Ouch!

I went back to the bees on Saturday on what I thought was a pretty perfect spring day for an inspection.  I went around about 11.30 am, it was sunny, warm(ish) and not particularly windy. There were a lot of bees flying around the entrance and out foraging in two of the three hives. I thought it would be lovely

I decided to go through Hive 3 first as this was the 'quietest' of the hives on my arrival.  They didn't seen too problematic but once I got into the brood box they started being defensive - trying (and succeeding on a couple of occasions) to sting me.  I just about managed to determine there were 4 frames of brood on the deep but I closed up pretty quickly once I found that out.

I then went into Hive 1.  I was planning on introducing a couple of queen excluders in this hive in order to isolate the queen (with luck in a brood box). These bees were not impressed with me but I managed to get the excluders on - but I had to beat a temporary retreat mid inspection.  Maybe it was the alarm pheromone on my suit that they sensed but I got out as quickly as I could - picking up a couple more stings!

Quite why I opened the hive, Hive 2, I'm not too sure! They were just as cross and not too keen on my presence.  But my objective was to put on a super I had brought from home.  The previous week this hive was looking like the bees were starting to quickly fill the supers so I was planning on providing more space. I had thought about checking the brood boxes to see if the queen had started on the second layer - I never even started that!

So what is to be learned?  I'm not sure.  I suspect the alarm pheromone set them off.  But why on such a nice day did they get so cross in the first place?  I will have to do a bit of research.  My experience has usually been that they are fairly calm and quiet in the spring on fine days!

Memorial Day Holiday Inspections

It's a holiday weekend and so an ideal opportunity to get into the beeyard.  Of course it's raining as I write this so I'm pleased I finished what I needed to do this morning!

It was a mixed bag; good things and bad things happening but overall progress has been positive!  I started at the Gardens yesterday and finished in Ladue today. I think I have worked out an efficient system for inspecting my yards, at long last!

Mobot Hives:

Established Hive: this continues to go well. There's a good laying pattern and no Queen Cells in the hive. I also saw the Queen which is always nice. This hive looks in good shape! There was some brood in the supers, but not much! I'll need to keep an eye on that! 

Queen Bee at the Botanical Gardens.

Swarm Hive: I found quite a lot of eggs and brood in the supers which is a nuisance! However, the good news is that this at least means there is a Queen present!  And a good one judging from the laying pattern and quantity of new brood! 

In order to address this I moved the supers containing the brood to the top of the stack. the hope is that these clear and get filled with nectar and not refilled with brood. But its good to be prepared so I may need to put an excluder on; maybe on Monday.

New brood in a super!

Next inspection May 31.

Home Hives:

Home Hives.

Nuc: Did not take! Disappointing but no great loss!

Single Deep: This is looking good! Theres plenty of new brood and I saw a new Queen. I thought I took a photo of her but I missed!  Still, you can see the good young brood and larvae. I added a second deep and I hope to build this up over the testing the spring.

Larvae in the Single Deep.

I thought I had a photo of the Queen!

Main Home Hive:  This is Queenless and that's very disappointing. But as there is no Queen the supers continue to fill. So that is one good thing!  Interestingly there were a lot if empty supersedure cells in the hive on at least 2 frames.  I suppose this could mean the hive may have swarmed but I'm not convinced. I need to research this further. 

Empty Supersedure Cells

So what action did I take?  I took two frames of eggs/larvae/brood from Diane's hive and slotted them in the top deep. I'll look in the hive in a week to see if Queen Cells are being prepared. If not I may have to buy a Queen. I may also have to move a couple of the full supers to the new adjacent hive as the stack is becoming to heavy and high to manage!

Next inspection June 1.

Diane's Hive: 

Another hive doing well!  There's a lot of brood and I saw the Queen (she's marked so one from last season). As I mentioned above I took 2 frames of eggs/larvae/brood from the hive and slotted them into the main hive at home. There's some space in the supers still but I'll need to check these in a week or so!

Next inspection June 1.

Ladue Hive:

I should have expected this; by now it was getting overcast and it started to look like rain.  Yes, these girls weren't too happy to be disturbed and got a bit nasty; I got stung 4 times on my right wrist and arm!

So they're strong! And I found brood in the hive! This was Queenless a few weeks ago so I'm happy they should now be OK. There's lots of nectar in the hive too. I hope with a Queen now in residence they will move this up into the supers to make some room for brood. One old super is full and the shallows are filling.

I cleared the yard with my brush cutter to make it easier to move around, and I now need to think about starting some new hives.  Nucs would be good! I also need to "de-propolise" the hive! It's so sticky and hard to work.

Next inspection June 2.