If this nosema -

[Smudge07]

Bee Poo
I started beekeeping last year and have a bit of a problem with one hive from this year.
The two hives I started with made it through the winter ok which is great. I got a good deal of some bees and a hive yesterday and they are busy settling in today - 17 degrees in Aberdeenshire - at last

Back to my problem hive which is a new colony I made up on Tuesday. I bought a queen from honeybeesuppliers.co.uk and took stores and some pollen from one hive (with no bees at all) and 2 frames of brood from the other. I shook off the older bees from the brood frames and kept the rest on the frames (as per Hoopers book).
I went to have a look at them to day - from the outside only - with binocs. If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed the poo one of the bees did - pictures attached, it is the same length as the bee itself!!
I wondered if it might be caused by the stores on the frame being off - if possible (they looked fine to me when I put them in the hive). Or something else all together - there are only a few on the hive (which was totally new) and a few on the anti weed matting below which I have yet to cover with bark. The other hives are unaffected.
One final piece of information is there are quite a few bees on the ground around the hive that I took the brood and bees from. These girls don't look great I guess they are not sure where they live and the guard bees from the older colony are blocking them from coming in - I did partially block the entrance with grass on Tuesday (again as per Hoopers book)
Thanks

 

[Poly Hive]

Just looks as if they have not been able to fly for a day or three.

More concerning to me though is that you shook of the older bees from two frames of brood and put them in this new hive.

Personally when doing that I would have shook in four or five frames of bees to ensure there were enough to keep that brood warm, esp if as I suspect they were full frames of brood?

And yes I know Aberdeenshire conditions very well. Did 20 years there with bees.

PH

 

[Smudge07]

Thanks Poly Hive - nice to know there are people who understand how cold it can be here in Aberdeenshire..
I did have a concern about the number of bees added I guess too many couldn't have been a bad thing. It was mild last night and Tuesday night and forecast for the same tonight. Tomorrow night is forecast to go down to 8 and a bit colder on Sat/Sun. - I am hoping some of the brood will have hatched by then to help keep the temperature up.
I take it there is nothing I can do other than hope - adding new bees now I presume would just lead to them fighting.