Hengest
New Bee
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2013
- Messages
- 24
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Wiltshire
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 1
Hi all
My bees arrived on Friday - full colony in a national hive. Acquired from an elderly gentlemen very much of the don't look if you don't need to mindset. He had looked(briefly I suspect) when he had prepared them to move them over to my place and advised me to move to double brood. I helped him move them over and part of the assembly was a full super of honey - absolutely full and a partly filled one. I was advised to leave them alone until after the weekend ( which I have).
I 've got the necessary kit to inspect, am physically (if not emotionally) ready to do swarm control should it be necessary (going for the old queen into a nucleus method to start with ) and have various spares - a roof, brood box, floor and supers.
However the weather is now rubbish - I am stuck at work during the day until Friday and the temperature and general forecast does not hold out much hope for ideal inspection conditions before Friday.
Should I wait till good weather or peek sooner - I really don't want half my bees jiggering off before the weekend. Does poor weather deter swarming?
Any views welcome (even if its "you should have looked on Sunday you daft beggar")
My bees arrived on Friday - full colony in a national hive. Acquired from an elderly gentlemen very much of the don't look if you don't need to mindset. He had looked(briefly I suspect) when he had prepared them to move them over to my place and advised me to move to double brood. I helped him move them over and part of the assembly was a full super of honey - absolutely full and a partly filled one. I was advised to leave them alone until after the weekend ( which I have).
I 've got the necessary kit to inspect, am physically (if not emotionally) ready to do swarm control should it be necessary (going for the old queen into a nucleus method to start with ) and have various spares - a roof, brood box, floor and supers.
However the weather is now rubbish - I am stuck at work during the day until Friday and the temperature and general forecast does not hold out much hope for ideal inspection conditions before Friday.
Should I wait till good weather or peek sooner - I really don't want half my bees jiggering off before the weekend. Does poor weather deter swarming?
Any views welcome (even if its "you should have looked on Sunday you daft beggar")