Our weekly inspection began as usual. We were wanting to check the nuc for queen cells in our final attempt to re-queen her. We wanted to see eggs in Kate, see and mark her and check if she was a drone laying queen. Lastly, we wanted to see how Laura was doing and how much brood and stores she had.
Nuc
Weak strength
Quiet temperament
1 brood box - 6 frames
4 frames of bees
1 frame of brood
3 frames of stores
2 foundation frames
4 queen cells
Actions Taken: Destroyed 2/4 of the queen cells in preparation for the colony to make a new queen hopefully next week. Unfortunately, the cells are not of different ages which, if they hatch at the same time, may cause them to fight and the queen that wins may be injured. This may hinder her ability to mate successfully and therefore be a productive queen. There's nothing we can do about it; we just have to wait and see. Next week's check will be to see if they have hatched. Lastly, in the nuc, we considered taking the last of the sugar water off but there was only a bit left so we left it for them to finish.
Before After
Kate
Weak strength
Good temperament (much calmer)
1 brood box - 6 frames (made it up to 9)
6 frames of bees
2 foundation frames
3 frames of brood (eggs and larvae)
4 frames of stores
Two queen cups (no larvae inside)
Actions Taken: There are lots of eggs which is great however we're still not sure if Kate is a drone laying queen as there was no capped brood to check. We also didn't see her so we were unable to mark her. That being said, the amount of eggs and brood is a really good sign and another step in us being able to chill out about her. The next step is to ensure she is strong enough to survive the winter. To this end, we moved the dummy boards to the end of the hive allowing more frames inside for brood and stores.
Laura
Strong strength
Calm temperament
1.5 brood box - 11 + 11 frames
Saw Laura (she's been busy - lots of eggs)
Two queen cups (no larvae inside)
18 frames of bees
9 frames of brood (all stages)
12 frames of stores
6 foundation frames in the super (some beginning to be drawn)
Actions Taken: N/A
As the season draws to a close our focus now moves from building up the colonies (and saving them from a queenless situation) to preparing them for overwintering. Let's see how it goes over the coming weeks. Watch this space.
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