Despite the rain and inspecting bees under brollies, 9 of us gathered today.
Hive 2 – as it had a recently hatched virgin queen we didn’t disturb it.
Hive 3 – lots of eggs and sealed brood, top super light, 1st super 1/3rd full. No sign of swarming.
Hive 4 – added 2nd super as hive very full of bees. Saw queen marked green, gentle bees, no sign of swarming.
Hive at Sheds – forgot to check after the up’s and down’s of the nucs today. Linda had given it syrup over the last two Mondays and recalls that while it is a small colony, it was doing fine.
Nuc 1 – took feeder off, queen marked blue, bees on 4 frames. Could sell.
Nuc 2 – saw queen marked red, quite full of bees. Could sell.
Nuc 3 – found 4 queen cells, one hatched and caged, the other hatched while we were there and is in the nuc box. Full of bees, once mated would be ready to sell.
David took the new caged queen with attendants and is going to add some bees to an apidea then add this queen and see if she can be mated.
Nuc 4 / apidea – very few bees in nuc but still had queen marked green. Placed into an apidea and added bees, spraying both with air freshener. Closed the entrance to let bees bond and avoid new bees flying home. David will return to spray them with water and will release them in a couple of days.
Black Bee Project – on double stand
Lyson Mini Hive (belonging to Kate Atchley) coloured green, left undisturbed today.
David /Wilma / Linda will return to transfer them into a nuc.
Apidea – bee numbers had reduced. Caged the queen with attendants, added bees to the apidea and David took it home to add the queen (in a cage). Once they have united and settled down, David will return them to Barns to go into a nuc.