Yeee haaa

[Frisbee]

am thinking I should book myself up a carpentry one.

I started making stuff for my chickens and I now have several coops, you can see the learning curve. Going to an all girls secondary modern doesn't prepare you for some things in life, but I've got there and can now knock out a respectable hive stand........

Frisbee

 

[VEG]

Had a look at my 2 new nucs today they are doing well managed to get the other queen marked as well. There will be a lot more bees in there the next time I look as loads of sealed brood.

 

[grizzly]

Veg is Hooked !!

 

[Jenxy]

My new bees were put into there new hive yesterday. Sadly I think the queen has dissapeared, she was nowhere to be seen, despite being marked last week. However, there are two queen cells, unsealed, on one of the frames, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well. They have been given a syrup feed, although there were some stores on the frames that went in, and there are two new frames of foundation in there... I suppose I just have to wait and see what happens next.
How often do you have a peek Veg?

 

[VEG]

I was hooked last year when i got my first hive.
I went today to top up the syrup feed. One queen was allready marked so i had a quick look and found the other so marked her.I will leave them now for at least another week unless the weather turns bad, then I may top up their feed again.
My other hive has just hatched a supercedure queen so I know how ya feel.

Edited by admin,reason: Swearing complaints.

 

[Eddie]

Why the swearing?

 

[jon]

Jenxy.
You said it was a small swarm.
A small swarm is usually a cast.
A cast usually has a virgin queen which had not mated yet.
Have the queen cells got Royal Jelly and larvae in them?
I would doubt it.
With a virgin queen, you have to leave it alone until it flies several times to get mated.
The bees can ball a queen if it is disturbed at the wrong time.
Did you notice if there was any brood?

 

[VEG]

My apologies if I offended anyone by using the other word for (urinating) down with rain

 

[Jenxy]

Jon, Yes royal jelly... can't see any brood... but I may be seeing it wrong. Have not had a chance to open up in two days... not getting home till 6.30 and the weather is really poor. Will do it tomorrow eve and see if I can see anything. So If queenie turns up, what should I do about the two cells? Should I just leave well alone?

 

[jon]

Check for brood, and check very carefully for a queen, although if you have a cell with royal jelly, I guess the queen must have been laying at some point.
What size is this colony. How many frames do the bees cover? Is it just 2-3?
The guy who marked your queen, did he clip it as well. If a queen is damaged the bees will supersede her by making supersedure cells. They will also supersede a failing queen.
If the queen has been killed they will try and make another queen from a young larva.
Don't do anything drastic. If in doubt seek help from someone with more experience. Removing the cells may be the right thing to do but more than likely it is better to leave them if the queen has disappeared.

 

[Jenxy]

The colony is quite small, it only covers 2-3 frames at most. The queen wasn't clipped when she was marked. I will have a good look for her the next chance I get and report back when I have.

 

[Jenxy]

OK, I did a real thorough inspection... though not too much to inspect I have to say.... No sign of queenie again, as there are so few bees, I would have spotted her. There is no brood at all, capped or otherwise.... quite a lot of stores, a small amount of pollen... and around five queen cells.... capped and a few beginnings of queen cells. They haven't started drawing out the two new frames of foundation that were put in there 5 days ago. I have to say, I am a little concerned. Is there anything I haven't done that I could be doing????
Veg, how are yours?

 

[hedgerow pete]

it sounds as if you have done every thing right jenxy but it sounds as if you have lost your queen was it a brought nuc or a swarm you could try to buy a new queen to head it up but is it worth it or ask who you got it from if they have a spare frame with a queen cell on it thats sealed for you to use

 

[MJBee]

You already have sealed queen cells - I would carefully cut out the smallest cell and open it to find out how old it is - check in your books for stages of queen development. You will then have a good idea of when your queens are due to emerge. In the meantime see if the person you got the bees from will swap an empty frame for a frame of sealed brood. This will boost your bee numbers. Your Nuc will need a lot of luck but should pull through if you can manage to resist the temptation to "have a sneaky peek"
Mike

 

[VEG]

I will inspect mine near 7/8th May to see if the queen has started to lay it will be a quick inspection. The other 2 nucs i have are doing very well drawing out comb and lots of sealed brood.

 

[jon]

I don't understand why it would have queen cells but no brood.
Open one and see if there is a larva in it. I would doubt it.

I suspect that you had a cast with a virgin queen and the bees rejected it when it was marked. Queens are marked after mating not before as a virgin queen is not as readily accepted by a colony as a mated queen.

Hard to say with certainty when you can't see into the colony.

Have you checked under the box. I has a queen which disappeared for a few weeks last year and then I found her under the OMF with about 10 combs.

 

[Jenxy]

There was larva in a few cells early last week... when I say a "few" I mean about 4 or 5 ish. These I think are what have been capped as queen cells, so I would be very reluctant to open one up to see if that's right... it would feel like a waste and not something I would want to try as a complete novice. I am picking up a frame of brood tomorrow, so if no queen emerges from these cells, I will get another chance in the coming weeks.
Yours sound like they are very strong Veg... I suppose that is the obvious benefit of having a strong nuc rather then a small swarm to start off a colony. Tho I have to say, it is quite nice for me as a beginner, to get to know the workings and ways of bees when there aren't too many to deal with.

 

[VEG]

best policy to start with a nuc as it can get intimidating sometimes when inspecting a full colony.

 

[MrTrueman]

best policy to start with a nuc as it can get intimidating sometimes when inspecting a full colony.

I couldn't agree more! I got my nuc a month ago and already the broad box is totally stacked out and quite intimidating for a newbie.

I think I can recognise the guard bees that want to get in my veil (the persistent ones that are flying/buzzing and generally head butting my veil).

Every time the hive gets bigger there seems to be more nutters!

I think now is the time to buy a full suit and keep the smock as a spare

 

[jon]

Jenxy.
Could you post a photo of a frame with those queen cells on it?