Jul
27

Weekly Inspection – 27th July

Observations:

Honeybee on Hibiscus

weather: temperatures between 20°C – 22°C. Much warmer and sunnier. Set to continue for the next 10 days.

Forage: continues with Ragwort, Himalayan Balsam,  Rosebay Willowherb and Veronica

Colonies seem to be doing much better and there is still nectar coming in. The frames in the supers are starting to be capped, but I need to rearrange the frames to ensure that all get drawn out.

The Apidea that I made up from Flax has a queen that has emerged but very few bees. So decided to top up with more bees from Flax. They have drawn two of the frames and stored some nectar, Probably too early for the Queen to have mated

 

 

Hive Record
Colony
Q
BIAS
Brood
Stores
CommentNext Inspection
AquaYY11 1/2 (7 1/2+4) frames of BIAS. The brood nest appear to be shrinking, to be expected at this time of year. Three supers: full, 3/4, 3/4Drone trap starting to be laid upCheck on drone trap and size of brood nest
BlueNY4 1/2 frames of BIAS. Overall expanding both in terms of number of frames and size of brood patternPlenty of capped storesHaven’t drawn all the frames out, but doing okayCheck for expansion
CyanYY8 1/2 frames of bias, expanded nicelySuper – 3/4 full and frames starting to be cappedHas expanded quite a bit since last inspection.Varroa count: 7 in 100 bit highCheck on super and rearrange frames
FlaxNY4 1/2 frames of bias, including one frame of eggsTwo supers: 2/3, 2/3Restocked the ApideaFind Queen and mark
HoneydewNY5 frames of bias, Plenty of Bees4 supers: three full, 3/4Looks to be my most productive colonyAdd frame and mark Queen
IndigoNY4 frames of bias, three charged queen cells – taken down. Box full of stores no laying spaceBrood box weighs around 20 kgAdded QE and super to create room for queen to layCheck for QCs and mark Queen
JadeNYFive frames of bias with a nice pattern - expanded wellOK in brood boxStill need to draw four frames outAdd one frame, check on expansion