Colony Losses

[Do224]

There brood capping how old are they?
Stores cappinga will be white or an off white colour
You have a mixture there but most are brood cappings

Think I last cleaned the board off maybe three weeks or more ago. My other hives have solid floors so can’t check them for comparison.

I’ll clean the board and put it back, then see what’s happening after a week . Still hefting ok at the moment I think…not nailed down but still have some weight

 

[Curly green finger's]

Think I last cleaned the board off maybe three weeks or more ago. My other hives have solid floors so can’t check them for comparison.

I’ll clean the board and put it back, then see what’s happening after a week . Still hefting ok at the moment I think…not nailed down but still have some weight

I’d be interested to know how you get on keep the forum updated

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

View attachment 42138
I’m not sure what it’s telling me to be honest. How can I tell if these are brood cappings or stores cappings?

How long had that board been in place? cold way or warm way orientation of frames?

 

[North End Bees]

Looking just at the clear crown board can be misleading.
You don't know whether you've got a thin pancake of bees over ten frames which might just well be the same number of bees spread deeper over five frames.
Take the density of the weekly inspection board check into account.

 

[Do224]

How long had that board been in place? cold way or warm way orientation of frames?

Hmm I’m guessing but I think I cleaned it last maybe three weeks ago. They’re cold way

 

[Do224]

Looking just at the clear crown board can be misleading.
You don't know whether you've got a thin pancake of bees over ten frames which might just well be the same number of bees spread deeper over five frames.
Take the density of the weekly inspection board check into account.

Yeah I’ve found that too. But in this case they’ve been like that every time I’ve looked in since autumn. They also fly in far greater numbers than my other hives on the warm days

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hmm I’m guessing but I think I cleaned it last maybe three weeks ago. They’re cold way

well lookingn at the cappings pattern, they are only using about two thirds of the box, so plenty of space before they begin to get crowded, also warm, active bees spread out a lot more than bees that are clustered

 

[Do224]

well lookingn at the cappings pattern, they are only using about two thirds of the box, so plenty of space before they begin to get crowded, also warm, active bees spread out a lot more than bees that are clustered

This hive hardly ever clusters…even during cold snaps when the other hives are tightly clustered this one is usually still spread out like this. I have seen them clustered up when it was really cold but the cluster was still huge compared to the others. They’re all in wooden hives but they have insulated hive covers on