OP
malawi2854
House Bee
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2009
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Tonbridge, Kent
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 5
There could be nothing wrong with the bees or any queen.
I swear this hobby is going to cause me a mental breakdown!
What do you mean by a bad bout of varroa?
Over the period of 1 week, I counted approx. 175-200 mites (obviously didn't sit and count ALL of them - but took an area a few inches square, counted, and multiplied up)
Did you observe any other problems with the emerged bees you might have associated with varroa?
Yes, I had quite a lot of damaged wings, and quite a number of bees collected on the floor, perhaps 2 metres away from the hive - none at the entrance, almost all with deformed wings.
other less intrusive options with organic acids trickled or vaporised would have worked quicker and with more efficacy.
Useful to know if needed in the future - I assume you mean the likes of Oxalic Acid?
In the brood box precisely WHERE on the frame is the nectar being stored?
Mainly in the top 1/4 of the frames, coming down perhaps halfway on some of the frames further back in the hive.
If you take a frame in the brood box out right across the hive, what is the approximate coverage in percentage terms of adult WORKER bees on each frame?
Crikey... erm - I would say approx. 40-50% averaged across the hive - but naturally, they are quite densly packed on the "active" end, with the entrance, vague attempt at brood etc.
Whereas up the "inactive" end, there are very few bees, but stacks of capped honey.
Why do you have supers on this hive, does the density of bees justify it?
I put the supers on early in the season when they were going great guns, and haven't really seen any great need to remove them. They are happily bringing in nectar, so I figured I'd give them somewhere to put it, without bunging up the brood area, if the queen ever did start laying!
If as you say you have eggs, unsealed and sealed brood, is there any of these covering a contiguous area on a frame say 4 inches across?
I would say not, no.
From the photo there appear to be polished cells ready for the queen to lay in, is this the case across multiple frames?
Yes, I'm amazed that there is masses of space for laying purposes - last year, they seemed obsessed with filling every last space with nectar, refusing to use the supers - this year, they are happily using supers, leaving the brood body wide open for probably approx. 8 frames of brood?
When you see eggs are they centrally placed on the bottom of the cell?
I will admit that I've still yet to see any eggs - rather a cop-out I know - but with the presence of larvae and capped cells, I came to the conclusion there MUST be eggs, and so haven't broken my neck to find eggs. A mistake, I now appreciate.
Do you see only one egg per cell or many?
As above, I'm afraid.
By saying that the other colony is in the same apiary, do you mean adjacent or many metres apart?
The "split" is in the opposite end of the Beehaus, so within one box, but facing opposite directions.
The tiny swarm is in a nuc box, probably 3m from the entrance to the failing colony.
How frequently have you been going in the hive?
Weekly - every Sunday.
I swear this hobby is going to cause me a mental breakdown!
What do you mean by a bad bout of varroa?
Over the period of 1 week, I counted approx. 175-200 mites (obviously didn't sit and count ALL of them - but took an area a few inches square, counted, and multiplied up)
Did you observe any other problems with the emerged bees you might have associated with varroa?
Yes, I had quite a lot of damaged wings, and quite a number of bees collected on the floor, perhaps 2 metres away from the hive - none at the entrance, almost all with deformed wings.
other less intrusive options with organic acids trickled or vaporised would have worked quicker and with more efficacy.
Useful to know if needed in the future - I assume you mean the likes of Oxalic Acid?
In the brood box precisely WHERE on the frame is the nectar being stored?
Mainly in the top 1/4 of the frames, coming down perhaps halfway on some of the frames further back in the hive.
If you take a frame in the brood box out right across the hive, what is the approximate coverage in percentage terms of adult WORKER bees on each frame?
Crikey... erm - I would say approx. 40-50% averaged across the hive - but naturally, they are quite densly packed on the "active" end, with the entrance, vague attempt at brood etc.
Whereas up the "inactive" end, there are very few bees, but stacks of capped honey.
Why do you have supers on this hive, does the density of bees justify it?
I put the supers on early in the season when they were going great guns, and haven't really seen any great need to remove them. They are happily bringing in nectar, so I figured I'd give them somewhere to put it, without bunging up the brood area, if the queen ever did start laying!
If as you say you have eggs, unsealed and sealed brood, is there any of these covering a contiguous area on a frame say 4 inches across?
I would say not, no.
From the photo there appear to be polished cells ready for the queen to lay in, is this the case across multiple frames?
Yes, I'm amazed that there is masses of space for laying purposes - last year, they seemed obsessed with filling every last space with nectar, refusing to use the supers - this year, they are happily using supers, leaving the brood body wide open for probably approx. 8 frames of brood?
When you see eggs are they centrally placed on the bottom of the cell?
I will admit that I've still yet to see any eggs - rather a cop-out I know - but with the presence of larvae and capped cells, I came to the conclusion there MUST be eggs, and so haven't broken my neck to find eggs. A mistake, I now appreciate.
Do you see only one egg per cell or many?
As above, I'm afraid.
By saying that the other colony is in the same apiary, do you mean adjacent or many metres apart?
The "split" is in the opposite end of the Beehaus, so within one box, but facing opposite directions.
The tiny swarm is in a nuc box, probably 3m from the entrance to the failing colony.
How frequently have you been going in the hive?
Weekly - every Sunday.
