All frames drawn and covered in bees – needs full size hive!
Plenty of stores in brood
Saw eggs, larvae and capped brood
Found Queen and marked her with blue dot – she was huge, no missing her
Which Queen was it I wonder? Probably the one from Pete’s hive on 13th April 2014
Note: This Queen was born in April/May 2014
17th May 2014
Sunny, 18C
No eggs, no Queen (that I could see)
I think cold weather of the last 6 weeks has stopped queen mating
3 frames of bees
1/2 frame of stores
Placed frame with Queen cell from Hive 2 into this hive. This should hatch about 25th May
A high pitched squeal (“piping”?) came from the hive as soon as I put the frame with the queen swarm cell in. Does this mean there is a queen in the hive? Or was it because of a few foreign bees on the frame getting into a fight?
Fed 500g of sugar, plus observed lots of bees and bringing in pollen
Not sure if bees getting to sugar syrup
13th April 2014
16C, sunny
Took empty polystyrene nuc and added two frames of house bees with about 2 capped swarm cells from Pete’s hive
Added four other frames some with stores
Fed with 500ml thin sugar syrup
Timescales. Queen will hatch in less than 6 days (19th April) and has up to three weeks to mate and start laying (by 10th May at the latest). Need 16C during this time for mating flights. First new brood hatching by 31st May. Hopefully plenty of bees for July nectar flow
Did not cull any Queen cells as no time and do not expect so few bees to swarm with a new Queen
Plan: inspect on about 10th May for eggs and mark Queen
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