Today, as promised, Greg and I visited the apiary to check on our queenless situation. We inspected the nuc first and were essentially checking that there were enough bees in there to keep it warm and populate it with stores. We also wanted to check that the queen cell was being looked after. I am pleased to report that all was present and correct.
Nuc
Weak strength
Quiet temperament
1 brood box - 5 frames
No queen, 1 queen cell
2 frames of brood (Capped & uncapped brood, no eggs)
Mostly uniform laying pattern
3 frames of bees
2 frames of stores
2 frames of brood
2 foundation frames
No signs of disease
No need to feed as sugar syrup was still there
Actions taken = check on queen cell and colony in approx 4 days.
We checked on Kate next, who was better behaved than last time we went in (probably as we didn't have to shake them off their frames this time!) and did a quick general inspection to see how things were progressing. The answer is well. All seemed present and correct and again, we'll check on the queen cell at the weekend.
Kate
Weak-moderate strength
Disturbed temperament
1 brood box - 11 frames
No queen
1 queen cell and 2 queen cups (which we got rid of - the difference between a queen cell and a queen cup is whether it has an egg or larvae inside)
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 a bit as we're planning on going back fairly soon
Actions taken = fed the bees, removed queen cups and checked on queen cell.
Here is the feeder, you fill with sugar syrup. Here are the bees feeding. The plastic cap is designed to keep the bees down in the hive. They can come up to feed on the sugar syrup but this way aren't likely to drown in it.
Finally, we took the opportunity to inspect Laura, although we were confident there was no need, it seemed like a good idea to keep our hand in as we were there anyway. Again, no issues and Laura is laying really well!
Laura
Strong strength
Calm temperament
1.5 brood box - 11 + 11 frames
Saw the queen who seemed healthy and busy
One or two queen cups (no larvae inside)
6 frames of brood (Eggs + capped brood + uncapped brood)
10 frames of bees
4 frames of stores
1 foundation frames (beginning to be drawn. This is when the bees start to build upon the foundations ready to create cells to put stores or brood in)
Uniform laying pattern
Potential wax moth? TBC
Feeding well (almost all the food since Monday! Hungry, hungry bees!) We decided not to feed them as they had plenty of stores and we want to encourage them out and onto the surrounding fields.
We decided not to check the under super this time as it has only been three days but we will check this at the weekend.
Actions taken = N/A
Pretty pleased with our mid-week check-up. Hopefully at the weekend one or both of our queen cells may have hatched, in which case we'll leave that colony for two weeks for the queen to mate and start laying undisturbed. It also looks like around that time both hives will start hatching out new brood, especially Laura who is nearly bursting at the seams!
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