What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Swarm]

Checked a demarred colony that I closed the floor of 5 days ago and added a frame of eggs from a black queen, 4 queen cells being drawn very pleased.
Both entrances are facing the same way and existing queen is in the bottom with bees now covering 8/9frames.
Demaree was set up 10 days ago, manipulation performed when colony strength was 11 frames of majority capped brood and one super full of bees

Hopefully I’ve explained the above

Sounds nice, hope they all come good.
Just checked the incubator and found a new arrival

 

[Sutty]

Sounds nice, hope they all come good.
Just checked the incubator and found a new arrival

I have an incubator I have used for chicken eggs previously.
Do you provide the queens with attendants as soon as emerged?
I don't want to rearrange queens at the moment but have thought I could repurpose it...

 

[Fellstoflats]

I have had to give 2 queens 5 weeks before they started to lay. Bees are happy, test frame negative, she's in there somewhere. Even if not mated would lay unfertilised eggs

DOH! Why had that not occurred to me- what a Muppet!

 

[Swarm]

I have an incubator I have used for chicken eggs previously.
Do you provide the queens with attendants as soon as emerged?
I don't want to rearrange queens at the moment but have thought I could repurpose it...

They get a small amount of honey in the cap of the roller cage and a droplet or two of water. I don't add attendants unless I'm posting them, I tend to try and get them into their new homes the next day but if not for whatever reason, they can be banked in their cage with a colony and the bees will tend them.

 

[Nannysbees]

Fair enough- this is the first time I've had any real delayed layers. To be fair, the weather was atrocious when she would have been due to take her flights, so I'll give her that!

We have the same with one of ours, can't find a queen, no eggs but they fan like mad when we go in, was going to unite but worried there's a queen somewhere in there but can't spot her!!!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

no eggs but they fan like mad when we go in,

The times I’ve had bees fanning on the top bars when I had a look in they were queenless.

 

[Antipodes]

DOH! Why had that not occurred to me- what a Muppet!

Did you see the remnants of the queen cell that you'd left (now hopefully opened) when you were looking for brood and searching for the queen?

 

[Nannysbees]

The times I’ve had bees fanning on the top bars when I had a look in they were queenless.

Ah right, when do you make the call to know it's definitely queenless !!!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah right, when do you make the call to know it's definitely queenless !!!!

You just get a feel for it but I always put in a test frame

 

[Ely]

I did a unite last night. Why is it always windy when trying to do a unite? Newspaper just wouldn't stay put

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I did a unite last night. Why is it always windy when trying to do a unite? Newspaper just wouldn't stay put

It's not always the right thing to do but queen excluders are good for keeping newspaper in place.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I went in to the garage yesterday morning where I have mini-nucs in the dark. This is the first time I've put queen cells in at the same time as filling the boxes with bees. (Previously I'd put the cells in when I moved the nucs outside after three days.) So I wasn't prepared for all the piping I heard. At first I panicked thinking I'd put a queen in with a cupful of bees. It could have happened - I didn't take the queen out of the hive before shaking frames of bees into a plastic box.

The I realised that the emerged and yet to emerge virgins were tooting and quacking to each other in neighbouring boxes. And the presence of the queen in the donor hive last night confirmed that.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

A few colonies without supers have no stores at all. What they are collecting these days when it's not raining is going straight into brood. I'm minded to give them some sugar so they can build up a reserve. I have a feeling that those colonies that do have reserves (including in supers) are using them up.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's not always the right thing to do but queen excluders are good for keeping newspaper in place.

I always use a queen excluder between boxes in an unite, regardless of weather, it just ensures that the queen doesn't wander into the other 'territory' before the bees are properly settled with her.

 

[Do224]

A few colonies without supers have no stores at all. What they are collecting these days when it's not raining is going straight into brood. I'm minded to give them some sugar so they can build up a reserve. I have a feeling that those colonies that do have reserves (including in supers) are using them up.

I’ve just fed a colony like this. All 11 frames with brood on and pretty much no stores at all (although quite a bit of pollen). I gave them about 700ml of invert three days ago. It’s rained ever since. Not too sure what to do with them going forward…feels like a fine line between ensuring they don’t starve and not feeding too much and encouraging swarming. They’ve got an undrawn super on but haven’t touched it. Very light to heft.

This colony is made up of what was a weak colony and a decent nuc I combined it with. When I combined there were 11 frames of brood and since the intention was to keep them on single bb there was no space to give them any stores frames.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A few colonies without supers have no stores at all. What they are collecting these days when it's not raining is going straight into brood. I'm minded to give them some sugar so they can build up a reserve. I have a feeling that those colonies that do have reserves (including in supers) are using them up.

Yes it’s awful. I keep a good number of store frames in the freezer but I’m running out of those

 

[drex]

I’ve just fed a colony like this. All 11 frames with brood on and pretty much no stores at all (although quite a bit of pollen). I gave them about 700ml of invert three days ago. It’s rained ever since. Not too sure what to do with them going forward…feels like a fine line between ensuring they don’t starve and not feeding too much and encouraging swarming. They’ve got an undrawn super on but haven’t touched it. Very light to heft.

This colony is made up of what was a weak colony and a decent nuc I combined it with. When I combined there were 11 frames of brood and since the intention was to keep them on single bb there was no space to give them any stores frames.

Perhaps they are trying to tell you they need more space in the brood nest. I try to listen to my bees and let them guide me.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Perhaps they are trying to tell you they need more space in the brood nest. I try to listen to my bees and let them guide me.

So do I (try to listen to my bees) but these colonies are all on double brood and have plenty room. Perhaps I should have left some on single boxes but they have expanded well - just not been able to build up a reserve of stores. Hence no supers yet.

I changed from 12x14 to standard Nationals at the end of the 2022 season. So I've just had one season trying to get to grips with double brood management: whether to double or not, or to double with fat dummies and allow them to extend the nest vertically, or go the whole hog. Dan and Ken Basterfield's BeeCraft articles in 2022 were my starting point. Naturally there's a lot more to it than could ever be contained in a series of articles.

EDIT: just noticed that you were replying to @Do224. But I'll leave my post anyway.

 

[Do224]

Perhaps they are trying to tell you they need more space in the brood nest. I try to listen to my bees and let them guide me.

Yeah I was in two minds about putting them on double brood. But the only reason they have 11 frames of brood is because of the unite. So I thought I’d wait to see how they settle after some of the brood emerges. In the meantime I really don’t know whether to keep feeding them and how much. Hopefully they’ll be ok for a few days now they’ve had the invert and I can assess at the next inspection

 

[The Poot]

United a couple using newspaper.
Checked a split after 7 days - broke down 37 queen cells on the single frame of eggs and brood they were given and introduced a mated queen. The colony has three supers and despite being split is absolutely heaving with bees. I hope they accept their new queen!