31/05/04

Hive L: The queen must have hatched because there were signs of other queen cells having been broken down and the larvae having been stung. Four full and capped super frames were removed, extracted and replaced. Another super of empty frames was added.

Hive R: Two more undrawn frames were added to the brood chamber of Hive R and a few queen cups destroyed. Four very full super frames were removed, extracted and replaced. The queen was found and marked with a yellow pen. She is surprisingly small and black.

Hive W: Opening this hive showed that one of the hatched queens must have produced the swarm on the 25th. Another box was placed on top of the super with a queen excluder and newspaper between and the contents of the nucleus box placed in it. Despite the fact that this colony had swarmed, it was collecting nectar well and the super was nearly full.

These eight frames produced over 30 lbs (13.6 kg) of a pale coloured honey. Hive W has one super, Hive R has three and Hive L has two.

25/05/04

Another swarm! This one settle about 5 metres from the hives at head-height. Collected it and put it in a standard nucleus box, placed midway between hives R & W, with two undrawn frames and two super frames as a temporary measure. A quick inspection of hives L & R indicated that it was not these that had swarmed.

23/05/04

Hive L: has four capped queen cells (two on each of two frames) and the bees seem agitated. Maybe the clipped queen didn’t make it back after her excursion on the 19th. Removed outer two brood frames (all honey stores) and placed in freezer for autumn feeding. Replaced with frames of foundation placed near centre of brood. Removed two queen cells (one from each frame) and placed frames on either side of new foundation. Hopefully this colony will not swarm but instead the remaining two queens battle it out. Super is about 75% full so another will have to be added in a few days time.

Hive R: the foundation is being built up with two frame containing eggs, larvae and capped queen cells! This colony really does want to swarm. About four queen cells were removed to try and prevent this artificial swarm from swarming again. Two good supers with some frames beginning to be capped. The third supper added only 4 days ago is filling up well.

Hive W: very quiet. The queen has emerged from the cell but could not be found. Replaced the spacer frame with a new frame of foundation. The super is filling well and may need a second very soon.

19/05/04

Hive L: swarmed. As the queen was clipped the swarm collected in nearby bushes and after a few hours returned to the original hive. Will they try again?

Hive R: Another super of eight frames (some part built-out foundation) added to Hive R.

16/05/04

Hive L: has one capped queen cell and a few uncapped cells. I found the queen and placed her in a matchbox. I considered removing her from the hive so that they wouldn’t swarm. I didn’t want an angry (queenless) colony so decided to clip her wings instead. The super is now being filled – perhaps 50%.

Hive R: The artificial swarm in Hive R is building up the foundation well so hopefully they are established. Many bees still cover the landing board during the day as if they want to swarm still. The second super is nearly full so another will be added in a few days.

Hive W: Moved this queenless hive to its new position about 2m to the right of Hive R. The colony has created another queen cell which I will leave. The original queen cell remained capped. The flying bees are still collecting nectar.

10/05/04

Hive R: Another attempt. This time she was found on the second run through. She is quite small and very similar in size & colour to the drones. She was put into the old hive position on a frame of brood (no queen cells) plus eight new frames of foundation and two blanking frames. In case this colony still had the urge to swarm (and steal the honey), they were given only one of the filled supers plus a super of empty frames. The second super will be put back at the end of the week.
I don't intend to re-queen Hive R this year.
The weather remained cool for another 3 days so should have quelled any remaining swarming urges.

Hive W: In the new hive (W), both of the capped queen cells were removed and all but one of the uncapped cells. (In retrospect I should have left all uncapped cells). A blanking frame was added in the eleventh position, the second of the supers placed on top and the hive closed up. It is placed 3 feet the left of Hive R and will be moved to its final position in 5 or 6 days.

09/05/04

Because of the weather and work, neither hive had been opened for two weeks!

Hive L: The colony is building up well but still very little nectar in the supers. Instead they are filling the outer reaches of the brood frames This must be a disadvantage of deep brood frames as there is more space to fill before moving up into the supers. The new brood frame of foundation is being built out well. Destroyed one queen cup – why are they thinking of swarming when they're not even putting nectar into the super yet?

Hive R: What a difference two weeks makes. The second super is two-thirds full. None of the frames in the first (top) super have been capped yet but they are quite full. There is lots of blossom this year and I don't think there is any oil seed rape within 1.5 miles. On inspecting the brood frame I found two capped queen cells, two uncapped cells and a couple of cups. If only there had been better weather last week. Time to create an artificial swarm using Ted Hooper's method. I went through all frames four times but could not find the queen. I will definitely mark her when I get an appropriate pen. As it was getting cold and the bees were stinging through my gloves it was time to give up.

03/05/04

Bank Holiday weekend and typical cold, wet weather. Conditions not good enough for an inspection even though it should be done weekly at this time of year. This is a problem for beekeepers that only have time for inspections at weekends.