New hive

[Foley]

Hi all
I recently purchased my first brude box and bees from a retiring keeper .they are very active and the old keeper told me to add another brood box ASAP which was done a week later.
As a complete novis letting them settle in to a new area. I have just completed my third inspection I was not realy sure on what I was looking at on the first two but have noted a lack of eggs and brood ,I can't locate the queen so I'm guessing it may be queen less.
My question is how can I be sure,and what is the best action to take to get them ballanced again.i have had them for six weeks now and they are in a national hive double brood.
Any help is much appreciated Roger

 

[pargyle]

Firstly, add your location to your profile - whilst it may not make a lot of difference in this case whether you are in Tooting or Tasmania may have a bearing on advice you receive generally.

Was there brood and eggs when you took the hive over - did you actually see them ?

Is the queen marked ?

When you added another brood box what did you give them .. a full box of foundation above the existing brood box ?

Have they started to draw the foundation out ?

You say they are very active - do you mean they are collecting nectar and pollen - are they storing it and where are they storing it ?

Have you seen any queen cells ?

There are a variety of reasons why there are no eggs and brood in a hive at this time of the year - not all of them the result of no queen being present.

There's probably a few more questions that need answers but at present we don't really have enough to give you reasons why you have no eggs in there.

The simple answer, if you want to know whether a queen is present, is to insert a frame with eggs on it into the hive - if they are hopelessly queenless they will generally build queen cells on the frame you introduce. With only one hive you don't have that facility available ... Hence you need to know if or why the hive is not bursting with brood at this point in the season (unless you live in Finland where it is still winter !)

 

[Boston Bees]

If you are in the UK, join your local BKA and ask them to put out a request for a local beekeeper to come and look at your hive. My BKA does this fairly frequently and always seems to get plenty of volunteers.

 

[Foley]

Hi sorry updated.
Yes full box of foundation on top i moved 2 frames of pollen/honey up to the top box and 2 new frames below.
The bees are drawing it out on the new frames either side of the old frames brought from below but have only started on one of the new frames below .no queen cells seen ,loads of activity bees are bringing loads of pollen back and storing it mainly in the bottom box which is mostly pollen and honey .there are also a fare bit of drone brude caped on 6 of the 10 frames in bottom box.
The new frames are not yet drawn out enough to use yet.
Roger

 

[Foley]

If you are in the UK, join your local BKA and ask them to put out a request for a local beekeeper to come and look at your hive. My BKA does this fairly frequently and always seems to get plenty of volunteers.

Just found a local club will join tomorrow. Thanks would be good to get another perspective.

 

[pargyle]

Just found a local club will join tomorrow. Thanks would be good to get another perspective.

Without intending to be in any way disparaging ... have you had any experience of bees prior to getting your first colony ? Have you attended any course ? What books have you read ?

If you don't have it I would recommend getting a copy of the Haynes Manual of Beekeeping which will take you through the beekeeping year in very simple terms with lots of pictures ... it doesn't have everything you need to know but it's a good start for a new beekeeper.

With a bit of luck someone from your association may be able to give you a hand but bear in mind that this is a busy time for all beekeepers and you are unlikely to find someone prepared to be with you at every inspection ...

 

[drex]

In your first post you say no brood or eggs and in your second post you mention six frames of capped drone brood. What is the exact state? Can you recognise uncapped brood? Eggs can be difficult to spot at first. Hives rarely become totally queen less.
We need more exact info to reliably offer advice.

 

[enrico]

Go to the blogs, hit the authors button and then hit my avatar. Have a read of the blogs in there that were written for beginners. They make you smile and help you out. The early ones are at the bottom!
E

 

[Foley]

In your first post you say no brood or eggs and in your second post you mention six frames of capped drone brood. What is the exact state? Can you recognise uncapped brood? Eggs can be difficult to spot at first. Hives rarely become totally queen less.
We need more exact info to reliably offer advice.

Hi there is un hatched drone on some frames and empty cells a fair bit of honey and nectar on the out side frames I can't see any larve or eggs I will inspect again on Monday and try and take some photos.

 

[Foley]

Go to the blogs, hit the authors button and then hit my avatar. Have a read of the blogs in there that were written for beginners. They make you smile and help you out. The early ones are at the bottom!
E

Will do thank you.

 

[Foley]

Go to the blogs, hit the authors button and then hit my avatar. Have a read of the blogs in there that were written for beginners. They make you smile and help you out. The early ones are at the bottom!
E

This is so helpful thank you .

 

[Arfermo]

Just found a local club will join tomorrow. Thanks would be good to get another perspective.

When you have been accepted into your chosen BKA I would suggest you get in touch with the Secretary and ask if there is anybody willing to let you visit, Covid-19 distancing rules accepted, to watch while they do an inspection of their hives. A smaller but experienced beekeeper would be a better bet I would think and then you would be able to chat at length. I also suggest you get Ted Hooper's -'Guide to Bees and Honey' - a really good book for dipping into to learn about bees and one that many Beekeeping Inspectors recommend too. Mine did m,any years ago - £15 or so from Amazon.

 

[Foley]

When you have been accepted into your chosen BKA I would suggest you get in touch with the Secretary and ask if there is anybody willing to let you visit, Covid-19 distancing rules accepted, to watch while they do an inspection of their hives. A smaller but experienced beekeeper would be a better bet I would think and then you would be able to chat at length. I also suggest you get Ted Hooper's -'Guide to Bees and Honey' - a really good book for dipping into to learn about bees and one that many Beekeeping Inspectors recommend too. Mine did m,any years ago - £15 or so from Amazon.

Yes will do thanks