Unsealed Brood

[Beedogg]

I moved a colony yesterday from a WBC hive into which wasps were encroaching and into a National hive. I didn't do a full inspection but did see the marked Queen as I moved the frames. She is a young freshely-mated queen, only been laying for a month.

There were about 4 frames of BIAS but I noticed quite a lot of un-sealed brood (wish I'd taken a photo) perhaps 20%. Should I be concerned about that?

 

[ericbeaumont]

from a WBC hive into which wasps were encroaching and into a National

Is a National any easier to defend?

I've had wasps getting in at the side of a WBC sliding entrance block, but that's easy enough to seal.

Wasps can also get in through the hole in the conical bee escape in the WBC roof end gables.

How about putting them in a 6-frame poly nuc? A rammed box is easier to defend and bees will over-winter better.

Wasps attack vulnerable colonies - smaller or weaker, for example - and that (and not the WBC) may be the real issue.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There were about 4 frames of BIAS but I noticed quite a lot of un-sealed brood (wish I'd taken a photo) perhaps 20%. Should I be concerned about that?

Capped brood starts off as un sealed brood. Why are you worried?

 

[Beedogg]

There just seemed to be more fairly mature un-capped brood than I'm used to seeing. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it.

 

[drex]

They are eggs for 3 days, grubs for 6 and capped as pupae for about the remaining 12 days, those figures will give you the proportions for what you see. However at this time of year queen is slowing egg laying.

 

[user 20297]

There just seemed to be more fairly mature un-capped brood than I'm used to seeing. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it.

The queen had a good laying day or two.

 

[The Poot]

There just seemed to be more fairly mature un-capped brood than I'm used to seeing. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it.

Ah! A fellow worrier! The bees will always give you something to worry about. They do me!

 

[Swarm]

Don't worry, bee happy

 

[ericbeaumont]

There just seemed to be more fairly mature un-capped brood than I'm used to seeing.

A nectar dearth will often switch off laying and lead to erratic brood proportions.

The queen had a good laying day or two.

Quite likely picked up when a flow started, or if they were fed.

 

[elainemary]

Ah! A fellow worrier! The bees will always give you something to worry about. They do me!

Yes I saw a good smattering of drone brood on a hive on the moor yesterday. It’s a young laying queen and there were also slabs of worker sealed brood. Lots of drones in that hive. But they’ve brought in 2 full capped supers of heather in August and otherwise healthy. Still worried though

 

[The Poot]

Yes I saw a good smattering of drone brood on a hive on the moor yesterday. It’s a young laying queen and there were also slabs of worker sealed brood. Lots of drones in that hive. But they’ve brought in 2 full capped supers of heather in August and otherwise healthy. Still worried though

We could start a sub section to the community - The worrying beekeepers section

 

[user 20297]

We could start a sub section to the community - The worrying beekeepers section

We'd need to clarify, and maybe have sub-sections. There are a lot of "worrying" beekeepers on here, with a variety of nuances of the meaning of that word. There are the ones who have something to worry about and the ones who "worry" others. There are also some that an empathetic person might worry about.