May
18

Weekly Inspection – 18th May

Observations:

Honeybee Queen cell

Queen cell tip thinned out by the bees to help the queen emerge

Weather: continued improvement with temperatures between 17°C to 20°C stop no showers despite being in forecast.

Forage: chestnut, green alkanet, cow parsley, Hawthorn and elderflower just starting.

Finally got to inspect the honeydew colony at the river Mole apiary site and it’s doing well. Still have three colonies that I’m raising Queens in. Will be interesting to see what emerges!

Finally starting to see the Bees bringing in nectar and starting to store some honey in the supers.

Hive Record
Colony
Q
BIAS
Brood
Stores
CommentNext Inspection
AquaYY11 frames of BIAS, slightly down from last weekSuper being worked, lot of nectar in the brood boxesTook one frame of eggs and donated to DenimCheck on expansion and drone comb
BlueYY3 frames of bias, obviously a queen present for a while1 kg in the supersTop Box still has sealed queen cell. Not many Bees.Decide on what to do with the top box, small and could fit into an Apidea
CyanNNno brood present, Queen cell still cappedStarting to work superBees seem to have diminished, didn’t inspect after seeing sealed Queen cellCheck for emerged queen
DenimNNJust one frame of capped brood from donated frame, couldn’t see Queen cellNothing in the superAdded frame of eggs from AquaCheck if raising Queen
FlaxNY6 1/2 frame bias, lots of eggs – also one charged queen cellPlenty in brood box, added superRearranged frames to create more laying spaceCheck on swarming behaviour
GreenNY4 frames of BIAS, lots of eggs – expanded nicelyJust okay for storesNow looks to be doing okayCheck for expansion, possibly move to full-size hive with eight frames
HoneydewNY7 frames of bias, lots of eggs – expanded nicelyAbout 2 kg in the superRemoved 1 manky frame, replace with new 14 x 12 frame, rearranged frames to give more laying spaceAdd 14 x 12 frame and super dummy board