First we checked whether the two ekes would fit properly. One is super/feeder sized and the other is a couple of inches only. The two poly hives are different, so it wasn't definite either would fit, and we needed them to make some space for the Apiguard to evapourate and circulate.
Both fitted fine, so no more carpentry bodgery was required
Colony 1
We lifted off the top of hive 1, onto a stand, to have a look at the frames in the bottom box. The top box was still very heavy.
The bottom frames had lots of bees in, making new comb, storing nectar and pollen. These are are starter-strip only, so they are making all the comb themselves. They have started on all but one frame now and probably have 3 or 4 frames worth of area filled in. Some of them were glued together and we separated them.
Putting the top box back on is always tricky, and some bees inevitably get crushed :-( The top box is now almost all capped stores, with some brood rearing in the central 4 frames or so.
Lots of bees in both box, plus all the foragers out at 13.00 ish.
Put the tray of Apiguard in, put on the feeder eke, and the roof, then closed it up.
Colony 2
We took off the top box of hive 2 and put it on a stand. It was much lighter than hive 1 (maybe half the weight!).
The frames in the bottom box are all normal foundation. The bees were having a look at them, and they were whiter than when I put them in, so must have been added to a bit. The central 3 or 4 are actually being drawn a bit, but aren't really usable yet. Not many bees in the bottom box.
Put the top box back on; this one is the Swienty hive and can be put on crooked and swivelled around to avoid crushing bees (much easier).
Even this box isn't filled yet: there is 1 dummy board, one undrawn foundation, one partly drawn foundation, then the action starts on the remaining 7. The next one was half foundation and they've drawn out drone cells, layed them up and capped them. If we could have cut this out, it would probably have done more for their varroa levels than Apiguard treatment. I guess they are making drones here because there isn't any other place to do it.
Next 3 frames had lots of capped brood, fat larvae, tiny c's and some eggs. They are definitely still trying to increase population levels, but need some more time to get there.
The last 3 frames were partly brood, mostly capped stores.
We put on a full tray of Apiguard, even though this is really still a half-strength colony. I wasn't sure if this was sensible, but they are in two Langstroth brood boxes, with an OMF, so althought there aren't many bees, there is still quite a lot of volume to fill with vapour.
I'm worried that Apiguard will stop brood rearing for 3 weeks or so, and they really need to build up ASAP. I may have to give them some brood or stores from the stronger colony to give them a leg up. They may need to have the bottom box removed to compress them a bit: it seems to have worked well with colony 1, but this colony isn't big enough yet to make use of it, and it may just be spreading them out unhelpfully.
Mini-eke is on and roof on. Clever new hive strap used for the first time
Both colonies are now in Apiguard hell, so we'll leave them for 2 weeks and then blast them again.
I have the ice-cream tub of mashed up wax and honey residue from the extraction, currently in the freezer. I may give this to colony 2 on a crown board, once the Apiguard is done. This will hopefully give them wax to draw out the foundation quickly, and honey to add to their stores.
FG
Both fitted fine, so no more carpentry bodgery was required
Colony 1
We lifted off the top of hive 1, onto a stand, to have a look at the frames in the bottom box. The top box was still very heavy.
The bottom frames had lots of bees in, making new comb, storing nectar and pollen. These are are starter-strip only, so they are making all the comb themselves. They have started on all but one frame now and probably have 3 or 4 frames worth of area filled in. Some of them were glued together and we separated them.
Putting the top box back on is always tricky, and some bees inevitably get crushed :-( The top box is now almost all capped stores, with some brood rearing in the central 4 frames or so.
Lots of bees in both box, plus all the foragers out at 13.00 ish.
Put the tray of Apiguard in, put on the feeder eke, and the roof, then closed it up.
Colony 2
We took off the top box of hive 2 and put it on a stand. It was much lighter than hive 1 (maybe half the weight!).
The frames in the bottom box are all normal foundation. The bees were having a look at them, and they were whiter than when I put them in, so must have been added to a bit. The central 3 or 4 are actually being drawn a bit, but aren't really usable yet. Not many bees in the bottom box.
Put the top box back on; this one is the Swienty hive and can be put on crooked and swivelled around to avoid crushing bees (much easier).
Even this box isn't filled yet: there is 1 dummy board, one undrawn foundation, one partly drawn foundation, then the action starts on the remaining 7. The next one was half foundation and they've drawn out drone cells, layed them up and capped them. If we could have cut this out, it would probably have done more for their varroa levels than Apiguard treatment. I guess they are making drones here because there isn't any other place to do it.
Next 3 frames had lots of capped brood, fat larvae, tiny c's and some eggs. They are definitely still trying to increase population levels, but need some more time to get there.
The last 3 frames were partly brood, mostly capped stores.
We put on a full tray of Apiguard, even though this is really still a half-strength colony. I wasn't sure if this was sensible, but they are in two Langstroth brood boxes, with an OMF, so althought there aren't many bees, there is still quite a lot of volume to fill with vapour.
I'm worried that Apiguard will stop brood rearing for 3 weeks or so, and they really need to build up ASAP. I may have to give them some brood or stores from the stronger colony to give them a leg up. They may need to have the bottom box removed to compress them a bit: it seems to have worked well with colony 1, but this colony isn't big enough yet to make use of it, and it may just be spreading them out unhelpfully.
Mini-eke is on and roof on. Clever new hive strap used for the first time
Both colonies are now in Apiguard hell, so we'll leave them for 2 weeks and then blast them again.
I have the ice-cream tub of mashed up wax and honey residue from the extraction, currently in the freezer. I may give this to colony 2 on a crown board, once the Apiguard is done. This will hopefully give them wax to draw out the foundation quickly, and honey to add to their stores.
FG
