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  • What are your losses?

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #6207  by NigelP
 06 Apr 2020, 16:01
I have a queen that is on about 6 1/2 frames of brood laying like a train and they are trying to supercede her....not a drone cell in sight...never mind any mature drones....My only solution at present is to keep knocking queen cells down. These bees definitely don't know what's best for them as currently on a suicide mission.

Introduced queens often leads to acceptance of the queen and also the bees drawing queen cells. It happens too frequently for it to be co-incidence. I suspect it is an attempt by the bees to raise their "own" queen rather than be forced into accepting this new alien. I just knock them down and this tom foolery stops (usually) as soon as the new queens brood starts to emerge 3-4 weeks after introduction.
 #6218  by MickBBKA
 07 Apr 2020, 00:15
Lost about 20% as far as I can tell but still way too windy to inspect, my worst winter ever by a long way, never lost more than 5% in the past. 3 months of solid wind and rain has been hard which is what I was dreading. Do have some very strong colonies so they are the breeders. Bees need 2 weeks of fair weather but still going to have a killer easterly for some time yet. But I say the same thing every year and they usually come good. I suppose thats the advantage of locally adapted bees. :)
 #6221  by Steve 1972
 07 Apr 2020, 09:19
So far one failed colony out of eight..the said colony went into a national brood box around the back end of July from one of three Nucs I made with bought in Queens..the Queen was obviously not mated properly and the colony slowly failed..I opened the hive around one month ago as it was down to a cup full of bees..no brood or Queen present..the other seven are bursting with bees.
 #6222  by Japey Edge
 07 Apr 2020, 10:20
My three colonies - 2 x colonies housed in Abelo Poly Nationals and 1 x colony houses in a Maisies poly nuc made it through winter fine. The nuc has a 2018 queen and I noticed a cup last inspection so will keep an eye on that.

But thankfully I have seen no losses. I'm really small scale though.
 #6225  by Steve 1972
 07 Apr 2020, 12:23
Japey Edge wrote:
07 Apr 2020, 10:20
My three colonies - 2 x colonies housed in Abelo Poly Nationals and 1 x colony houses in a Maisies poly nuc made it through winter fine. The nuc has a 2018 queen and I noticed a cup last inspection so will keep an eye on that.

But thankfully I have seen no losses. I'm really small scale though.
Good stuff Jazz..I am on a farm up in Northumberland lambing and I spotted my first Swallow yesterday..it is the earliest yet but a good sign the weather could be changing for the better.. ;) ..
Steve.
 #6228  by NigelP
 07 Apr 2020, 12:46
Steve 1972 wrote:
07 Apr 2020, 12:23
Good stuff Jazz..I am on a farm up in Northumberland lambing and I spotted my first Swallow yesterday..it is the earliest yet but a good sign the weather could be changing for the better.. ;) ..
Steve.
Welcome to the forum Steve... ;)
Self isolating in Northumberland sounds a good way of staying out of the mad house.
 #6231  by Japey Edge
 07 Apr 2020, 13:51
Ah just seen this thread, my suspicions on the "DIY" thread are confirmed! It's the same Steve!!! Haha welcome to the forum mate.
 #6232  by NigelP
 07 Apr 2020, 15:59
Threw two colonies out, one with a drone laying queen and one with an unlaying (probably virgin) queen. Otherwise all is fine.
As an experiment I took a wooden hive through winter with an insulated roof to see how it performed in my back garden. Three frames of brood and very little stores left, compared with average of 6 frames of brood in all poly, some wall to wall,. A few will need double brood in week or so when all the new bees emerge. It's good as it is going to coincide with the spring nectar flows that are just starting up....weather permitting.

Image

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 #6233  by NigelP
 07 Apr 2020, 16:58
Japey Edge wrote:
07 Apr 2020, 13:51
Ah just seen this thread, my suspicions on the "DIY" thread are confirmed! It's the same Steve!!! Haha welcome to the forum mate.
The more the merrier.....particularly if Steve starts sharing his meads around....they are good .
 #6234  by Japey Edge
 07 Apr 2020, 17:03
Those are some full brood frames Nigel. I've not had any like that from my colonies. Hopefully the GM queen will build up soon and start making frames like that.