Confession of a negligent beekeeper... and request for help please!

[oliver90owner]

You could start by putting in a queen excluder. You will shortly (within three days), on inspection, know were the queen is. Alternatively you could check the super frames for the queen and if not found shake the bees into the brood box anyway. Getting her downstairs will give you back the supers, for honey, over about three weeks.

It might be good to ensure she has laying space in the brood and add another super if they are doing so well. If it is a lot and capped brood in the supers, more space for honey will come available sooner.

Checking for signs of imminent swarming will be required from now onwards.

You can then plan ahead for increase or requeening. If they prove to be sufficiently docile - they may have been 'ratty' as they may not have been foraging much and are using up stores (remember the many reports of bees being feisty after the OSR finishes and in the autumn?), or simply most foragers at home due to the weather, or ... other reasons - you could put any eggs (in supers) over a fresh added super and see if they build supercedure cells. Then split, as June will be here by the time a new queen would be ready to mate, so mating will be less risky.

Checking for varroa is quick and easy - checking capped drone brood is a good indicator. Leaving a shallow frame in the brood box for drone brood culling might be a good way to check and reduce mites, with the added advantage that the colony will lose a few thousand bees dc ue to thebrood culling - so, again, reducing the risk of swarming.

Odds on they have superceded, at least, in the intervening time unattended, so queenie could be the daughter of your original queen - and some first or second generations can yield horrid queens with some strains.

But reassess before jumping to buy in new queens. No need to be pushed into panic mode by suggestions of requeening immediately. Especially as it seems they are away from your garden, although if on an allotment, for instance, that may be a wise move.

You have so many options, so don't be in any more of a rush than necessary. They have clearly coped without any attention and do not appear to be at risk of imminent colony death, or of causing trouble.

Plan carefully and get it right is my advice.

RAB

 

[beeno]

Hi Oakbear,
Try to find yourself a bee buddy to take advantage of a second pair of hands from time to time. It is not always easy to work on your own when you are a beek. As for aggressive bees, learn to use your smoker properly, so that you can keep them in the box. My theory is that a lot of bees are feisty at the moment, because they are short of nectar due to the weather. You have already proved to me that you will become a good beek! Keep on going.

 

[kazmcc]

Wish you were closer to me. I would happily stand in until you had some time. Good luck with your bees

 

[Oakbear]

Thanks again for the advice ànd consideration.

I had the bug before and feel it again, and can get help hands on if i need now. I think by the time it came to that before embarrassment and assuming that it was a lost cause stopped me from doing so. I won't make that mistake again. If it gets too much or life throws up chaos they can go on holiday to another beek.

I think that I favour splitting the hive into 2 and requeening, although shan't jump into a decision. I like to keep 2ish to support each other anyway, and this is a big colony. Halving numbers and making it more manageable seems a good idea, and i can reunite for winter if the split is too great.

Maybe the aggression was the weather, which started fine but started to draw thunder clouds. (I am in Rushcliffe in South Nottinghamshire ).
I can't shake the feeling that these are the same bees and not a new swarm which moved in. They look the same, and aggression was an issue before, which i was planning to manage by requeening in spring.

 

[dn170221]

oakbear,
just on the suggestion of requeening:
Am I right in saying that you currently have a queen that has either survived by herself or is of a lineage that survived by itself unaided by beekeepers? Is this a good trait?

Did you also say that she was strong enough to lay in three boxes presumably with a good number of bees and her queen substance has been strong enough to so far hold the colony together? Is this a good trait?

Has this colony survived varroa and other problems without help? Is this a good trait?

Also on the aggressiveness that you have seen on one visit. Were you nervous, maybe making fast movements? Were you wearing dark clothing? Were you careful when moving boxes etc? Did you use any smoke (too much?) Was it cold or windy (you mentioned closing up because the weather turned)? Were you stung, many times? Were you followed, how far?

just food for thought!!

 

[MuswellMetro]

i wuld split the supers off and place them on your second stand on the old site, move the old box and stand 15ft away

Then go and have a cup of Teaand and scone, so that after about an hour the hives balance to 50%ish bees on each stand, so easier to inspect, do your inspection and reassembe on the old site with QE between supers and brood to work out which boxe HM is in, then decide the next action (Bailey, Shook or requeen)

Wild comb, where is this wild comb, is it between boxes or in space left in the boxes by loose frames

 

[Roola]

Of course, you are right. I just thought that, since he seemed to recognise that what he did was wrong for the bees, we should be more supportive and help him out of a hole.

fully agree with you.

 

[Oakbear]

Thanks people. It has been lovely to get support and help.
I had forgotten the joy of trying to figure out how to manage issues as they arise, and the head scratching this can engender!

oliver90owner - Taking my time seems good advice thanks. I had a bit of a panic about what to do yesterday, but now realise i have lots of good options.
The hives are on a local farmer's field margin, set aside for wild flowers. Well away from the public. The aggression is just an issue for me!

dn170221 - I do think this is the queen i abandoned or a successor. I know some will say this is unlikely though and this is a swarm which moved in.

If this is the original colony they do indeed have good varroa resistance (i inspected some wild drone comb i removed and didn't see any at all), and a propensity to build well. These were both things i suspected before (very low drop during treatment), but the aggression was becoming an issue. As was following.

This time i went slowly and carefully, and the weather started well, but began to cloud over. I have an ultrabreeze suit which i bought in response to their aggression before, as they could sting through a standard suit, so wasn't too nervy. Smoke was fair but moderate. Every frame i moved i got an immediate burst of bees rushing up, half pinging, half landing and trying to sting. I can imagine this wasn't helped by removing wild comb with brood in. When i quit they followed around 50m, and hung around for 10 minutes or so.

Maybe it was the weather, or the fact they hadn't been inspected before, but if it continues i think that outweighs the positive traits for me.
I can cope but it takes some of the pleasure away.

MuswellMetro - Thanks for the input. I think that's what i will try as a first step. As described above i think i favour requeening, but can take a bit of time.
The wild comb originated from the brood box up into the super, where loose frames allowed it to join between frames in places. I removed it when i inspected.