So since our first inspection, the weather has been AWFUL, really windy and rainy, so we weren't able to go in and rectify our queenless situation as soon as we'd hoped. Greg was driving me crazy wanting to get back out there so I occupied him by getting him to make some firelighters for our smoker - we melted down an old candle and dipped cotton rounds into the wax. This enables the smoker to burn for longer so we can add small pieces of wood in there and there's less chance of it going out.
After a particularly trying day of Greg staring mournfully out of the window and sighing, I finally let him go out to put up a windbreak mesh around the apiary as the bees were having some trouble landing. Two hours later, a broken staple gun, two hundred cable ties and drenched to the bone they now have a windproof landing zone. They came out to inspect his work during a dry spell but mostly left him to it when the heavens decided to open again. There's a reason I consider this hobby fairweather but if Greg will insist on being an over-protective bee-dad then ...
Finally, today we managed to get in there. First, we decided to go in and see Kate or the lack of Kate really.
We went through and did a general inspection - still no queen or eggs but some larvae. We established where all the queen cells were and which were healthy and capped. We destroyed all but two, which were the best-looking ones (large, straight, undamaged protuberance pointing vertically down - see the bottom object opposite. Above that is some brace-comb), then transferred a frame with a queen cell, a frame with brood and a frame with stores into our nuc.
The aim of splitting the colony in this way is that the bees in the hive should attend and support the emerging queen who will then go out and mate in about two weeks time. The same should take place in the nuc. Once she is mated she should come back and start laying eggs and all should be hunky-dory in the now queenright colony. The reason we have the nuc is that all sorts of bad things can happen on her mating flight, for example, she might not be able to mate correctly or she may only be a drone laying queen both of which would be a problem so we have the nuc colony essentially as a spare in case this happens. Basically we'll see what happens in about two weeks' time and update from there.
Kate
Weak strength
Disturbed and disrupted temperament
1 brood box - 11 frames
No queen
Lots of queen cells and cups
4 frames of brood (Capped & uncapped brood, no eggs)
Mostly uniform laying pattern
Moderate population for size
7 frames of bees
5 frames of stores
4 frames of brood
2 foundation frames
No signs of disease
Feeding well, we needed to top this up.
Actions taken = added entrance reducer, fed the bees, removed extraneous queen cells & split the colony.
Laura
Moderate strength
Calm temperament
1.5 brood box - 11 + 11 frames
Saw the queen who seemed healthy and content (Greg says "Lovely, juicy")
One or two queen cups (no larvae inside)
5 frames of brood (Eggs + capped brood + uncapped brood)
8 frames of bees
4 frames of stores
3 foundation frames (two beginning to be drawn)
Uniform laying pattern
Good population for size
No signs of disease
Feeding well, we needed to top this up.
Action taken: Fed the bees and added an 'under super'. This is where you add a honey super beneath the brood box, without a queen excluder. This increases the number of cells that a queen can lay in and also gives them more space for stores in winter. This is mostly necessary 'oop north' as we have wetter and colder winters than those 'southern softies'! The reason we do this is to lift the brood up. This protects them from the wind and any moisture from the ground and encourages them to move through the super to get to the brood. The queen likes to winter near the top of the hive as heat rises and this is where she can keep toasty warm (32°C in winter, even when it is in the minus' outside!)
Just as we were tidying up and leaving Greg decided to pop back and put an entrance reducer on to Kate ... you guessed it without his gloves on. I did point this out to him ... "It'll be reet," says he. Moments later he is hopping about and legging it out of the apiary ... I was good ... I didn't tell him I told you so!
We've noticed a correlation. It seems to be that we get stung when we're tidying up and finishing off jobs, I think this is because we've dropped our guard. We've made a pact that we only do this once we are safely back at the car.
That being said, a guard bee followed us all the way back to the car. At first, it was bothering Greg and then somehow ended up in my hair again! "Please don't let it sting me!" I pleaded. Greg managed to get it out before it stung me and trapped it in a glove somehow while we got changed out of our bee suits. After, he released her on some clover and hot-footed it back into the car.
At the weekend we visited my parents for the first time since lockdown began (socially distancing of course!) and we both got out birthday presents. I got a bee necklace and earrings and Greg got some bee warning signs that we intend to display around the apiary as soon as possible; he also got an uncapping roller for when we eventually start extracting honey.
All in all, we're pleased with how we did today (despite that Greg getting stung!) Laura is progressing really well and was a pleasure to inspect. Kate is a little more tricky but we're glad of the experience. If we can overcome this queenless situation now it means that we won't be afraid of it in the future. We're planning on inspecting again on Wednesday, weather depending, to make sure the bees are looking after the queen cells in Kate and the nuc and make sure they've got enough food. My brother is coming to visit us this weekend and is keen to meet "the girls" so no doubt I'll update you then.
Bee safe! :)
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