oh dear, i seem to have opened the proverbial 'can of worms' here! i am sorry. but as susbees says, this wasnt a sale, more an opportunity presented itself and i took it (as i had no way of knowing when or if, i'd get my bees otherwise).
so i guess i am just trying to do the best thing for the bees to give them the best chance of surviving at the moment.
i get the bit aobut destroying the other QC's but what if I've managed to lose the Q when i've been going through the hive last night? should i hope that she, if she's there, will tear down the other QC's?
and if she isnt there, then at least i've got some insurance with the other QC's?
should i go through them again tonight more carefully and (with mentor maybe) try and find the Q? at what stage does one 'mark' the Q?
i have added more frames but not taken out the dummy board (though have put it in the right place at least!) - is it ok to leave now or do i still need to move it out the hive?
and do i want to be putting a Q excluder on? Super? (lots of OSR fields around here)
thanks
Everything is cool
If your queen is there and you missed her = everything is cool
If the new queen has gone, you have loads of charged queen cells = everything is cool
When raising new queens, my bees typically raise 20-25 queen cells, others say the same, so what you are seeing is perfectly normal.
The queen's mating flights may take a few days
If you are queen right, and hoping that she will kill other queen cells. In my experience she won't get them all and they will swarm, but you have time to stop that.
Don't worry about the dummy board, mine ignore new frames for ages sometimes, so it can take a while anyway. Leave it at the end of the frames, where there is a gap, this acts as the wall.
Super / QE - not yet, make sure it is queen right and egg laying first.
Procedure 1
Step 1:
Stay calm and prepare what you want to do before you open the hive.
Get set up with all the kit and anything else you need.
You want to carefully check each frame for eggs and / or the new queen.
A head torch is quite useful to help you see into the cells.
Go through in your mind what you want to do before you do it.
Step 2:
In the evening when the bees are in and you would expect the queen to be back in the hive, have a look.
Lite the smoker, don't go crazy with it, make sure the smoke is cool (dried leaves, grass, some green if need be). Give them a little and wait a few mins. This is to keep them calm, to reduce your stress levels.
Step 3:
Open the hive and calmly inspect each frame. Look closely into the cells, especially bottom centre. Using your head torch, shine it into the cells, hold the frame up into the light, whatever you need to do to see into the cells.
Whatever happens remove all but one queen cell (see more on this later). Humans do not know what the ideal bee queen cell is, the bees do, but you want to reduce your worries, so just go for the one you feel is in the right place and looks the best.
If you see eggs, the new queen is in business, move to procedure 2
Step 4:
If you definitely can't see any eggs, try looking for the queen. She will typically be around the bottom half of the frame, inspecting cells to lay in them. Often when you take the frame out, she will sneak around the back, so when you lift it out, quickly scan the sides from the midpoint down. She will probably be moving about the cells very quickly, and can often be spotted by her rapid movement across the frames.
If you find the queen, move to procedure 2
Step 5:
If there are no eggs and no new queen, keep the remaining queen cell and start the process again.
But repeat step 2-3 again the next day, just in case you missed her or she was out late getting busy. It may take the new queen a few days to start laying, but with the pressure of queen cells active you need to be sure relatively soon.
If you have the option to take a frame and queen cell out and place in a second nuc, you could do this.
Procedure 2:
Queen Right= yes
Eggs = yes
You must also destroy any remaining queen cells.
You should thoroughily check each frame for queen cells, blowing on them will make the move or gentle brush them with your finger. The ideal situation, would be to secure the queen, then take each frame, and firmly jolt / shake the bees off into the box, so you can really inspect each frame.
Once you are sure the new queen is laying well, where you can see lots of eggs in worker cells, mark her. You don't what to mark her whilst she is on mating flights as that may draw attention from predators. Loads of text on marking, if you want any advice pm me.
If you are feeling confident follow the steps to clip her wing, if not leave her alone.
Good luck
Regards
SJH
