First open water triathlon tomorrow morning, so I was keen to check all the bees at least one site, so I can do the other apiary tomorrow afternoon.
With the help of 3 students, I combined 2 of the artificial swarms and checked half the hives, but with the showers and wind we were all getting stung, so I called it a day and went back later. I remember it wasn't good last weekend either and I had to do some of the inspections in the rain then too. I went back after the thunderstorm and opened one box that I had done an artificial swarm on last week and realised straight away that there was a problem. The box had about 10 drawing pins on top of the frames. When I need to do an AS I like to mark all the QCs and then decide which one(s) to keep and then remove the pins when I destroy the cells. There should have been only one or two cells/drawing pins.
I guess when it was bucketing down last week I must have just covered them with the crown board to protect them, and then forgotten to reduce the number of cells. Then the exciting part started. I was looking at the cells to decide which ones to destroy then I saw a few of them had antennae sticking out the side at the bottom - the queens were all about to emerge. One clearly already had as I saw the typical hinged opening.
I helped them out of the cells and put them in separate cages and hair rollers with a few bees and a bit of fondant. Not sure I want or need them, but they were big and fat, so it seemed a shame to kill them.
I have put them all temporarily in the top super of another colony, with an extra queen excluder below the top super in case any escape, to try to reduce the risk of a swarm.
The brood box of that colony had one open charged QC, but it was 8.30pm by the time I had finished messing around and the bees were stinging me on the wrists and ankles and then 2cheeky ones stung me on the neck through the veil when the wind blew. I think they were going for the jugular, because one of the stings looks like a puncture wound where it was gone all purple. It must have managed to burst a small blood vessel. That's a first. It looks like a vampire bite now.
Ironically it was the bees in the colony that I wanted to act as nursemaids that were moody and the colony with all the queen cells were relaxed.
I didn't get through all the boxes at the allotment, so I've got them to finish tomorrow if I can.
With the help of 3 students, I combined 2 of the artificial swarms and checked half the hives, but with the showers and wind we were all getting stung, so I called it a day and went back later. I remember it wasn't good last weekend either and I had to do some of the inspections in the rain then too. I went back after the thunderstorm and opened one box that I had done an artificial swarm on last week and realised straight away that there was a problem. The box had about 10 drawing pins on top of the frames. When I need to do an AS I like to mark all the QCs and then decide which one(s) to keep and then remove the pins when I destroy the cells. There should have been only one or two cells/drawing pins.
I guess when it was bucketing down last week I must have just covered them with the crown board to protect them, and then forgotten to reduce the number of cells. Then the exciting part started. I was looking at the cells to decide which ones to destroy then I saw a few of them had antennae sticking out the side at the bottom - the queens were all about to emerge. One clearly already had as I saw the typical hinged opening.
I helped them out of the cells and put them in separate cages and hair rollers with a few bees and a bit of fondant. Not sure I want or need them, but they were big and fat, so it seemed a shame to kill them.
I have put them all temporarily in the top super of another colony, with an extra queen excluder below the top super in case any escape, to try to reduce the risk of a swarm.
The brood box of that colony had one open charged QC, but it was 8.30pm by the time I had finished messing around and the bees were stinging me on the wrists and ankles and then 2cheeky ones stung me on the neck through the veil when the wind blew. I think they were going for the jugular, because one of the stings looks like a puncture wound where it was gone all purple. It must have managed to burst a small blood vessel. That's a first. It looks like a vampire bite now.
Ironically it was the bees in the colony that I wanted to act as nursemaids that were moody and the colony with all the queen cells were relaxed.
I didn't get through all the boxes at the allotment, so I've got them to finish tomorrow if I can.
