I think she's left me... And we never said goodbye !

[BrianO]

Ok, no one warned me this Beekeeping lark could be so Bloody frustrating !!

Left work early, picked up my poly Nuc, made up frames , got all gear together, carried it all to my allotment site , geared up ready to remove queen I had seen on Sunday , when I had broken ( stupidly in hindsight as should have done , if I'd known, what I planned to do this a evening ) down a sealed queen cell and others at different stages.

So opened up hive ( just in Brood box, national standard 12 frame ), ready to put her in Nuc with Shake of bees and brood and 2 frames of stores. Couldn't find her, as was warm , actually ran through frames 3 times, no sign, couldn't see newly laid eggs either, did see 1 and 1 I thought on side wall ( laying worker ? ).

Was a few new ( since Sunday ) queen cups, don't know if larvae in them ( should but don't ). so unless she was not on frames but in bottom of brood box, were plenty of bees on walls and floor, perhaps she's gone ??

Despite fact I couldn't see new eggs, the number of bees does not seem to suggest she swarmed , if anything there seem to be more ?

Any opinions welcome , hopefully given enough info above ?

Thanks

Brian

 

[enrico]

My opinion/guess
Swarmed.
Sorry
E

 

[BrianO]

Thanks Enrico

Whatever happened to commitment and tying to work things out !!

 

[pargyle]

My opinion/guess
Swarmed.
Sorry
E

Yes ... when mine swarmed in May there were still so many bees in the hive I didn't believe they had swarmed .but they had !!.. It's very deceptive and there's a few experienced beekeepers on here who will tell you the same.

You are into damage limitation now or you could lose the rest of them to castes ...

Vital to keep on top of it ...

 

[BrianO]

Thanks , and do what , I guess from previous reading break down all leaving one , and Mark frame location, if I find one further developed on inspection again that I planned to do tomorrow ??

 

[pargyle]

Thanks , and do what , I guess from previous reading break down all leaving one , and Mark frame location, if I find one further developed on inspection again that I planned to do tomorrow ??

Well ... I had four queen cells in my hive after they swarmed - one had the lid off and I found the virgin queen wandering around so she went into another box with a couple of frames of brood and stores and is now doing very well. I left one sealed queen cell in the original hive and that's the hive that's now on 18 frames and very busy and I took a frame that had two sealed queen cells on it out and put that with a couple of frames of bees in a Nuc and they are also doing very nicely now - all three queens obviously got mated. So - one hive to three hives - depends what you want and what kit you have spare. I would try and keep a queen cell and a few bees in a Nuc if you can as you really need a bit of insurance ...and make sure there are no more queen cells hiding away in corners ....

 

[BrianO]

Thanks Pargyle

Good on ya ! Will work to that plan, a fascinating hobby it really is !!

 

[Erichalfbee]

After a swarm has gone, might it be better to wait a few days before choosing your queen cell? If there are young larvae in there the bees might make more?
Might save you having to inspect again before expected emergence

 

[alldigging]

She's not hanging on a branch nearby is she?

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I've only been keeping bees for a year and there is one truth I have discovered - they are ungrateful wretches! I have not taken any of their honey - not for the want of trying, mind - and I've had at least three swarms leave.

CVB