im glad i put 2 hives though the winter answers on a postcard please

[bbadger07]

I just inspected both my colonies today, one colony is doing rather well and has all the signs of doing well, the other hive which has been slow collecting pollen in comparison to the other hive had this. Please take a look and give me your thoughts please.

As always i really appreciate the forum members input as its always really appreciated.

Again many thanks

 

[drstitson]

drone layer. How old was HM? can you find her or is there a new unmated queen present? any sign of an old queen cell from the autumn?

still a bit early for queen rearing so i'd find & remove HM and then unite the hive with your strong one.

can then split again by AS towards the end of the month.

 

[VEG]

If its full of drones is there any point in combining?

 

[bbadger07]

there was a play cup but not an old queen cell from autumn, shes last years new queen but i couldnt find here, i guess i could put the brood box on top of my healthy colony.

If i cant find the queen (but i think i should be able to) would you think using the newspaper method with a queen excluder between boxes may be the solution.

 

[enrico]

I would say he is pretty useless as a queen now. Yes the QE and newspaper will work. At least you will save some of the bees. In my opinion anyway
E

 

[bbadger07]

thanks for that, i think this is the solution

 

[peteshive]

Drone laying queen or laying workers

If you have a drone laying queen you can find her and kill her then i would unite them.
If you have laying worker dont unite as they might kill your good queen.

 

[FreeFall]

drone layer.

How do you tell (from the photo) that it is DLQ rather than laying workers?

(not trying to be 'funny' - It's a serious question as I'm just starting out).

Nick

 

[kighill]

Hi
Your photo shows drone cells, this suggests a drone laying queen or laying workers.

It should be easy to see if it is laying workers. Re check the cells and if the cells contain more than one egg (often numerous eggs) it would suggest laying workers.

You could try removing the hive a distance from the the queen right one. Fifty metres or more, then shake out all the the bees. In theory the laying workers may not fly back.

The only option then is for them to go into the existing hive.

One or two variations for this method.

Ideally hive one and two should be within three feet, if not do this first.

When you move the hive with drone cells leave it for 24/48 hours and let the flying bees return to original position on there own accord, then shake the remainder out.

Ps make sure it is a warm day when you do this.

Good luck.

 

[bbadger07]

uniting

im quite keen to unite the colonies to increase small stock, you can also see a drone in the photo which has emerged

 

[itma]

How do you tell (from the photo) that it is DLQ rather than laying workers?

(not trying to be 'funny' - It's a serious question as I'm just starting out).

Nick

The photo shows a distinct "laying pattern" - the drone brood cells are (more or less) grouped together. The rest of the frame seems clear of brood.
That should indicate a DLQ rather than laying workers (who would lay eggs randomly all over the place).
That's my suggestion as to why drstitson went for DLQ ...

 

[drstitson]

"That's my suggestion as to why drstitson went for DLQ ..."

precisely - whilst hedging ever so slightly by just saying "drone layer" !!!!

(DOI: just about to deal with one myself).

 

[FreeFall]

whilst hedging ever so slightly by just saying "drone layer" !!!!

Ahh, very clever

You were up up early...

 

[drstitson]

I'll avoid the obvious Roger Moore/james Bond double entendres! To warm for my coat i'm afraid.

Just 0.5C in Lincolnshire first thing. And for once i wasn't tampering with the hives by torchlight having had a pleasant evening with the girls yesterday.

 

[itma]

...precisely - whilst hedging ever so slightly by just saying "drone layer" !!!! ...

Well if its just one single laying worker, I'll let others track down the offender!

 

[bbadger07]

I'm going to now shake the frames off 20foot away and let the flying bees fly back to original location then I will unite, I guess I just shake the frame onto the ground, can anyone advise on this please

 

[FreeFall]

I guess I just shake the frame onto the ground, can anyone advise on this please

That's how it's done as far as I know, just shake them onto the ground. I've never had to do it though so you might wait for a more experienced answer.

I have wondered though what happens to the nurse bees when doing this - if they've never left the hive then how do they know the way back? Do they just follow the flying bees or is this the reason to only go a few metres away so that they can sense the nasonov pheromone from the shaking point? I suppose there aren't many nurse bees at this point but what about when performing a shook swarm?


Nick

 

[tkwinston4]

I'm going to now shake the frames off 20foot away and let the flying bees fly back to original location then I will unite, I guess I just shake the frame onto the ground, can anyone advise on this please

My advice is don't bother. I tried it myself and it was a complete waste of time. Either the same laying worker returned or another took over the job and not enough bees returned and depleted the numbers so much that they died off. Tried to introduce a new queen but it was too late.

Unite is my advice but in the end its up to you.

 

[thorn]

Do you get the drone cells throughout the frames, or restricted to one area? I've got a patch of them, probably covering about an eighth of one frame, but appear to have worker brood, or at least, brood emerging from normal looking cells, throughout the neighbouring frames. Should I take immediate steps or wait and see?

 

[itma]

... I've got a patch of them, probably covering about an eighth of one frame, but appear to have worker brood, or at least, brood emerging from normal looking cells, throughout the neighbouring frames. Should I take immediate steps or wait and see?

Sounds very much like nice normal drone production to me.

Which would mean that your bees (for whatever reasons) are feeling that the swarming season is about to start, meaning that there will be eager virgin queens out there and that's not an opportunity to be passed up.

But you might care to take a careful look that they aren't considering swarming themselves ...
... and maybe, depending on your present varroa count, you might think of sacrificing that drone brood (you're too early boys) if you needed or wanted to reduce the varroa level. The mites are mainly in capped brood cells, particularly drone brood.


Having some drones (and drone brood) about the hive is absolutely normal for a healthy, if ambitious colony.
You don't want just drones, though.