What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Cuckmere couple]

eggs in brace comb...how could i...enroute with foundation....

 

[Sutty]

eggs in brace comb...how could i...enroute with foundation....

Sounds like nest expansion has got ahead of you!

 

[Anduril]

Is the process the same if adding a virgin queen. I have a very unpleasant hive which needs re-queening. I was under the impression, they needed to be made hopelessly queenless prior to introduction of the new queen. Thanks

If the hive is hopelessly queenless, then a virgin can be run straight into the hive, but you could introduce the virgin in a cage with tabs open and no candy to stop her flying off when you introduce her. Mated queens are more readily accepted than a virgin this way (direct introduction, no cage), it's the risk you take.

 

[Richard]

Collected my first swarm.

From from my neighbours garden! I was in my garden and heard them arrive. They bivouaced near the top of a large magnolia bush few meters up.

If I'd left them, they may have hopped over the fence into my bait hive but I had time to collect so didn't risk them going elsewhere.

Saw the queen as they went into the hive, she looks like she might be mated but not marked (to my inexperienced eye), so not sure if it is a prime or cast.

 

[Sutty]

Collected my first swarm.

From from my neighbours garden! I was in my garden and heard them arrive. They bivouaced near the top of a large magnolia bush few meters up.

If I'd left them, they may have hopped over the fence into my bait hive but I had time to collect so didn't risk them going elsewhere.

Saw the queen as they went into the hive, she looks like she might be mated but not marked (to my inexperienced eye), so not sure if it is a prime or cast.

Congratulations!
Do you have other colonies or is this your first?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Sounds like nest expansion has got ahead of you!

foundation in middle of nest and super on

double brood next when i get to it

 

[Richard]

Congratulations!
Do you have other colonies or is this your first?

This is my 2nd. 1st decided to move in to my bait hive in May. This is my 1st season though.

 

[Just Steve]

This is my 2nd. 1st decided to move in to my bait hive in May. This is my 1st season though.

That's a great start for you. 2 colonies without buying them. Gives you more money to spend on your equipment.

 

[Paul_Ward1]

If the hive is hopelessly queenless, then a virgin can be run straight into the hive, but you could introduce the virgin in a cage with tabs open and no candy to stop her flying off when you introduce her. Mated queens are more readily accepted than a virgin this way (direct introduction, no cage), it's the risk you take.

Thanks. If the hive is still queen right, can I ‘off’ the old queen and introduce the virgin in a cage with the tab closed then a couple of days later, open the tab for the bees to chew our the candy. Would that work?

 

[Anduril]

Thanks. If the hive is still queen right, can I ‘off’ the old queen and introduce the virgin in a cage with the tab closed then a couple of days later, open the tab for the bees to chew our the candy. Would that work?

You would have to check for queen cells before releasing the virgin.

 

[Murox]

Spent a cold windy afternoon going through hives, 3 colonies still waiting for a successful mating, probably have missed the chance now. Another week and I might have to start combining. No honey and little nectar, just 15 degrees and zero sun. It's a hard year for bees.

 

[gwt_uk]

Inspected 2 colonies this evening whilst still very warm. All looking ok. Fresh nectar in coming into the supers and a lot of pollen coming in.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

using it to make increase having a flighty VQ wandering around in the top, inspections have the extra danger of her dropping into the bottom box while the colony is apart. While you are rotating frames between the 2 brood boxes. And killing your strong proven queen. Or maybe I worry too much.

you 'worry' far too much, I've done it often (sometimes unintentionally) and never had an issue

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks. If the hive is still queen right, can I ‘off’ the old queen and introduce the virgin in a cage with the tab closed then a couple of days later, open the tab for the bees to chew our the candy. Would that work?

sounds like a plan, introduce the new queen immediately on despatching the old, break the tab off 24 hours later

 

[Newbeeneil]

Spotted early signs of CBPV in one hive today. Moved the colony onto a new stand, put my “funnel “ floor on it and put the brood box on top. Fingers crossed I’ve caught it in time and they pull through.

 

[madasafish]

Extracted spring honey yesterday.
With 25% more colonies than last year, 3 weeks later and roughly half last year's yield of 140 lbs.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Catching queens today...128 mating nucs. I have three beekeepers visiting from England along with us.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I have read people have had some success requeening by simply adding a protected QC to a hive, if successful presumably they either fight it out or the bees get rid of the old queen like a supersedure.
Could be an option for a nasty hive if you have spare QCs.

It's something I've been trying and it's too soon to evaluate. It's meant to work as 'assisted' or 'enforced' supersedure, and apparently does sometimes. On one recent occasion, I seem to have lost both the resident queen and the new one from the cell.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Spotted early signs of CBPV in one hive today. Moved the colony onto a new stand, put my “funnel “ floor on it and put the brood box on top. Fingers crossed I’ve caught it in time and they pull through.

All the best. I'm always keeping a lookout. Not seen this year so far.

Which symptoms did you see?

 

[gregior]

Had a quick look in a few of mine today,bit too hot to be doing anything too energetic. Bees are all now super calm due to the monster nectar flow that's on, supers filling up fast! Waiting on around 15 virgins to get mated and if they don't manage it this week i'm not going to be happy, absolutely perfect mating conditions.