Qx or no Qx?

[For want of a better word]

I know that Carniolan grows earlier than Italians because it has pollen stores after winter. Italian use to eate pollen off in autumn.

When I started to feed pollen patty to Italian hives, their build up was exactly the same as Carniolans'.

What is a big difference is that Carniolans swarms couple of weeks earlier than Italians.

1 If the beekeeper is red / green colour blind really of little importance...
I mark my queens white and keep proper records.

2. and swarm again and again and again... IMOHO


Yeghes da

 

[Finman]

What surprised me, was the queen did not lay in the supers, so this year, I may try this experiment again.

Buy better layers

I have 3 langstroth boxes as brood boxes. Lowest box is colder and bees tend to fill it with pollen during main yield.
I do not accept queens which lay only one broodbox.

Big colonies are rippen to forage surplus earlier than smaller colonies. Difference may be 20-30 kg per year.

Many professionals keep 2 Langstroth as brood space and restrict the brood space to one box in the middle of summer.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Buy better layers

I have 3 langstroth boxes as brood boxes. Lowest box is colder and bees tend to fill it with pollen during main yield.
I do not accept queens which lay only one broodbox.

Big colonies are rippen to forage surplus earlier than smaller colonies. Difference may be 20-30 kg per year.

Many professionals keep 2 Langstroth as brood space and restrict the brood space to one box in the middle of summer.

"I wrote - What surprised me, was the queen did not lay in the supers, so this year, I may try this experiment again",

because mentors and local beeks, had told me, if you don't use a queen excluder, the queen will lay up in the super, and in fact in this colony, they produced wild comb, under the brood frames, between floor, and frames, which I think is because the floors, bee space is incorrect. (I need to check this!)

 

[Finman]

"I wrote - What surprised me, was the queen did not lay in the supers, so this year, I may try this experiment again",

Queens lay in supers . It is sure.

.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Queens lay in supers . It is sure.

.

Yes, I know, because in another colony, there was an open queen cell, above the queen excluder! (but that's another post some time!). So I know why they swarmed, because I didn't check the supers for queen cells! I found at extraction, 3 months after they swarmed!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Maybe the answer is to remove the QE once you have one super full of honey and to over super as you add more.

 

[Queen Brenda]

Crikey, this has all got a bit technical. I didn't inspect today because it was so cold but will continue to feed fondant - they are certainly gobbling it up. I am not keen to add the super, I just thought if she was laying away, there would not be enough room for stores and eggs/larvae as well.

 

[Finman]

I just thought if she was laying away, there would not be enough room for stores and eggs/larvae as well.

If you are not sure what to do, give second brood box and put it under. You loose nothing. Bees occupye it when they are able to do that. Douple brood is very good to beginner.
Colony must first grow that it can forage surplus to supers.

 

[Finman]

Maybe the answer is to remove the QE once you have one super full of honey and to over super as you add more.

If situation is so, it is impossible, because colony needs 2 supers for nectar to fill third box with rippen honey.

If colony has not enough room to rippen nectar, they store nectar into brood box. That forces the colony to swarm. That is sure.

You must look into hive in spring,
- how many frames bees occupye/ can keep warm
- how many brood combs and try to quess when new bees start to emerge
- how much room for pollen and nectar. They need stores for bad days and weeks.
- how much old capped stores. Is it too much?

If the colony is not able to occupye one box totally, it is not able to occupye added super. Heat only escape into empty space.
Then only way is to take off capped stores that the queeen has room to lay. 2 frames of food is good to one box hive.

And keep mesh floor closed. It need not to be open in spring. The hive stays dry because brood rearing warms up the house. Moisture may condensate on inner cover if you do not keep insulation on.