A few firsts tonight - particularly for Robert and Katie who both got stung! Robert on his little finger and Katie twice on her hand. The ensuing hysterics were a little worrying as I had images of anaphylactic shock - fortunately unfounded - and a few minutes later, all was calm (ish). The other first was that our original hive was not the docile, calm bees that we were so used to and they flew quite wildly as soon as we opened up the brood box (hence the stings). Perhaps it was because we were inspecting a little later than usual or maybe because they are missing their queen but they were quite ratty! We inspected the swarm hive first. Theyve taken down all the honey from the comb on the crown board and left plenty of empty comb to give to the Year 2 children to whom Susan and I are giving a talk tomorrow! And we have a Queen!!! We did cheer although she was a little elusive and kept hiding behind some extra comb theyve made. I was being positive and took the queen cage and marker with me, but we couldnt catch her. We also saw some nice new eggs and I cant speak for Sue, but I did a little victory dance! They have started to draw out the comb (build the wax cells up) and have some nice shiny nectar waiting to be evaporated into honey. We put a rapid feeder and some sugar syrup on the top to give them a helping hand. Also, the varroa board which we put on last week is completely clear so theres no sign of the nasty little mites. The grumpy bees (hive one) have been making honey and the hive is really quite heavy now. Its incredible how much a single frame of honey weighs! Interestingly, the Queen cell which we thought was empty on Sunday has been capped so we can keep our fingers crossed that there is a larva in there and just was so far up, it was difficult to spot. Other Beeks are reporting drone brood in their colonies so we can hope that a healthy Queen hatches and finds plenty of fellas to take her fancy.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:06:14 +0000
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