The follow up in Suffolk ![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Oh dear!!!! We had one of our colonies from a Beekeeper in parc Derwen and they were a lovely strong placid colony.From Bryncethin. The beekeeper is going to live in the US, he was a complete novice and the Langstroth hive wasn't even nailed together. The frame design should have housed plastic foundation, instead, coated garden wire was used horizontally across the frame, supporting unwired foundation.
Lots in this hive, so I'm hoping there are a few about locally.Not a Drone in sight in West Wilts
The follow up in Suffolk
I am hoping for a heatwave in a couple of weeks. Probably more likely to snow but you never know!Quick check in a couple of hives last weekend showed very limited drone brood, with some capped. With pupating time and a couple of weeks to reach maturity (think that's about right from memory?), it'll be 3 weeks minimum before any viable mating could be achieved here. Don't think I'll be attempting any queen rearing until early / mid May at current rate
Wish I was!He's not in Australia!
I knocked a couple down last week but obviously missed one as there was a sealed cell this week. Agree it would have been better to put them off a bit longer but felt I had no choice after finding that. In my experience they don't hang around long after.I would not bank on it over here with the dreadful weather we have had ... it's barely out of single figures and the rain is almost constant. I'm in the far South of the UK in a very mild microclimate and even down here there's no sign of any drones. If there really are swarm cells and the split was necessary I'd be forking out £40 for an imported queen from BMH or BS Bees ... better safe than waiting in hope - at least then you have some chance of a crop from the split.
Personally, I would want to be absolutely certain they were definitely swarm cells and not just the bees playing - ie: eggs and/or jelly in them. If they were swarm cells at this time of the year I'd have knocked them down to buy a week or two until the spring really arrives.
I had a feeling it might beThanks Swarm, that's me!
I didn't want to spam the forum with my videos on the first post. Not sure on the etiquette. Thanks for watching!
So correct me if I'm wrong, you've moved the queen and a frame of BIAS plus a few super frames of bees into a full box of foundation (Well not quite full - you've left a space at the end of the frames that they will probably have fun with) and a super with just one frame of stores on top ? You are hoping that the flying bees will return to this new box ? Assuming they can fly with the weather we've had ... if they can't you might have a problem. Not enough bees, too much space, small amount of stores and cold weather - not a great combination. Good luck, let us know how you get on.Thanks Swarm, that's me!
I didn't want to spam the forum with my videos on the first post. Not sure on the etiquette. Thanks for watching!
I hope you gave him a jar of honeyNot quite in the apiary but I dropped off honey to a local shop and didn't pay for parking. I was only a couple of minutes but a warden was checking my car when I returned. I see you're a beekeeper, he said. (I had my B car.) We had an interesting chat. He's from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (I didn't ask until it felt safe to do so) and has 50 hives there on his father's farm The climate is warm and wet so the bees can forage more or less continuously. Varroa treatment is icing sugar. The resulting grooming keeps the mite population down. He said they do get brood breaks. Although they can't keep up with demand for honey, island life means that everything is very expensive. Hives they make themselves, but they don't have the tools for frame making. Seeing the long lugs of my frames he politely indicated that National hives were a complex way of solving a simple problem. Their volcano erupted a couple of years ago but the bees survived the hives being covered in ash. They did not survive a man made disaster though when a plane dosed the area in pesticide. We exchanged phone numbers.
I didn't but don't think I haven't thought of that since! I keep a jar or two in the car for times like this but, as happens so often, the thought comes too late.I hope you gave him a jar of honey![]()
Until the weather improves I would have been inclined to carry out a vertical split dividing them , give the top BB a new entrance over a QX and with the inclement weather they could then align themselves at will to each BB.I knocked a couple down last week but obviously missed one as there was a sealed cell this week. Agree it would have been better to put them off a bit longer but felt I had no choice after finding that. In my experience they don't hang around long after.
Precisely ... Answers Post #38969 above .... Two very good options that would have limited the risk and if the weather did show promise there are the further options available. Unfortunately, this situation arose because of the often seen malady in beekeeping - the 'OMG they have done something I must act NOW' syndrome. Whilst swarm cells do need a reaction a few hours thinking about what all the options are and planning the best course are rarely going to be wasted.Until the weather improves I would have been inclined to carry out a vertical split dividing them , give the top BB a new entrance over a QX and with the inclement weather they could then align themselves at will to each BB.
A poly nuc for the Q until she and her bees increase another option.
Clipping can alleviate losing a swarm.
Issue now with the less then ideal foraging weather is two weakened colonies, one will be devoid of most flying bees in the next day or two and the Q in a cold empty BB with no or little drawn comb. I would have been inclined to give the Q a couple combs of sealed emerging brood to keep her going in 6f Nuc rather then a full BB.
So…..just be glad you woke up
Its sometimes nearly May before I get into my hives out here. Your picture reminds me that years ago when I kept bees in Essex some years we used to have a quick blast of snow for easter day, the fields around looked just like that. Easter can fall anywhere from 4th April to 8th May depending on the year, always the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon and it is earlyish this year.
Oh my goodness ... we had torrential rain overnight and the wind was very strong but that front that came through obviously dropped a load in the West before it arrived with us ... We are not out of the woods yet.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sure I have overreacted after failing to prevent a number of swarms last year.Until the weather improves I would have been inclined to carry out a vertical split dividing them , give the top BB a new entrance over a QX and with the inclement weather they could then align themselves at will to each BB.
A poly nuc for the Q until she and her bees increase another option.
Clipping can alleviate losing a swarm.
Issue now with the less then ideal foraging weather is two weakened colonies, one will be devoid of most flying bees in the next day or two and the Q in a cold empty BB with no or little drawn comb. I would have been inclined to give the Q a couple combs of sealed emerging brood to keep her going in 6f Nuc rather then a full BB.
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