Is there anything I can do to help them...

[RoseCottage]

Good news
Checked the troubled colony yesterday and discovered that the queen cell we had left on our emergency frame had hatched (gaping hole in the end of the cell and she was due yesterday). No sign of the virgin queen, but I have never been good at spotting virgins!
So we reconfigured the hive to look like normal and added necessary new drawn frames to the deep BB. All larvae have hatched on the two commercial frames but they have stored masses of OSR and pollen on them in the last week. we have moved them into a couple of supers at an angle above the qe so the bees can still use this store of food for the moment.

the girls attitude is getting better and Linn now describes them as confused rather than aggressive. We think all will be well and hopefully the queen will start laying in a week or two.

many thanks to Paul and Mike - members of international rescue...f a b!
Sam and Linn

 

[RoseCottage]

Final update

We went into the recovering hive yesterday and checked if our virgin queen had been mated and was laying.

We saw many young larvae and the 2 full frames of capped brood. The hive is well behaved and everyone seems very happy.

Hoorah.

Just an opportunity to say a big thank you as the colony are not in danger any more.

I wonder how long after she starts laying the true nature of the colony becomes apparent?

Rab, I think we did it with a lot of help...

All the best, especially to Mike and Paul,

Sam and Linn