Friday, May 26, 2017

End on May - Lovely Weather and an Almost Healthy Swarm

It's fantastic weather here today; about 25 C, a clear sky and breezy.  I went over to the bees just to have a look at what they were doing. I didn't intend to ruin their day by rummaging through their nests. Let them get on with it is my maxim - although that changed...

There was a lot of activity in the garden; bees busy charging in and out of the hives. I was just content to have a look from the outside, but after I got to chatting with Dave about the good weather and the prospect of good foraging prospects this weekend we decided to add a super to his hive. The single super he has there (HIVE 3) is already quite full and I suspect the bees would draw out some more foundation if it were added.  

As I carry my equipment in the car it is easy to get ready, although I was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Once I ad added the super I couldn't resist taking a quick look under the top covers of the other hives - a lot of bees inside and some heavy supers too. More supers will need to be added over the next week I think.

Some more thinking...

I was enjoying the weather so much I thought I'd take a look at the new swarm hive Dave caught just over a week ago.  This was very calm but devoid of any brood and eggs - Queenless!  However they were active and drawing out comb well.  They simply need some eggs.  After more discussions we decided to take them from the smaller of the two established hives I have (HIVE 2)  This has been the better tempered of my hives but has still been quite feisty at times. I donned an additional sweatshirt over my t-shirt, and got into the hive; after a lot of fuss and bother lighting the smoker - I really must get some better fuel. 

I was not really bombed by the bees, even after I shook them from the frames to check for eggs and larvae - quite a surprise. And although I didn't see any I'm hopeful I got some eggs.  I definitely got larvae in the frame so I know there's a resident Queen about in the donor hive. Once I selected the best frame I walked it around the corner to the new hive and popped it in.  I'll ask Dave to check in this hive in about a week, just to make sure there are queen cells being formed. If not it will be back to the donor for more frames.

So events do take over and ruin our plans - a bit.  I went just for a look and ended up doing some major manipulations - I love it.  But that should be it for the weekend. 

Spot the hives...

No comments:

Post a Comment