hanging bees

[terryme]

hello, we have a weak colony due to us losing a swarm a month or so ago. It was said to be queen right when inspected by the man from the ministry a few weeks ago tho we have not seen sight nor sign of her since -
so.... hoping they will right themselves. However while walking past today my husband noticed a largish clump of bees hanging underneath the mesh floor of the hive (national). Should we do an inspection pronto or is this just something they do but as we are newbies we haven't seen it before?
any advice please?

 

[oliver90owner]

Different so investigate.

Regards, RAB

 

[Hivemaker.]

Did the colony have a clipped queen.

 

[terryme]

thanks RAB & hivemaker, no clipped queen, the original queen swarmed and the bee inspector (who inspected by coincidence a few weeks later) said there was a new queen tho we were never convinced - we didnt see eggs or any other sign she was there on subsequent inspections - or if she was she wasnt up to much. We have just been and inspected and the colony is v aimless, no eggs/brood and the wax moth is rampant so we think it best to let them give up - will unite with another colony so that hopefully they dont die off completely. I dont think they will recover on their own now

 

[oliver90owner]

Just be sure there is not a queen in there. Unlikely, but you might lose your good queen if you unite with another queen present. A few eggs into that colony should give a quick indication. With a 'largish clump' of bees back in, there should be enough to start queen cell building, if queenless.

Also be confident they are healthy before uniting.

Regards, RAB

 

[starflex]

hello, we have a weak colony due to us losing a swarm a month or so ago. It was said to be queen right when inspected by the man from the ministry a few weeks ago tho we have not seen sight nor sign of her since -
so.... hoping they will right themselves. However while walking past today my husband noticed a largish clump of bees hanging underneath the mesh floor of the hive (national). Should we do an inspection pronto or is this just something they do but as we are newbies we haven't seen it before?
any advice please?

Have a look under the OMF. A couple of months back, I had a new queen return from mating only to end up under the OMF. The workers had started to build comb etc... I found eggs, larve and the missing queen as well.

 

[terryme]

thank you to all three of you, really grateful for all the tips - have checked OMF but no joy! that would have been a treat but hey ho. It seems to have been a swarmy strain so maybe best it stops here tho they were/are a lovely black bee, shame but there you go. More or less decided on uniting them with an AS we did earlier and hopefully that will boost them and help get them more established - this 1st year is a steep steep learning curve but onwards and upwards things can hopefully only get better
will bear all of your advice in mind

 

[gandalfwhitewizard]

you can treat the wax moth with certan, wont solve the queenlessness but will solve the wax moth problem.