oread_uk
New Bee
Hi - I'm new to this forum - so hello all.
I started this year as a new beekeeper with two 5 frame nucs of bees delivered in July that have done ok over the summer. Following an inspection this Tuesday, both colonies were queen right with brood in all stages, no noticeable disease and some stores.
Both colonies were lower on stores than they need to be going into the winter so I have been feeding them sugar solution over the past couple of weeks. I've been really careful to feed at dusk, not spill anything and, when doing the inspection, I made sure the supers were covered over. I'm careful not to leave any brace comb or other detritus around. I've also had both colonies on a reduced entrance hole all summer as they were quite small and I wanted them to be able to defend themselves.
Yesterday, I went down to the apiary (which is at the bottom of the garden so I normally head down there a few times every day to watch hive traffic) and it was chaos. Loads of bees outside the hive zig-zagging about, some fighting and the noise! My colonies are generally very docile but they were very agitated - to the point where I got my first sting yesterday by a bee that chased me up the garden! I recognised from the reading I've done that they were being robbed and quickly suited up, lit the smoker and went down there to reduce the entrance hole to the smallest gap. The attacking bees appeared to dissipate and calm was restored fairly quickly.
There was a little wax outside one hive and a few dead bees.
I've gone down again today and it looks as though they are at it again. Not like yesterday but a number of bees on the outside of the hive and zig zagging around trying to get in. I have no idea how much success they are having getting in through the reduced entrance, nor what damage was done yesterday before I closed up the entrance to the smallest hole. Having only inspected them on Tuesday, I really don't want to open them up again and cause them more disturbance.
Is there anything else I can practically do at this stage or is it just a case of hoping that the bees in my colonies are able to defend themselves? I've read about moving the colonies elsewhere but that's not a practical solution as I have nowhere to move them to. Has anyone else had this happen with colonies that have managed to battle through it?
There is a LOT more to beekeeping than I could ever have imagined. Talk about a steep learning curve!
Any advice welcome,
I started this year as a new beekeeper with two 5 frame nucs of bees delivered in July that have done ok over the summer. Following an inspection this Tuesday, both colonies were queen right with brood in all stages, no noticeable disease and some stores.
Both colonies were lower on stores than they need to be going into the winter so I have been feeding them sugar solution over the past couple of weeks. I've been really careful to feed at dusk, not spill anything and, when doing the inspection, I made sure the supers were covered over. I'm careful not to leave any brace comb or other detritus around. I've also had both colonies on a reduced entrance hole all summer as they were quite small and I wanted them to be able to defend themselves.
Yesterday, I went down to the apiary (which is at the bottom of the garden so I normally head down there a few times every day to watch hive traffic) and it was chaos. Loads of bees outside the hive zig-zagging about, some fighting and the noise! My colonies are generally very docile but they were very agitated - to the point where I got my first sting yesterday by a bee that chased me up the garden! I recognised from the reading I've done that they were being robbed and quickly suited up, lit the smoker and went down there to reduce the entrance hole to the smallest gap. The attacking bees appeared to dissipate and calm was restored fairly quickly.
There was a little wax outside one hive and a few dead bees.
I've gone down again today and it looks as though they are at it again. Not like yesterday but a number of bees on the outside of the hive and zig zagging around trying to get in. I have no idea how much success they are having getting in through the reduced entrance, nor what damage was done yesterday before I closed up the entrance to the smallest hole. Having only inspected them on Tuesday, I really don't want to open them up again and cause them more disturbance.
Is there anything else I can practically do at this stage or is it just a case of hoping that the bees in my colonies are able to defend themselves? I've read about moving the colonies elsewhere but that's not a practical solution as I have nowhere to move them to. Has anyone else had this happen with colonies that have managed to battle through it?
There is a LOT more to beekeeping than I could ever have imagined. Talk about a steep learning curve!
Any advice welcome,
