swarm?

[worrywort]

Hello there.
Apologies for the S word.
today was the first opportunity to look at my colonies properly. I keep them in North Kent on a Farm which is colder than town. both colonies were missing. a small patch of brood and eggs, 100 to 200 bees, loads of sealed honey. No queen cells which is what I expected to find not even old empty ones. Mad season. any ideas?

 

[MuswellMetro]

Possible Nosema or Varroa or both and now too small to increase normally.

i have seen a few this year, The Nosema shortens the bees life so by early spring the brood is smaller than other colonies, any varroa now has less brood to dive into, so the varroa ratio of infested brood to clean brood is high, So the brood doesn't develop at normal pace etc etc, downward cycle

100 varroa in 9 frames of brood is survivable 100 varroa in one frame of brood is disaster

 

[linoleum bonypart]

The dreaded dwindle......

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Yes. I have had one, and another right on the cusp. There was a thread on here a few days ago where someone was going to put them (shook swarm) in an Apidea. With fondant they MIGHT have a chance but it's a long way back via a nuc etc. In a hive they have no hope. I stuffed up and lost the weaker of my two.

 

[worrywort]

Thank you for your replies. I'll check the survivors for nosema. I haven't treated for Varroa for years, I bred from the survivors but was down from 5 colonies to two since 2014. I shall go back to school.

 

[Eyeman]

Hi
If you see eggs and some larvae it suggests the queen is still viable and is being held back by the low number of workers. I removed the queen then placed her in a apidea made from a healthy colony. Will be checking her in a week to see if she is laying worker brood.

 

[worrywort]

interesting. I didn't see the queens. as the colony was so small I thought the tiny brood pattern was dead from cold. I'll go have a proper look tomorrow. Thank you. i did see sealed brood 75 mm circle grubs and eggs.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Yes. I have had one, and another right on the cusp. There was a thread on here a few days ago where someone was going to put them (shook swarm) in an Apidea. With fondant they MIGHT have a chance but it's a long way back via a nuc etc. In a hive they have no hope. I stuffed up and lost the weaker of my two.

just put them out of their misery and start again

sigh

 

[Eyeman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TryingToLetThemBee
Yes. I have had one, and another right on the cusp. There was a thread on here a few days ago where someone was going to put them (shook swarm) in an Apidea. With fondant they MIGHT have a chance but it's a long way back via a nuc etc. In a hive they have no hope. I stuffed up and lost the weaker of my two.
just put them out of their misery and start again

sigh

Agree get rid of the workers.
However If the queen looks half decent then put her in an Apidea made up of young bees from a healthy colony.
Queens are precious no more than at this time of the year.
If it isn't successful you have only removed 300 odd bees from that healthy colony.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Agree get rid of the workers.
However If the queen looks half decent then put her in an Apidea made up of young bees from a healthy colony.
Queens are precious no more than at this time of the year.
If it isn't successful you have only removed 300 odd bees from that healthy colony.

I read the OP as having no other colonies. If he can pull it offhe will still be a beekeeper. @worrywort, you will need an Apidea or other mini-nuc. If that's completely out of the question, IM me and I'll see what I can do. You can not-treat for varroa, but it requires exceptional diligence and attention as I see others practicing that around here.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

just put them out of their misery and start again

sigh

Otherwise it's struggling for most of the season with a mediocre (at best) colony headed by a mediocre queen, having to spend time and money nursing it through to the winter to repeat the whole process again next year

 

[worrywort]

Hello Trying.
Thank You for the kind offer. Yesterday i went to My friends two colonies which he keeps in his garden. His were as bad but the combs were full of pollen and the queen restricted to three usable frames. But i found the queen, so i did a "shook swarm" My two and his all together. I'll give them a week and hopefully purchase a queen and split to at least give me two colonies to work with.
Regards, Worrywort (Derek).

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It will be iteresting to see the outcome of this sad and sorry mess.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Hello Trying.
Thank You for the kind offer. Yesterday i went to My friends two colonies which he keeps in his garden. His were as bad but the combs were full of pollen and the queen restricted to three usable frames. But i found the queen, so i did a "shook swarm" My two and his all together. I'll give them a week and hopefully purchase a queen and split to at least give me two colonies to work with.
Regards, Worrywort (Derek).

I am a simple man, so in terms I can understand (Box A, Bees A, Queen A), where is "everybody"? We had 4 weak colonies, all Q+ as I understand: Box A, Bees A, Queen A; Box B, Bees B Queen B... (Cast in order of appearance, so his are C and D). It looks like Bees ABCD and Queen D in box E (new foundation) with Queens ABC RIP. Is that right?

If so that might have been the best shot I suppose, but I'd be a bit POed to be your mate with you talking about "give me two colonies...". One for him/her I hope?