She should increase in size when she is laying well.
May your bees read the same books as you do.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
British Beekeepers Association Official Forum
What have you done today bee-related?
- General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
May your bees read the same books as you do.
Cheers Adam, much appreciated! 
will keep an eye on her.
Saturday I take off the plastic cap
Monday I check she's out the cage
The following Saturday I see if she's laying.
Oh man this is nervy!
Too late to say I have a push in cage just sat in the garage?
will keep an eye on her.Saturday I take off the plastic cap
Monday I check she's out the cage
The following Saturday I see if she's laying.
Oh man this is nervy!
Too late to say I have a push in cage just sat in the garage?
Jazz
Today my C Wynne Jones package arrived.
Plenty of 8oz jars with lids. A frame feeder and a crown board.
Oh, and also thymol crystals. I now know the unmistakable scent of thymol. Barf!
Plenty of 8oz jars with lids. A frame feeder and a crown board.
Oh, and also thymol crystals. I now know the unmistakable scent of thymol. Barf!
Jazz
Checked stores and varroa treatments on some hives yesterday. One nuc had tried to supercede a few weeks ago and I was hoping that a new queen would be laying. The amount of brood was reducing and there were a few drones in within the worker brood so it was apparent that she was not a good-un. However on opening up yesterday, there was an 'anxious buzz' from the colony which instantly concerned me and upon inspection there were two nice dimpled supercedure queencells in there and no eggs and small larvae - so the queen has probably gone. I moved one Q/C to a mini-nuc which has sealed brood in. But I wonder if it's too late for successful mating and I should cut my losses and unite or add my last young queen to the colony. As it is, the queens won't be ready for their mating flights until the middle of September. Here's hoping for an Indian Summer!
May your bees read the same books as you do.
Keep your fingers crossed Adam. I have a couple of supersedures where queens should have emerged about 10 days ago....we have had cool windy weather since, so not expecting them to do anything....but one hopes.
Brought most of my hives back from the moors. Heather is still out but too cold to yield so cutting losses. Been a poor heather crop.
Brought most of my hives back from the moors. Heather is still out but too cold to yield so cutting losses. Been a poor heather crop.
Hopefully it'll all turn out well Adam!
Shame about the heather Nigel, I hope it has still been worth the effort.
Tonight my wife and I topped up the feeders - the two nationals with 2 litre rapid feeders had completely emptied them since last night. The nuc gave it a good go but had some left. Still needed 1.5 litres top up.
I'm aiming for minimum 22 litres in both nationals, and 13 litres in the poly nuc.
Shame about the heather Nigel, I hope it has still been worth the effort.
Tonight my wife and I topped up the feeders - the two nationals with 2 litre rapid feeders had completely emptied them since last night. The nuc gave it a good go but had some left. Still needed 1.5 litres top up.
I'm aiming for minimum 22 litres in both nationals, and 13 litres in the poly nuc.
Jazz
Where are your queens going to lay your winter bees if the cells are all full of syrup?
It's a problem I get most years when I come back from the moors is the brood box is clogged with stores and the queens have no room to lay (this year excepted). Usually solved by adding a few empty brood frames or leaving an empty super on top and not feeding unless absolutely necessary.
Worth checking they have plenty of empty cells for for the queens to lay in....and perhaps hold back the syrup for a bit...You can get most of your winter feed into a hive in a fairly short time window. I usually start feeding after varroa treatments towards the end of this month.
But ignore anything I've said if they have no stores feed.......
It's a difficult balancing act managing hive resources.
It's a problem I get most years when I come back from the moors is the brood box is clogged with stores and the queens have no room to lay (this year excepted). Usually solved by adding a few empty brood frames or leaving an empty super on top and not feeding unless absolutely necessary.
Worth checking they have plenty of empty cells for for the queens to lay in....and perhaps hold back the syrup for a bit...You can get most of your winter feed into a hive in a fairly short time window. I usually start feeding after varroa treatments towards the end of this month.
But ignore anything I've said if they have no stores feed.......
It's a difficult balancing act managing hive resources.
Good point I'll back off a little with the feed. I've noticed that in my two identical Abelo poly national setups, the one I'm uniting the new queen with is lighter when hefting.
I think it's more a case of the lighter one is OK, but the the heavy one could be nearly clogged full of stores.
Will be doing a full inspection on Saturday, weather permitting.
I think it's more a case of the lighter one is OK, but the the heavy one could be nearly clogged full of stores.
Will be doing a full inspection on Saturday, weather permitting.
Jazz
The reason why going double brood or a brood box and super for winter is something to consider is that there is less of a balancing act with regard to stores. Giving enough room for the queen to lay - especially is it's a large colony - may result in insufficient stores. However with a single brood box, you can feed them so they are 'just full' in your view and then ivy flows in which in a good year can yield a super of honey with a strong colony for me. Without extra space the colony would definitely become over-full if there was just one brood box.
With double brood, the colony will have plenty of space and they will move downwards as nectar/syrup comes in. They will then work back upwards during winter and any excess stores can be removed in spring if you need.
With a super over the brood now, any excess stores beyond a brood-box full will go in the super as usual. Come the end of September (for me) the super goes underneath the brood box without a queen excluder, so you know you have enough food for winter in the hive. Come spring the super is usually empty and can be removed.
It's reasonable to believe that having a super over the brood box with a queen excluder in place is less likely to be a a problem with a poly hive - the worry with this 'more traditional' arrangement is that the bees move into the super to get fed and leave the queen behind in the cold. It's simply less-cold in a poly hive or one with insulation so a left-behind queen or isolation starvation is less likely.
For 14 x 12's, there should be enough space in the hive without a super as it's about the size of a brood and super in any case.
My view is that you should aim to have your stocks in a condition that you don't need to feed them candy over the winter at all.
With double brood, the colony will have plenty of space and they will move downwards as nectar/syrup comes in. They will then work back upwards during winter and any excess stores can be removed in spring if you need.
With a super over the brood now, any excess stores beyond a brood-box full will go in the super as usual. Come the end of September (for me) the super goes underneath the brood box without a queen excluder, so you know you have enough food for winter in the hive. Come spring the super is usually empty and can be removed.
It's reasonable to believe that having a super over the brood box with a queen excluder in place is less likely to be a a problem with a poly hive - the worry with this 'more traditional' arrangement is that the bees move into the super to get fed and leave the queen behind in the cold. It's simply less-cold in a poly hive or one with insulation so a left-behind queen or isolation starvation is less likely.
For 14 x 12's, there should be enough space in the hive without a super as it's about the size of a brood and super in any case.
My view is that you should aim to have your stocks in a condition that you don't need to feed them candy over the winter at all.
May your bees read the same books as you do.