Marking the Queen

On Thursday we had an email informing us that there was a starvation risk and if there aren't enough stores to feed the bees. We went along and the supers were still unused so fed them sugar syrup 2:1.

Today we went to check on them, they still had plenty of stores so no risk of starvation at the moment. We went with the intention of taking away the super however they have in fact started to draw out the comb in there with plenty more bees working. We have therefore left the super for them to play with and hopefully fill.

We also found the Queen, huzzah!! and even managed to mark her. Worried about using the cage we just dabbed her slightly with the yellow marker, you may be able to see the yellow mark on her abdomen below. As you can see she is much larger than the other bees with a slightly different colouring. She is also much more tapered to enable her to lay eggs at the bottom of the cells.

I am very proud that I noticed her first, it is the first time that I have managed to find an unmarked Queen so chuffed that I did as she was scuttling around the place.

I also have a video with my rather unsteady hand, you will see lots of capped brood, there is larvae which is pearly white around the edges but not captured well in the video. I haven't worked out the skill of editing yet so you get to see the whole clip unedited.

Outing into Central London

Today we went to have a look at an Apairy in central London. We managed to look through 5 different hives all with their own thing happening.

One was incredibly healthy with 3 supers full of lovely honey and lots of brood.

Another had 12 Queen cells which were all being carefully managed by the beekeeper due to the Queen absconding. A frame from another hive had been added so that the bees could make another Queen.

The last hive we checked were evil, although they were happy to leave us alone while inspecting the others once we opened the hive it felt and sounded like hail with them all flying at us. Even after we had closed them up they followed us halfway back to the building (a good trek away) This was the only hive which didn't have any supers on it and were not very strong. It seems that this is a good thing.

Below are a few pictures taken throughout our trip:

The bees are suspending a nice chunk of comb in mid air, fascinating, not sure what they are planning to do with it but lovely to see them working together.

Plenty of bees with sealed brood visible in this picture and the one below.

I think my clothes need a good few washes due to the last hive I must have blown smoke everywhere trying to keep them away as much as possible.

The hive is buzzing

Our inspection today was very similar to last week. The last frames in the brood box are now all drawn out and are being filled quickly. There is still no change in the super however the main nectar flow is in July so there is still a chance that we will get some honey this year.

Despite no babies emerging yet the hive looks healthy with bees and the work is ongoing. The hive was literally buzzing. However we have still not seen the Queen. There is sealed brood, larvae and eggs so she is laying well over most of the frames.

The stores are heaving with honey, nectar and pollen. Honey is on every frame and they are incredibly heavy to lift.

Hopefully next week we will see the new bees emerging and some movement in the super.

A worrying discovery

My Uncle has three hives on his land which another beekeeper looks after, it sounded as though they had all absconded without any warning so while we were visiting family we thought we would have a look inside and see what was happening. (If there were in fact any bees inside - while trying not to tread on someone elses toes)

Hive No 1:

This hive was completely empty except for a few spiders, due to the fact spiders have many legs and this one was carrying an egg sack we did not delve further. We had enough information to know that this hive was empty of bees.

Hive No 2:

This hive was a worry on opening it. There were plenty of bees, after further discussion it seems that a passing swarm has taken inhabitant of it, although we have no idea how long they have been there. The hive itself was dirty with black mud like substance on the bottom. The frames were dark and discoloured and the hive smelt strongly of booze. What looked like chalk brood was in there however we have no idea if this has been there for a while.

After leaving and going through the pictures we can see what looks like brood however it is dark and discoloured and in unusual malformed shapes . Unfortunately the zoom works better on the camera than the computer.

We got half way through inspecting these bees before they started to get agitated and we closed up. We haven't seen all the hive but enough to make us worried.

Hive No 3:

This hive was also completely empty except for moths, We tried to take out a frame however they were glued together by what appears to be wax moth.

After much discussion and not being that experienced we have decided to forward on what pictures we have to our bee inspector who we will hopefully be seeing this weekend anyway to get a more informed idea of what we have seen.

Ju-Bee-Lation - Long Live Our Queen

Today we checked our bees and to our delight we have brood. It looks about 5/6 days old to my untrained eye and there is plenty of it. Our hive may not die of old age. We didn't see the Queen but are happy that there is one in there and she has had her wicked way with a number of drones.

Along with brood we have lots of honey stores. They haven't yet started any work in the super but we understand they may transfer some of the stores to the super to make way for brood. There is still room in the brood box especially as we have had a number of weeks with a non-laying Queen.

Even the outside frames have been drawn so they are definitely working through.