Hive 4 is a swarm that was bought over to the the district apiary last year by our chairman. they were bought over in a five frame nuc where they stayed for a few weeks before being transferred into a national wooden hive. The queen is no marked and was not spotted throughout the inspection but evidence that she was present and well is seen throughout the photos.
Lid removed and placed upside down beside the hive so crown board/super/queen excluder can be placed down on top and not touch the floor. |
super frame |
a couple of frames checked in the super to see how well the honey stores are doing. |
super removed to show the wire, wooden framed queen excluder. |
queen excluder checked for the queen before being gently placed on top of the super. |
The bees were of a good temperament but naturally came up to see what was going on with their home. |
A puff of smoke to clear the frames of bees to make handling easier. |
Still some frames in the brood chamber which haven't been drawn out. |
Plenty of stores going in. |
The bees were very calm. |
A few play cups on some of the comb but luckily none were 'charged'. |
Plenty of capped brood in the lovely pattern we expect to see on the frames. |
A little meeting going on!! |
Can you spot the drone brood?? |
Capped brood in the middle and outer of the frame with eggs and larvae in between |
Not empty cells....full of eggs! |
Notice how in the centre of the frame its a lot darker? This is where eggs have continually been laid. Honey does not 'taint' the cells like moulting larvae do! |
A good proportion of drone to worker brood. |
Perfect brood pattern. |
Happily going about their business. |
Last frame to inspect before closing up. Queen wasn't seen but with eggs and larvae in all stages we know she is there and healthy. No queen cells found. |
I did a full inspection...picked out the best looking queen cell and knocked the others down....no sign of the queen and equally no newly laid eggs which is a good indicator that the swarm as already happened.
so I shut the colony up and will now leave them for at least three weeks to give the queen time to hatch out and mate before inspecting again.
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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!