Winter Pre enquiry

[jenkinsbrynmair]

couldn't the wax capping's all so be from stores being uncapped how could you tell the differents?.

Colour

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fresh wax caps are pale. Brood caps are darker though old stores can be a bit darker as well

 

[SWEET]

Seems they lived through that nasty BEAST and -8 temps , will be looking to add the QE end of the month all being well , i'll keep this thread updated .

 

[Poly Hive]

Error

PH

 

[Millet]

Seems they lived through that nasty BEAST and -8 temps , will be looking to add the QE end of the month all being well , i'll keep this thread updated .

You don't want to be putting the excluder on till the bees have built up and you have a nectar flow on which requires adding supers that is when the excluder goes on above the brood box/box's and below the super, in my neck of the woods i will not be thinking about Queen excluders till the end of April or even mid May, that is if i use them at all..

 

[SWEET]

Thanks , but have you read the thread?

 

[Hivemaker.]

in my neck of the woods i will not be thinking about Queen excluders till the end of April or even mid May, that is if i use them at all..

Depending on the season, but on average the supers go on at the start of April here, sometimes during March on some if taken to OSR.

 

[Millet]

Depending on the season, but on average the supers go on at the start of April here, sometimes during March on some if taken to OSR.

Blooming heck that's early it is still fairly cold in April in this neck of the woods, mine are just starting on the willow pollen around the beginning of April.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Blooming heck that's early

I know your further north but it looks like about the same time as in Yorkshire... but there are so many different micro climates which also makes a difference.

 

[Poly Hive]

I have seen bees flying and 50 yds away not flying, that is how fine the cut is with our climates.

I advise up here that to super with less than 8 frames of brood holds the colony back.

PH

 

[Millet]

I have seen bees flying and 50 yds away not flying, that is how fine the cut is with our climates.

I advise up here that to super with less than 8 frames of brood holds the colony back.

PH

Is that Brood capped brood or emerged brood covering 9/10 seams ..?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is that Brood capped brood or emerged brood covering 9/10 seams ..?

It’s brood in all stages largely covering 16 sides though I usually super at 14 sides

 

[Millet]

It’s brood in all stages largely covering 16 sides though I usually super at 14 sides

That sounds nearly understandable in this thick heed ..thank you..

 

[SWEET]

Just to re-cap ( no pun ) , i have a super of stores sitting on the BB , i removed the QE before the winter giving the bees ( + queen ) access to the extra stores.

The plan to is add the QE end of this month/early April so the queen starts filling the BB and at some point i can remove the super ( after ending brood has hatched etc ) that might be super frames .

This is all covered in the first few pages , thanks.

I might do it differently next winter depending on how this all fairs.

 

[Millet]

Just to re-cap ( no pun ) , i have a super of stores sitting on the BB , i removed the QE before the winter giving the bees ( + queen ) access to the extra stores.

The plan to is add the QE end of this month/early April so the queen starts filling the BB and at some point i can remove the super ( after ending brood has hatched etc ) that might be super frames .

This is all covered in the first few pages , thanks.

I might do it differently next winter depending on how this all fairs.

I am in a similar situation but the super i have above was full of brood last year so i left it where it was,when the weather warms up at the back end of April beginning of May i will give them another brood box if required and put the Excluder under the super to bleed all the brood out and stop the Queen from laying in there.

 

[Swarm]

Is that Brood capped brood or emerged brood covering 9/10 seams ..?

I wouldn't be so absolute tbh, like all things beekeeping it depends on conditions. With a decent flow you may well see them preparing to swarm before reaching eight frames BIAS. Best to judge conditions and super accordingly.

 

[Poly Hive]

It's BIA.

Yet to see a colony on a double brood offer to swarm on 8 frames of brood but LOL never say never. More usually 18 frames.
PH

 

[Swarm]

It's BIA.

Yet to see a colony on a double brood offer to swarm on 8 frames of brood but LOL never say never. More usually 18 frames.
PH

Oh, so it's a double brood now? Drip feeding info

 

[Millet]

I wouldn't be so absolute tbh, like all things beekeeping it depends on conditions. With a decent flow you may well see them preparing to swarm before reaching eight frames BIAS. Best to judge conditions and super accordingly.

Thank you for that Steve, i will be keeping a close eye on them when they start building up, they are different to the bees i started with, two of the hives have Buckies in them given to me by BF one is a F2 Queen the other a F1 Queen and the bees they came from are on double brood boxes jam packed with bees and five supers when i seen them last year, so it will be another learning curve for me..

PH.. if you are on about me it is brood + half through a mistake by me, i put a frame of eggs from BF into my second laying worker colony which the bees made one Queen cell from, after several weeks of not seeing any egg's or brood after the Queen emerged i presumed the Virgin Queen had yet again been killed by Swallows on her mating flight, so i shook the lot out to free the brood box up, i left the bees with a shallow to get back into as i felt guilty leaving them homeless even though they where pure evil, luckily i did that as i had shook my first ever mated Queen out onto the ground with all the other bees, God must have been looking down on me as the Queen managed to get back in the super that i had left for the bees and i spotted worker brood in there a couple of weeks later, then another week later i spotted i nice fat F1 bucky Queen which i marked and gave a brood box under the super, so they you go hopefully i do not need to explain myself anymore..

Sorry by the way DABOSS for half Hijacking your thread ..

 

[SWEET]

It's cool and more interesting info to read.

Anyway , quick one please -

When slipping the QE back on the BB what is the best ( kindest/safest ) way of moving her to the BB if she is indeed sat on the super frames .

Thanks