Hive L: has got tetchy bees even though there is a good, strong queen. She was spotted on this inspection even though she has lost some of her yellow marking. Four frames of honey were removed.
Hive R: The amount of brood in Hive R has grown since last week. Some small queen caps were removed. The colony continues to thrive. Six frames of honey were removed.
Hive W: continues without any sign of a new queen. Two frames of brood (one each from Hives L & R) were added containing a good mix of larvae at different stages of development. If there is no queen, new queen cells should be created. Two frames of honey were removed.
35 lbs (16 kg) of a light-coloured honey (some late oil seed rape is still in flower) was removed from the 12 frames (•••).
Friday, June 25, 2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
19/06/04
Hive L: The new queen was found in Hive L. She is large and brown and was marked with a yellow pen.
Hive R: Yet more queen cells were removed from Hive R. The queen hasn't laid as many eggs as before and the brood is concentrated on 2-3 frames only. Perhaps the replacement cells are to supersede her rather than to prompt a swarm. I will check next week for more eggs and more queen cells.
Hive W: The queen could not be found in Hive W and there was no sign of any eggs. However the workers were placid as if the queen was present. Because of the absence of brood they were stocking up the deep brood frames well for the winter. Still only one super on top which is filling slowly.
This weekend was the start of a long period of cold and wet weather. Wimbledon fortnight was marked by excessive rainfall.
Hive R: Yet more queen cells were removed from Hive R. The queen hasn't laid as many eggs as before and the brood is concentrated on 2-3 frames only. Perhaps the replacement cells are to supersede her rather than to prompt a swarm. I will check next week for more eggs and more queen cells.
Hive W: The queen could not be found in Hive W and there was no sign of any eggs. However the workers were placid as if the queen was present. Because of the absence of brood they were stocking up the deep brood frames well for the winter. Still only one super on top which is filling slowly.
This weekend was the start of a long period of cold and wet weather. Wimbledon fortnight was marked by excessive rainfall.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
13/06/04
Hive L: The brood chamber was not disturbed this week it contains a new queen.
Hive R: More queen cells were removed from Hive R.
Hive W: The brood chamber was not disturbed this week it contains a new queen.
70 lbs (31 kg) of honey was removed from about 17 frames taken from the three hives (••). About 130 lbs have been taken so far. This last batch is setting quickly.
Hive R: More queen cells were removed from Hive R.
Hive W: The brood chamber was not disturbed this week it contains a new queen.
70 lbs (31 kg) of honey was removed from about 17 frames taken from the three hives (••). About 130 lbs have been taken so far. This last batch is setting quickly.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
06/06/04
Hive L: Two super frames were removed from Hive L and replaced with undrawn frames. The other super frames are almost filled but not yet capped.
Hive R: Two super frames were removed from Hive R and replaced with undrawn frames. The other super frames are almost filled but not yet capped. A close inspection of the brood chamber showed that there are still queen cups being built on one brood frame so they were removed.
Hive W was opened and the box with the captured swarm was smoked so that the workers would go down leaving queen above the excluder. The queen was found and removed and the extra box and queen excluder removed. Four super frames were removed and replaced with undrawn foundation.
These eight frames produced another 27 lbs (12 kg) of honey (•). Despite thinking earlier in the season that there was no oil seed rape within flying distance, a few late-sown fields came into flower. As it is near the end of the oilseed rape flowering, I will remove most frames next week even if not capped. The nearest oilseed rape field is about 1 mile away.
Hive R: Two super frames were removed from Hive R and replaced with undrawn frames. The other super frames are almost filled but not yet capped. A close inspection of the brood chamber showed that there are still queen cups being built on one brood frame so they were removed.
Hive W was opened and the box with the captured swarm was smoked so that the workers would go down leaving queen above the excluder. The queen was found and removed and the extra box and queen excluder removed. Four super frames were removed and replaced with undrawn foundation.
These eight frames produced another 27 lbs (12 kg) of honey (•). Despite thinking earlier in the season that there was no oil seed rape within flying distance, a few late-sown fields came into flower. As it is near the end of the oilseed rape flowering, I will remove most frames next week even if not capped. The nearest oilseed rape field is about 1 mile away.
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