Spruce's honey bees

trust you I will change to rotund

 

You're making it worse Spruce

 

The bees look in lovely condition Spruce and their terrain looks yummy too. Do you think you will have a good honey yield this year?
Jenny

 

I will have from two hives as they have filled already 5 supers the other 3 1/2 new hives are building up nicely to be full size hives for 2015 so I will leave what they make for themselves for winter feed.

I do have a problem I have lost the queen in one of the new hives she may have been caught by the swifts and swallows quite a lot where I keep them, she went out for her mating flights so I have a drone laying worker bee who thinks she is a queen , she can only lay drone (male) eggs so the colony is doomed but I have a cast swarm in my bait hive in the garden so I will mix them together using a sugar spray to mask the scent and they will be so busy cleaning they shoudnt notice they have a lot of new friends just arrived with a new queen, I still have time to build them up before winter but would of liked a bit longer...

Spruce

 

Could they attack the new Queen and kill her Spruce? If they didn't think she would fit in? Or will they mate with any old Queen....
Jenny

 

Hi Jen

Good question, she is already laying and mated so the two frames she is on with her own daughters will sort out any messing about (but they could) so I will transfer them in from the nuc to the main hive . If that makes sense if not re ask .

 

what's a nuc please?
Jenny
nb - Hive alive tomorrow night...

 

Nucs, or nucleus colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honey bees inside. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered around a queen the nucleus of the honey bee colony

 

thank you Spruce,
Jenny

 

and wasn't that program on BBC2 amazing , to capture the bees in mid flight especialy the queen and the drones

 

Hi All,

Been busy today two out of the 3 hives I have removed the suppers these are the parts that I collect , because it was cloudy and the end of the season for them not happy about me taking there hard earned rewards and they let me know it as well , quite a few stings in the process but I also needed to start the varroa treatment which takes 4 weeks , its a parasite that lives on the bee if it was you it would be like having a dinner plate attached and feeding off you not the other way around , I will take off the supers off the hive later in week hopefully more sunny !!!!

Spruce

 

What a great shot Armandii - and such detail - fascinating study,
Jenny