I have a new queen!

[canterbury_keeper]

After much worry, moving eggs from my good hive etc - I finally have a laying queen.

Not out of the woods yet - wasps buzzing around the hive today (quite satisfying squishing them with a leather glove on) - so I reduced the entrance... However the colony feels more dynamic (the frame of brood from my other hive helped) and hopefully they'll build up enough before the end of the year.

My second hive has almost filled a second super - vicious buggers though. I can't help feeling that my manipulations (cutting out egg comb and borrowing a frame of comb) has put them off me. I regularly get chased to my car by a guard bee! I guess that's something to deal with next year.

Quick question - how many jars of honey could I expect from a 9 frame shallow langstroth super?

Marc

 

[REDWOOD]

Have you seen capped brood yet

 

[canterbury_keeper]

Eggs and larvae and capped brood.

 

[Tremyfro]

Oooohhhh....I am so jealous...I long for a new Queen for our nuc. We added another frame with eggs a few days ago...nothing yet. The hive is placid but we didn't see any sign of a new Q so....it is waiting still for us.

 

[canterbury_keeper]

Pretty early days. Check and see if they've drawn a queen cell from the eggs. It's taken 4 weeks to get the new queen.

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes I know.....had hoped they would have made a queen out of the queen cells we transferred to the nuc initially. Could be that they have...all torn down now. So we added the extra frame with eggs just in case....it's a wait and see. There may be eggs when we next take a look or more queen cells......and a longer wait!

 

[Cazza]

Not out of the woods yet - wasps buzzing around the hive today (quite satisfying squishing them with a leather glove on)
Marc

I'm sure I recall Karol saying that when you squish a wasp they release a scent which attracts more wasps to the area so perhaps not a great idea to do this near the hive.
Cazza

 

[sean-a]

I'm sure I recall Karol saying that when you squish a wasp they release a scent which attracts more wasps to the area so perhaps not a great idea to do this near the hive.
Cazza

Ahaa....yet another mistake I have made this year....
I think I have the full set!

On reflection, I think that I have a whole lot more to make!!

 

[dn170221]

I'm sure I recall Karol saying that when you squish a wasp they release a scent which attracts more wasps to the area so perhaps not a great idea to do this near the hive.
Cazza

Must remember that, up until now I have made a point of killing each and every one I find in the apiary. Will now remove and dispatch!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's why I have my 'low efficiency' wasp traps a couple of hundred yards away from the apiary - did the trick last year, must have caught a gallon or two of the bleeders.

 

[canterbury_keeper]

I'll definitely be killing my wasps away from the hive in future.

What's a low efficiency trap?

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

A trap of the, "punch a hole in the lid of a jam jar and put jam and beer in it" variety.

They catch a lot of wasps - mainly because they don't keep all that enter - so that they go back to their nests and bring all their relatives!

Looks good - but looks deceive.

Dusty

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A trap of the, "punch a hole in the lid of a jam jar and put jam and beer in it" variety.

They catch a lot of wasps - mainly because they don't keep all that enter - so that they go back to their nests and bring all their relatives!

Looks good - but looks deceive.

Dusty

kept them well away from the hives last year though