Apr
21

Weekly Inspection 21st April

Observations:

Weather: Been fine and higher than normal temperatures 16ºC – 18ºC but still chilly in the evenings. Some showers forecast but temperatures staying above average for April.

Forage: Still lots of blossoms out – notably hawthorn, Chesnut and dandelion.

Been a strange week for my bees. Decided to start queen rearing with Cyan as I wanted to increase the number of colonies. Started grafting on the 19th April but only got 2 cells started. Probably down to me not being careful enough but also chose a frame that was new wax and the Chinese grafting tool was going right through the wax. Did a second set of grafts the following day – not sure of the success rate yet. I am using a Cloake board and raising in the same colony as they were started in.

Found 4 charged queen cells in Blue, so did a nuc split – original queen in the nuc in the same apiary. So shook extra bees in to offset foragers returning to the parent hive.

Finally found that Indigo was queenless and 2 sealed but scrubby looking cells, so took down. Plan is to requeen with a Queen raised in Cyan,

Hive Record
Colony
Q
BIAS
Brood
Stores
CommentNext Inspection
BlueYY8 frames of BIAS, 4 charged queen cells - took down to 1.About 1 Kg in 2nd super, 1st is 3/4 fullSplit the queen off into a nucLeave for 2 weeks to allow queen to hatch out.
CyanYY17 frames brood. The 2 brood boxes that were put above QE has mostly hatched out. Started grafting to increase coloniesAbout 1Kg in 2nd super, 1st about 1/2 fullRaising queens from grafts using Cloake board to get started.Check on 27th to take out queen cells due to hatch on the 30th.
FlaxYY7 frames of BIAS, expanded patternAbout 4Kg in superNeed to decide if splitting to increase colony numbersSplit or use as a honey producer.
HoneydewYY6 BIAS, still expandingOnly about 2 Kg in super but is being workedhave taken down most of the store frames uncapped last week Remove empty store frames, replace 1 manky frame
IndigoNN4 frames of capped brood, 2 small QCs sealed - taken downPlenty in the brood box, no need for superHas gone queenless and will give ripe QC from Cyan on 27th AprilAdd queen cell from Cyan