Hello everyone, sorry that this week's post is a bit late. What with the busy bank holiday seeing friends and arriving back from Devon after a week's holiday with family, things have been a bit of a rush. That being said, we went to do an inspection of the bees as soon as we came back, joined by my brother Adam, as we wanted to check on the girls and in particular the nuc.
As we arrived we noticed that the wasp traps seem to be doing a good job. I emptied out our current ones and repurposed them for a second attempt. See the video below to see the bees 'balling' a wasp. (Balling is when the bees mob a wasp and raise their internal body temperatures to effectively boil the wasp in its own juices with their bodies.)
FeeBee
Weak strength
Quiet temperament
1 brood box - 6 frames
3 frames of bees
2 frames of brood (all stages - drones - drone laying queen?)
2 frames of stores
2 foundation frames
Actions Taken: There were lots of dead bees inside, at the bottom and at the entrance (see below left) which is obviously a bad sign. Furthermore, we think that FeeBee is a drone laying queen (see below right) and as a result, its days are numbered ... in its current state it certainly won't survive the winter as there are too few bees to keep themselves warm, even if we halve the nuc box.
We now feel that having tried our best to help it survive over this summer and into the winter there's nothing more we can do. The nuc has ultimately done it's job in helping us to requeen Kate and ensure we have two queenright colonies for next year and therefore can be counted as a success.
Kate
Moderate strength
Annoyed temperament
1 brood box - 11 frames
9 frames of bees
6 frames of brood (all stages)
1 frames of stores
4 foundation frames
Actions Taken: Kate definitely needed feeding and was in the process of kicking out drones, an event which we witnessed during the inspection. There were also a couple of uncharged queen cups but nothing to worry about.
We noticed that the bees in both Kate and Laura were more irritable and agitated than normal which could be as a result of the Apiguard treatment we have administered. While it's not toxic for the bees it is unpleasant for them to be around (think living with a constant smell of wet dog or sweaty socks) which is why they try to get it out of the hive. See last weeks post for a more in depth description of how Apiguard works.
Laura
Strong strength
Annoyed temperament
1.5 brood box - 11 + 11 frames
22 frames of bees
12 frames of brood (all stages)
4 frames of stores
6 foundation frames
Actions Taken: Laura had really cracked on with getting rid of the Apiguard, which is great news, and she'll soon need her second dose. Laura also really needed feeding and again there were some uncharged queen cups.
Both hives probably need feeding as a result of the apauling weather and storms we've had of late. Bees, like humans, don't like going out in the wet and cold to do their food shopping and so will have prefered to use up the stores they have in, rather than going out to collect more.
As the season is coming to a close, there is also less pollen and nectar available as flowers are dying off and begining to close, meaning it is more difficult for the bees to create stores of honey for winter. This week we have fed the bees bakers fondent (see below) to keep them going but we are going to look into rapidly feeding them a thick sugar syrup to build up their stores for winter. Unfortunately, we can't do this while we're using the Apiguard so we'll have to wait until that has finished but that is our agenda for the next month or so. (See video below for cute footage of them lapping up the sugary goodness!)
Last but not least, we recently conducted a poll on our instagram page to see what you would like to hear about next and overwintering was one of the most popular topics. Be sure to check back here for more information on this over the next couple of weeks as we begin to prepare the colonies for winter.
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