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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #11414  by MickBBKA
 09 Jul 2021, 23:05
Checked on new nucs and amazed at how fast they have expanded. These were splits taken at the end of May. The queens all look really nice, quite a bit larger than my usual queens but still black and 8 of these 6 frame nucs have 5 frames of eggs and brood so have put them into full brood hives. Downside is I have no supers left to put on them if they get any bigger. I don't usually have any sort of flow here after June but its been a strange year and my 2 new apiaries are near rivers with HB which I don't have in my local area. So we will see what happens.
 #11418  by RJC
 10 Jul 2021, 15:00
Well, was feeling a tad smug as hives in home apiary have yielded on average 80lbs of honey so far (and bramble yet to flower), but now optimism dashed after checking out apiary: only two of 6 are queen right. Of the others a May caught swarm has DLQ, which I couldn't find. One colony having swarmed already now has a failing Q, with supersedure cells. Took 2 of these and put in a further Q- colony, and finally a nucleus with a May mated Q only now looks to be building. last month I was worried I'd have too many colonies going into the winter...
 #11419  by AdamD
 10 Jul 2021, 17:48
I too have a (nuc) colony that has supercedure cells and the queen hasn't been laying for very long. The brood pattern is also very good. To a human eye she looks pretty good. I have cut out the s/c cells 3 times and she is still laying steadily. If I let them supercede, I wonder if the colony will be strong enough for winter with posasibly a long broodless period before the young 'un starts to lay, so I will see how she carries on and probably replace with a queen that's ready to mate now.
 #11420  by AdamD
 10 Jul 2021, 17:54
I have a colony that's had Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus for most of the spring summer so there is a dark green (well fertilised) patch of grass in front from the quantity of dead bees falling there or being hauled out. I had put a nuc next to the hive with a view that I would replace the queen. The queen in the nuc is now laying well, however the CBPV stock has replaced the queen by themselves; I didn't notice a supercedure cell and the queen is not too large, so I may have to replace her in any case. Her brood will start to emerge in the next week or so; they will hopefully start to recover.
 #11421  by Alfred
 10 Jul 2021, 18:14
Id be interested to know how she gets on Adam.
Theres an enormous feral colony in a tree trunk nearby that emits castes like its chain smoking.
They have cbpv and rarely survive.
Ive suggested to the owner that it needs culling but theyre either horrified at the thought or horrified at potential cost.
Either way I dont want any more of them.
Im wondering if your queen is pre-infected as the one bunch I did get landed with appears to have finally righted itself.
 #11422  by Liam
 10 Jul 2021, 23:08
many hives through up supercede cells this week. One hive that I caught as a swarm in April set up swarm cells so snelgoved them, amazing how well they have done and the nectar is really coming in.
 #11424  by Steve 1972
 11 Jul 2021, 14:50
I had a done laying Queen (un mated virgin) last week but I thought I would give it one more week to see if she would start laying properly..I went through again today and Sadly just randomly scattered capped drone cells..I found the failed Queen and dispatched her and shook yet another colony out this year..
 #11425  by AdamD
 12 Jul 2021, 08:36
On Wednesday last week, bees were flying well in the afternoons but there was not much in the way of liquid stores in the hives. On Sunday a quick check of a newly introduced queen revealed plenty of nectar coming in. I need it to keep that way for a while.
 #11474  by Steve 1972
 17 Jul 2021, 19:29
Added supers and checked for mated virgins..thank the lord for ventilated Oz armour gear because I might not be here to type this if or wore my old jacket with a jumper underneath :D
 #11491  by JoJo36
 19 Jul 2021, 13:01
My hive 1 is jam packed with bees upon checking today and I couldn't see queen as literally dripping with bees!
There were a few swarm cells which I pulled as couldn't find the queen to put her in a top brood box and separate.
However, my question is whether I should add another brood box to give them space or leave them as they have 2 supers above which are maybe half full up at the moment. Would prefer to avoid another brood box as too heavy for lifting! Cheers for any suggestions:)
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