- Joined
- May 18, 2013
- Messages
- 3,274
- Reaction score
- 30
- Location
- Traditional Surrey
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 10-20 depending
Team: a couple of questions - I have stumped myself.
Background:
Strongest colony, call it 1, is "Demareed" (in quotes because there are no supers, just fresh brood lifted above a QE - asking for trouble I suppose). Second strongest colony, 2, was a Q- (EQC/VQ) split where the VQ seemed to disappear after a couple of weeks (I saw her, then checked for brood 2 weeks later and no trace-awful weather). So gets a test frame (TF), obv., right?
Events:
Thursday 20May: lift 2 frames of young brood above the QE in 1 and take a third as TF to 2.
Sat 22May: (timings are forced by circumstance), EQCs starting to be drawn in 2. Leave them to it
Weds 26 May: In 2, two EQCs are capped. Left. 1 is HEAVING with QCs, especially the Demareed frames. Most but not all sealed. About 10 cells each, which sort of look like EQCs (including many that are properly stacked vertically) but some hang down. No sign of the OQ, and no eggs or larvae <4 days, that I could see. I took a small split and left 2 strong-looking (sealed) ones
The questions:
1) Did 1 swarm or did I kill the Q on 20May? What kind of PPB? More simply, how many EQCs are normal? I cannot believe I missed 20-odd swarm cells but maybe on day 1 they are hard to recognise. But are they likely to have made so many EQCs?
2) If 1 swarmed and the Demareed frames had day-1 swarm cells on them that I missed, what happens if you put a QC into a Q+ hive? Will they automatically swarm when they have sealed it? Is this a drawback of TFs? Never thought of that possible problem.
Ideas on a postcard please.
Background:
Strongest colony, call it 1, is "Demareed" (in quotes because there are no supers, just fresh brood lifted above a QE - asking for trouble I suppose). Second strongest colony, 2, was a Q- (EQC/VQ) split where the VQ seemed to disappear after a couple of weeks (I saw her, then checked for brood 2 weeks later and no trace-awful weather). So gets a test frame (TF), obv., right?
Events:
Thursday 20May: lift 2 frames of young brood above the QE in 1 and take a third as TF to 2.
Sat 22May: (timings are forced by circumstance), EQCs starting to be drawn in 2. Leave them to it
Weds 26 May: In 2, two EQCs are capped. Left. 1 is HEAVING with QCs, especially the Demareed frames. Most but not all sealed. About 10 cells each, which sort of look like EQCs (including many that are properly stacked vertically) but some hang down. No sign of the OQ, and no eggs or larvae <4 days, that I could see. I took a small split and left 2 strong-looking (sealed) ones
The questions:
1) Did 1 swarm or did I kill the Q on 20May? What kind of PPB? More simply, how many EQCs are normal? I cannot believe I missed 20-odd swarm cells but maybe on day 1 they are hard to recognise. But are they likely to have made so many EQCs?
2) If 1 swarmed and the Demareed frames had day-1 swarm cells on them that I missed, what happens if you put a QC into a Q+ hive? Will they automatically swarm when they have sealed it? Is this a drawback of TFs? Never thought of that possible problem.
Ideas on a postcard please.
