean green?

Enjoy, sounds good.

Unless acacia sets fast, you can just leave until the end of the season and do one big extraction but multiple extractions would increase space and work for the bees if you've limited kit so can be useful too.

 

[italic63]

You mean green?

Enjoy, sounds good.

Unless acacia sets fast, you can just leave until the end of the season and do one big extraction but multiple extractions would increase space and work for the bees if you've limited kit so can be useful too.

Yes green sorry .
One big extraction sounds good but it's more than just the bees I'm contending with here. My daughter gets married on June 22nd and in Italy is tradition to leave guests a little gift and my daughter has had the wonderful idea of giving honey as a gift (see example picture )
Anyway...thanks again

 

[Wilco]

Yes green sorry .
One big extraction sounds good but it's more than just the bees I'm contending with here. My daughter gets married on June 22nd and in Italy is tradition to leave guests a little gift and my daughter has had the wonderful idea of giving honey as a gift (see example picture )
Anyway...thanks again
View attachment 31942

Same here- wedding favours. Don't be too generous filling them, it'll go further! Hope there's spare for you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes green sorry .
One big extraction sounds good but it's more than just the bees I'm contending with here. My daughter gets married on June 22nd and in Italy is tradition to leave guests a little gift and my daughter has had the wonderful idea of giving honey as a gift (see example picture )
Anyway...thanks again
View attachment 31942

That’s beautiful.
I did some for my step daughter and some more for a friend in muth jars

 

[italic63]

Same here- wedding favours. Don't be too generous filling them, it'll go further! Hope there's spare for you.

Well I think that ship has sailed I'm afraid.
We will need about 100 jars of them for the wedding and that means 16 kg of honey so my neighbour down the hill is on stand by. I don't think I'll get 16kg in the next month from one poor orphan family

 

[Wilco]

Well I think that ship has sailed I'm afraid.
We will need about 100 jars of them for the wedding and that means 16 kg of honey so my neighbour down the hill is on stand by. I don't think I'll get 16kg in the next month from one poor orphan family

Use smaller jars!

 

[italic63]

Use smaller jars!

They're tiny already! 120ml each . Anything less would be embarrassing .
It's honey not Chanel number 5

 

[italic63]

Use smaller jars!

Just another question (sorry)... It's sunny here with temps in the high 20's and very low humidity. How long should it take for them to cap the honey in the super?
Thanks

 

[Wilco]

Just another question (sorry)... It's sunny here with temps in the high 20's and very low humidity. How long should it take for them to cap the honey in the super?
Thanks

Really depends on the bees, how many there are, the proportion of house bees vs. foragers. Sometimes it takes ages but the best thing to do it leave them to it.

The microclimate inside the hive will be different to outside, humidity will/should be much higher in there (dehydrating honey, need humidity for larvae etc.). Warm temps will help and if you want to help them, add some insulation above the cover board.

 

[Beegarden]

Use smaller jars!

I might be missing something, but if the jars are 120ml, and you need 100 jars, isn't that 12Kg, not 16? There are certainly loads of bees in your hive, so you may be ok after all. Good luck.

 

[Wilco]

I might be missing something, but if the jars are 120ml, and you need 100 jars, isn't that 12Kg, not 16? There are certainly loads of bees in your hive, so you may be ok after all. Good luck.

Honey weighs more than 1g per 1ml, unlike water.

For example, I usually use 8oz jars which equates to around 190ml IIRC but normally hold about 227g honey (funny given that's about 8oz!).

 

[italic63]

I might be missing something, but if the jars are 120ml, and you need 100 jars, isn't that 12Kg, not 16? There are certainly loads of bees in your hive, so you may be ok after all. Good luck.

Thanks for your comment...
If honey weighed the same as water then you would be absolutely right and I wish you were! Unfortunately honey is 30-50% heavier than water so I've used 35% but I may be still too optimistic. Therfore 120ml equates to about 160 grams hence the 16kg.
I can always reduce the number of jars

 

[italic63]

Really depends on the bees, how many there are, the proportion of house bees vs. foragers. Sometimes it takes ages but the best thing to do it leave them to it.

The microclimate inside the hive will be different to outside, humidity will/should be much higher in there (dehydrating honey, need humidity for larvae etc.). Warm temps will help and if you want to help them, add some insulation above the cover board.

Temperature has now gone up to 32/33 degrees celcius over the last couple of days and "bearding" is extreme. See picture...
I'm concerned that as soon as the new queen emerges they will swarm again. Are they out of room or just trying to allow air circulation to ripen the honey?
Thanks

 

[Wilco]

If ypu remove that metal entrance reducer/mouseguard overnight then that should help them a bit. Insulation above the cover board will too.

Bearding and swarming are two very different things so personally wouldn't panic.

 

[italic63]

If ypu remove that metal entrance reducer/mouseguard overnight then that should help them a bit. Insulation above the cover board will too.

Bearding and swarming are two very different things so personally wouldn't panic.

Thanks!
I've put a thick piece of polystyrene insulation but over the metal roof. I'm concerned that it will block air flow as well as insulate if I put it above the cover board. Unless I put a hole in where the frame cover hole is? I've also heard they love to feed on polystyrene
Great suggestion about the entrance reducer. I'll do that tonight while they're tucked away.