Young Hive frame identification

[Erichalfbee]

Chelmsford Essex

Can you put that in your profile, please

 

[Xander]

Definitely worth joining the local BKA.
Today for instance I got an email from the WBKA offering nucs for £120, much less than the commercial suppliers.
There might even be a keeper looking to move on a swarm as it's been a busy year and I recon some people catch more than they really need or want.

 

[Sutty]

Definitely worth joining the local BKA.
Today for instance I got an email from the WBKA offering nucs for £120, much less than the commercial suppliers.
There might even be a keeper looking to move on a swarm as it's been a busy year and I recon some people catch more than they really need or want.

Exactly that - I'd have given you a nuc from a swarm for the cost of the frames and foundation - I have too many colonies!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Exactly that - I'd have given you a nuc from a swarm for the cost of the frames and foundation - I have too many colonies!

I’ve just got rid of 10 of my swarm nucs for just that - 5 made up frames.
I have orders for another 5 nucs but I’m waiting for the latest ones to produce brood that I can inspect.

 

[Luigi Munday]

Waste of money, Luigi.

Colony believes that it's queenright and will kill her. Read the link on laying workers at post 13.

If you bought a nuc from a local beekeeper (are you a member of Chelmsford BKA?) you could do this:

Remove the laying worker hive away from its spot.

Take the frames out of the LW colony and lean them somewhere, doesn't matter where. Shake out the bees from the box and re-assemble it on the original site. Shake all bees off 5 or 6 good stores frames and put them into the ends of the empty brood box.

Transfer the 5 or 6 queenright nuc frames into the centre of the brood box. Bang the rest of the nuc bees into the hive, and close up.

Shake all the remaining LW bees onto the ground in front of the hive.The LW bees will be glad to enter the new queenright colony and will bolster the expanding nuc.

Burn the surplus LW frames, which will hold drone brood mostly but also varroa mites (which prefer drone brood) so removing drone larvae will benefit the colony.

Thank you for this, theres a lot to learn!

 

[drex]

Eric's suggestion above is your best way ( only way really) forward. I was a member of Essex Bka until I moved a good bunch. In my day all beginners completing the course got a free nuc

 

[ericbeaumont]

they all look like drone cells

Here you go, Luigi: yesterday evening I found a colony with LWs which had been a strong split way back in May, in which the queen failed to mate & return.

Took the colony off it's stand, put it by the hedge, shook the floor clean and put it back, brought over a strong nuc (5m away) and put it into a new BB on the floor. The nuc frames are the centre 6, those covered in bees.

Because the LW colony was also strong and making honey, it was given the original BB on top and the heavyish super.

All done in about 20 minutes by 9pm (would have been 10mins, but had to fetch a BB from the car) and without drama. Notice that the LWs had attempted to make QCs, which I removed. The hairdryer hum of happiness was very loud and subsided after a few minutes.

 

[judy12]

That amounts to a masterclass, Eric. I'll print this with thanks. J

 

[Sutty]

With so many of their mates entering the hive all at once what stops the LWs just re-entering the hive, leaving you with the same situation as if you'd just united them?

 

[Erichalfbee]

With so many of their mates entering the hive all at once what stops the LWs just re-entering the hive, leaving you with the same situation as if you'd just united them?

They do go in. It’s just that they stop laying. Any eggs they do lay at first are eaten by the house bees.

 

[Sutty]

They do go in. It’s just that they stop laying. Any eggs they do lay at first are eaten by the house bees.

So what's different to a unite?

 

[Xander]

I shook out a colony which was originally adjacent <3ft to a nuc with a swarm in it.
I shook them out 20yards away. By the time I walked back to the hive stand there were loads of workers and drones trying to enter the nuc.
The following morning there was a large pile of dead bees and drones in front of the nuc.
I hived the nuc a couple of weeks later and all is well, no laying workers in there.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So what's different to a unite?

Simple unites often do work if the receiving colony is a strong one