- Joined
- Jul 19, 2015
- Messages
- 361
- Reaction score
- 66
- Location
- Lewes, East Sussex
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 3
First inspection today for 10 days as it’s been too cold to look any earlier. And what I feared has happened: my best colony which produced a massive harvest last year has swarmed.
Here’s how it happened: this was brood-and-a-half (super on top). So at the first inspection, I inserted a QX above the BB, intending to configure it back to a single brood box.
I had looked for HM and determined that she was downstairs. Somehow though, in the inspection, she nipped back into the super above the BB and was therefore isolated. She laid for three weeks until the super was wall to wall, much of it drones, as I discovered on the second inspection 10 days ago.
So 10 days ago, I released the trapped queen and drones back into the BB hoping and expecting to see the BB full of brood next time around - ie today.
Not so. Today the colony was a bit defensive, which made me wonder. And sure enough, there was one uncapped queen cell and zero young brood. They’ve been off – perhaps unsurprisingly as the super where she was trapped would have been very cramped.
I’ve swapped in a frame of young brood (eggs and larvae) from my second hive and I hope they’ll re-queen. I’ll leave them alone for a couple of weeks.
So the moral is: be absolutely sure where she before inserting a QX. I’ve probably made other mistakes as well...
Here’s how it happened: this was brood-and-a-half (super on top). So at the first inspection, I inserted a QX above the BB, intending to configure it back to a single brood box.
I had looked for HM and determined that she was downstairs. Somehow though, in the inspection, she nipped back into the super above the BB and was therefore isolated. She laid for three weeks until the super was wall to wall, much of it drones, as I discovered on the second inspection 10 days ago.
So 10 days ago, I released the trapped queen and drones back into the BB hoping and expecting to see the BB full of brood next time around - ie today.
Not so. Today the colony was a bit defensive, which made me wonder. And sure enough, there was one uncapped queen cell and zero young brood. They’ve been off – perhaps unsurprisingly as the super where she was trapped would have been very cramped.
I’ve swapped in a frame of young brood (eggs and larvae) from my second hive and I hope they’ll re-queen. I’ll leave them alone for a couple of weeks.
So the moral is: be absolutely sure where she before inserting a QX. I’ve probably made other mistakes as well...