first post - so be kind to me!!
I set up a bait hive in may with some pheromone attractant as my house is sat between two apiaries so i hoped to catch a swarm. well, just as i thought that i missed it this year, i had a swarm arrive on 19th July.
The air was black when they arrived and the hive ( a national with a brood and a half) was covered in bees. By the evening they had hived themselves and it was quite busy. about a week later i opened up the hive to check on the level of activity. Most of the bees were out in the fields by the time i checked the hive (1pm) and in the deep brood box i had around three frames (all at the front) covered in bees cleaning the comb. There was no sign of any brood, eggs or queen.
I noticed that stores were low - only about a full super frame, so i placed a feeder of syrup over in case we had rain that meant the bees would starve.
I checked the hive yesterday and now i have a full brood frame of stores (uncapped) and two super frames full of stores and about a litre of syrup left - however - there is still no sign of brood, eggs or a queen.
The bees are very peaceful, in fact, if it wasnt for the fact that i am allergic i could handle them without gloves.... i have around 2 deep frames and three super frames covered both sides in bees - is that a reasonable size for a newly hived swarm?
My questions are thus:
The lure is still in the hive, should i remove this now, or is the lure what is keeping these bees placid in the apparent absence of the queen?
Should i consider buying in a queen to get the hive going?
How long before there should be signs of brood?
any other tips for me!!!
I set up a bait hive in may with some pheromone attractant as my house is sat between two apiaries so i hoped to catch a swarm. well, just as i thought that i missed it this year, i had a swarm arrive on 19th July.
The air was black when they arrived and the hive ( a national with a brood and a half) was covered in bees. By the evening they had hived themselves and it was quite busy. about a week later i opened up the hive to check on the level of activity. Most of the bees were out in the fields by the time i checked the hive (1pm) and in the deep brood box i had around three frames (all at the front) covered in bees cleaning the comb. There was no sign of any brood, eggs or queen.
I noticed that stores were low - only about a full super frame, so i placed a feeder of syrup over in case we had rain that meant the bees would starve.
I checked the hive yesterday and now i have a full brood frame of stores (uncapped) and two super frames full of stores and about a litre of syrup left - however - there is still no sign of brood, eggs or a queen.
The bees are very peaceful, in fact, if it wasnt for the fact that i am allergic i could handle them without gloves.... i have around 2 deep frames and three super frames covered both sides in bees - is that a reasonable size for a newly hived swarm?
My questions are thus:
The lure is still in the hive, should i remove this now, or is the lure what is keeping these bees placid in the apparent absence of the queen?
Should i consider buying in a queen to get the hive going?
How long before there should be signs of brood?
any other tips for me!!!