Feel like I was sent to Coventry! But now I am back

[Tremyfro]

Somehow I must have pressed the button on my iPad which logged me out...which wouldn't have been a problem...only I had no idea what my password was! Lesson learned...now written in my little pink book of passwords!
So much has happened since I have been away....you have all moved on!
I'm still sitting on my hilltop...in the cold wind...unable to get into the hives.
This afternoon promises to be a little warmer....if so....we will be off around the pond to Hive 1&2 to make some changes. The 14x12 frames are being moved to the long hive in the Bee Yard. Any ripe honey is being lifted before it crystallises. Checking for queen cells as we go.
Still need to decide whether to move the queen with the 14x12 frames of brood or to leave her with the national brood box. Which would be best? The national will have all the foragers...hopefully some eggs to make a queen. Since we haven't been able to get into the hives since the 11th of May...not sure what we will find.

 

[pargyle]

Since we haven't been able to get into the hives since the 11th of May...not sure what we will find.

Queen cells if mine are anything to go by !!

 

[countryman]

get some more brood boxs on them if they are queening not enough room in there

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes...Queen cells!
Hive 1 was 14x12 brood box, national brood box and a super.
There were Queen cells in the lower brood box. I had left it with about 3 frames of brood and a frame of stores. Yesterday there were about 6 frames of brood....several more frames of foundation being pulled out. Bias but no Queen to be seen. There were 3 queen cells. All sealed.
The upper brood box had bias on 5 frames. Didn't see the Queen there either.
So it seems my lovely Queen has flown. Just as well I took the 5 nucs off this colony.
The lower brood box has been transferred to my long hive. With the Queen cells. I am going to cage 2 of them....for insurance. There may be that the queen is somewhere in the hive....as there were eggs....she has been elusive at times...I don't know what they have been up to really! I don't see how eggs could be there from a new queen in the time since I last looked in the hive. I am hoping she is in the national brood box...which stayed on site.
Either way both boxes have eggs.
When we took the nucs off this colony....we used the queen cells in the upper brood box...which had been separated for 48 hours from the main colony during my attempt to raise grafted queen cells...a dismal failure! So it may be that the queen pheromone was too weak over both boxes....if she was in the upper box...the bees may have made queen cells in the lower one in her absence...possible?

 

[pargyle]

Yes...Queen cells!
Hive 1 was 14x12 brood box, national brood box and a super.
There were Queen cells in the lower brood box. I had left it with about 3 frames of brood and a frame of stores. Yesterday there were about 6 frames of brood....several more frames of foundation being pulled out. Bias but no Queen to be seen. There were 3 queen cells. All sealed.
The upper brood box had bias on 5 frames. Didn't see the Queen there either.
So it seems my lovely Queen has flown. Just as well I took the 5 nucs off this colony.
The lower brood box has been transferred to my long hive. With the Queen cells. I am going to cage 2 of them....for insurance. There may be that the queen is somewhere in the hive....as there were eggs....she has been elusive at times...I don't know what they have been up to really! I don't see how eggs could be there from a new queen in the time since I last looked in the hive. I am hoping she is in the national brood box...which stayed on site.
Either way both boxes have eggs.
When we took the nucs off this colony....we used the queen cells in the upper brood box...which had been separated for 48 hours from the main colony during my attempt to raise grafted queen cells...a dismal failure! So it may be that the queen pheromone was too weak over both boxes....if she was in the upper box...the bees may have made queen cells in the lower one in her absence...possible?

If you have day old eggs then you still have a queen in there ... were the queen cells sealed ? - if so then it's likely she has gone with a swarm. If you have newly laid eggs in the hive then then the queen is in there and you need to find her, pronto, and do an AS or she will be off. You can separate out a frame with QC's on it into a Nuc with some frames of stores, BIAS and bees as you insurance policy. If no eggs and she's gone then you can still make an insurance nuc if you put one of the queen cell in a nuc with stores, bees and frame of BIAS. Damage limitation - happened to me last year.

If you inspected when you said then there is little/no chance that a queen has emerged, got mated and started laying - unless you missed a queen cell somewhere ? Did you find any queen cells with the lid off.

Be careful as you could have casts if you don't find out what has gone off and sort things out.

 

[Tremyfro]

Hmmm.....well I have decided to go back into the colony again today. I wanted to take some of the stores out as there wasn't a lot of room in the upper brood box for the queen to lay. I need to make some more brood frames up to replace them.
The situation yesterday was eggs and brood in both brood boxes. Queen cells x3in lower box ...also....I thought there was one which had been sealed but now open and one in the process of being torn down. So it is possible that a new queen has emerged. I may have missed that queen cell when I last inspected...but I didn't think I had. Even so...hardly enough time for her to emerge and get mated and be laying. Especially considering the weather was awful. The upper brood box didn't have any queen cells.
I removed the lower brood box plus queen cells and they are now in my long hive. Today I am going to make up another nuc and take one of the queen cells for it....a bit of insurance...as you say.
I am going to check again...to see if the queen is there ......

 

[pargyle]

Hmmm.....well I have decided to go back into the colony again today. I wanted to take some of the stores out as there wasn't a lot of room in the upper brood box for the queen to lay. I need to make some more brood frames up to replace them.
The situation yesterday was eggs and brood in both brood boxes. Queen cells x3in lower box ...also....I thought there was one which had been sealed but now open and one in the process of being torn down. So it is possible that a new queen has emerged. I may have missed that queen cell when I last inspected...but I didn't think I had. Even so...hardly enough time for her to emerge and get mated and be laying. Especially considering the weather was awful. The upper brood box didn't have any queen cells.
I removed the lower brood box plus queen cells and they are now in my long hive. Today I am going to make up another nuc and take one of the queen cells for it....a bit of insurance...as you say.
I am going to check again...to see if the queen is there ......

Good luck ... remember eggs can be up to 3 days old so there is the chance that the hive has swarmed.

I find it difficult to see eggs (my eyesight) but if you can gauge whether they are very recently laid or older then it gives you some confidence that the queen is actually still in residence. Really nice photo of eggs and larvae here: (Not mine I hasten to add ... just found them in my 'nice photos folder').

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg

In your case it's one of four things:

1. Queen still in residence but colony in swarm mode and could go anytime.
2. Hive has swarmed very recently leaving eggs and sealed queen cells.
3. You missed a queen cell and the opened queen cell you saw is a new queen who has mated and started laying -in this case the likelihood is that they would have swarmed some time ago and you missed them.
4. Old queen has gone with the swarm leaving eggs in the hive and a virgin has emerged and is in the hive.

2 & 4 are unlikely as a queen is normally slimmed down and will stop laying prior to swarming - as a laying queen will be too heavy to fly any great distance - but it's not unheard of.

 

[Tremyfro]

The eggs are standing up....so recent. So I think she must have gone just before I inspected yesterday. I have put a queen cell into the national brood box...which is still on site with all the flying bees. They were buzzy and loud ...so no queen...totally different to normal. Even though...they were still easy to work with and we only used smoke to close up. There is a flow on today...so they were very busy bringing in nectar...so added another super.
Will have to wait and see...luckily I have 5 nucs which I can use to combine if necessary. They are getting mated now. Polished cells seen yesterday.
I think I must have put the Virgin/ recently mated queen into the long hive...as they were quiet today. In any case there are plenty of eggs in there if they have to make a new queen. I took 2 queen cells out as I needed them for the other colony.
Great fun this beekeeping....like playing chess.....

 

[Obee1]

Trembly

Seems you have lost your favourite queen that's a shame. Was she a last years model or 2013?
I didn't see them swarming as I drove to ogmore past your house today

I have lots of interest in my bait hive I put in back garden. Fingers crossed I will catch me a nice swarm

Obee

 

[Tremyfro]

Well the jury is out ATM...she may be in the hive somewhere....hopefully. If not I will get another one...can't be without a carnie! I have lots of daughter though...I hope they are as nice as Mummy....
She was 3 years old...but I wanted to how old she could live! Anyone getting a swarm in my area...could be my queen..please return her!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have lots of interest in my bait hive I put in back garden. Fingers crossed I will catch me a nice swarm

Obee

I have a bait hive in my garden and the first thing I do if there is interest in it is have look through the likely culprits in my own boxes.
This 3 days egg, 5 days larva, 8 days pupa thing for queens is not written in stone as far as my bees are concerned

 

[pargyle]

This 3 days egg, 5 days larva, 8 days pupa thing for queens is not written in stone as far as my bees are concerned

I reckon my bees are cutting up to 2 days off the usual egg to emerge times and I wonder whether it's the added warmth of insulated hives ?

 

[pargyle]

Anyone getting a swarm in my area...could be my queen..please return her!

Ha ha ... unless she's got your name and postcode written on her back I think your chances of having her returned are nil ... and even if she was marked you'd be lucky if your neighbour beekeepers are anything like those around me !!

 

[Obee1]

I have a bait hive in my garden and the first thing I do if there is interest in it is have look through the likely culprits in my own boxes.
This 3 days egg, 5 days larva, 8 days pupa thing for queens is not written in stone as far as my bees are concerned

I looked in my hives 4 days ago and nothing untoward spotted. However will look in today (if rain clears up). Interestingly had bait hive in front garden (where my bees live) for weeks with ne'er a sniff. Moved it to back garden and was accosted by bees before I'd managed to assemble t on shed roof. Was balanced on step ladder dodging bees while balancing hive parts. Not easy. There is a distance of 100 feet from old location to new but hive is now 8 feet off ground instead of being waist height.

 

[Roola]

I reckon my bees are cutting up to 2 days off the usual egg to emerge times and I wonder whether it's the added warmth of insulated hives ?

I have been thinking this too. I have rigorously been on the 7 or even 6 day cycle of inspection due to the swarminess this year, yet lost swarms. One week you go through hive and no sign of swarm preps at all, go in the next week and a load of sealed queen cells! These definitely were not missed ones, clear ad day! Tearing my hair out with the little buggers.... its like they know you've inspected so won't be around for a week, they make haste!! How are others finding the swarminess this year? Are others losing 'sneaky' swarms?