Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 7100 Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
Posted: Sun May 22, 16 10:09 am Post subject: Bee Diary - 22/05/2016
Checked my bee's this morning as it's a week since I put them onto a second brood chamber, although they haven't as yet started drawing out comb in it, the two fresh frames I put into the centre of the brood nest in the bottom chamber have been drawn out and filled with eggs. I also found a charged queen cell which I've destroyed for the time being.
I saw Queenie so that's fine. I've moved another fresh frame of foundation into the brood nest and taken a honey frame out and put it into the upper chamber.
I'm going to wait until tonight or tomorrow evening and go in and take a nucleus off by removing Queenie, along with some sealed brood and honey. She's obviously prolific and if I can get a second colony up and running this early in the year, it increases the chances of honey and of having two strong colonies to go into Winter with.
Are you going to move the queen if there are no queen cells?
As long as there's eggs or larvae of the right age it's not a problem.
Having a ripe queen cell will speed the process but some beekeepers claim a queen raised when a hive is queenless is better than one from a swarm cell.
That the workers lavish her with more larval food.
I have no proof of this but it does make some sense.
If there is no laying queen there will be fewer young bees to feed & they tend to raise fewer queens. (Supersedure versus swarming).
A colony raising two or three supercedure cells have more royal jelly available than a colony raising a dozen or many more swarm cells.
In truth it probably makes little difference.
IMHO how strong the colony is makes more.
Splitting a strong colony will raise good queens.
Splitting a weak undernourished colony could raise an inferior one.
joanne
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 7100 Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
Are you going to move the queen if there are no queen cells?
As long as there's eggs or larvae of the right age it's not a problem.
Having a ripe queen cell will speed the process but some beekeepers claim a queen raised when a hive is queenless is better than one from a swarm cell.
That the workers lavish her with more larval food.
I have no proof of this but it does make some sense.
If there is no laying queen there will be fewer young bees to feed & they tend to raise fewer queens. (Supersedure versus swarming).
A colony raising two or three supercedure cells have more royal jelly available than a colony raising a dozen or many more swarm cells.
In truth it probably makes little difference.
IMHO how strong the colony is makes more.
Splitting a strong colony will raise good queens.
Splitting a weak undernourished colony could raise an inferior one.
Wot Tavascarow says It's a really strong colony and it's already started charging queen cells, I'd rather be in control of the process and take Queenie out in order to trigger some queen cell formation rather than they do that by themselves.
Also I'm going away for 5 days to Download at the start of June and I definitely don't want them swarming whilst I'm away. Better to pre-empt them tbh.
Planning on doing it tonight, just got to make up a few more frames for the nuc. I'm still on Nationals so as I've a load of kit already I may as well use what I've got.
The plan is to move to TBH or Warre's over the next 18-24 months post wedding and building work but for the time being they'll be in the Nationals.
It's a really strong colony and it's already started charging queen cells, I'd rather be in control of the process and take Queenie out in order to trigger some queen cell formation rather than they do that by themselves.
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