Help Needed!

[a100sam]

Hi,

I have just started beekeeping again after a break of about 3 years. I took delivery of a new colony a month or so ago. Everything was ok. We have been away for 3 weeks and I came home yesterday to find the colony in a ball hanging underneath the floor of the hive. I opened up the hive to find that the super I put on before I went away is untouched and the brood frames are crammed full of stores and there is absolutely no brood and no sign of the queen or any swarm cells. Can any one give me advice on what to do? I suspect the bees have moved out because there is no space in the hive.

Cheers

Sam

 

[enrico]

Remove the queen excluder, carefully knock or brush the bees into a box. Make a ramp up to the front entrance and carefully pour them onto the ramp. As they hopefully climb towards the entrance look out for a queen. Once again hopefully she will still be in the hive. If however you think it is a swarm then put them in a nuc, check the main hive and the nuc to ascertain which has a queen and work from there.
Finally make sure the bees haven't been under flying the entrance. This happens, they believe they are inside the hive but cannot get through the OMF. Confusion follows. Block the area between the entrance and the ground to prevent this in the future.
Hope this helps
Finally kiss goodbye to summer holidays!
E

 

[a100sam]

Thanks

Thanks. Should I replace some of the frames with fresh ones to give them some space and the opportunity to draw the wax? There literally is no space on the frame that isn't full of stores.

 

[jeff33]

What spare equipment have you got? If your super is empty and frames are drawn the queen can lay in there. You could put another super above the existing one with a QX in between and bees should move the nectar from the deep into it. In 3 weeks they would have had time to swarm and raise a new queen. She may have missed the entrance during her mating flight.

 

[Anduril]

How many bees were left in the hive? Was the queen clipped? If you have quite a lot in the hive and you have a nuc box, collect the swarm from underneath the hive and place in the nuc box add 2 frames of stores to it from the hive and make up the rest with foundation (your insurance). Add 2 frames of foundation into the hive and wait and see what happens.

 

[enrico]

Thanks. Should I replace some of the frames with fresh ones to give them some space and the opportunity to draw the wax? There literally is no space on the frame that isn't full of stores.

No need, if you remove the queen excluder they will use the super you say is untouched.

 

[oliver90owner]

Is there comb below the floor?

Guessing here, but....

One month is long enough for supercedure, or perhaps the colony had a virgin queen?

A guess is that a mating flight has occurred and the queen has gone under the floor instead if into the hive. OMF? Probably there is brood under the floor, so you have some reorganising to do.

Excluder is likely faulty? My advice is to go and find out what exactly is the situation. Guessing is just that - guessing.

 

[Webby]

Hi Sam, I'm just down the road from you in Hawkhurst. Also a Sam but a male one