Jul
3

Weekly Inspection 3rd July

Observations:

Weather: continues to be good with temperatures mid 20s. Couple of spells of rain with some heavy showers. Stop forecast is similar temperatures but more changeable weather.

continues to be good with temperatures mid 20s. Couple of spells of rain with some heavy showers. Stop forecast is similar temperatures but more changeable weather.

Forage: rosebay, willow herb, Buddleia , St John’s wort, sweet chestnut,. Bees have been very active, so plenty of pollen and nectar being brought in.

Looks like all  the Queen cells have hatched out. However, too early to tell if they are viable as no eggs detected and  only saw one queen in the Apidea and even then couldn’t spot her when I looked again. Consolidated the 2 Apideas with the virgin queen left and put the queen from Green back with the Nuc after finding 8 sealed QCs.

Added 2 supers, so still plenty of honey being produced.

Hive Record
Colony
Q
BIAS
Brood
Stores
CommentNext Inspection
AquaNY4 frames BIAS, expanded really wellPlenty in the brood boxThis was swarm from Headley Road, doing wellCheck on expansion
BlueYY6 BIAS, continue to expandFirst super 3/4 full, so added secondClipped Queen, colony in good shapeCheck Queen ok and super activity
DenimNNJust to frames of capped brewedWonderful super and 2 kg is in secondNot sure if Queen has hatched out as cell non-existent. Should be new Queen from EmeraldCheck for Queen present
EmeraldYY9+5 bias, now a very big colonyI did fourth, super as three now fullAdded 2 frames foundation to brood box to give more laying space, DT 1:100 - OKCheck on space in brood boxes
FlaxNNThree partial frames of capped brood. Looks to be queenless so added frame of eggs from Emerald.One full super and 2 kg is in a secondWe’ll see if they raise a queen from donor frameCheck for Queen cells
GreenYYThree frames of capped brood, eight Queen cellsPlenty in brood framesTook down all Queen cells and reintroduced Queen from ApideaCheck on Queen and decide when to move out of Nuc box
HoneydewNNFive frames capped brood , Queen looks to have hatched outPlenty of storesWas the swarm from Headley farm,Check for laying Queen, add 2 14 x 12 frames