Chicken Licken Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) Everything in beginners bee keeping world is back to front! The bees swarmed - then I read about how to manage the queen cells. Collected them up and rehoused in the waiting hive - then read and realised that it should have been done differently. Anyway having fed them 2 buckets of syrup and left them for 3 weeks, had a tentative look after work today and they are doing fine. They have drawn out the frames, lots of stores and pollen and best of all larvae and eggs. So added a QE and super and have left them to get on with it. Next year I aspire to becoming a better bee keeper and doing things in the right order! Thank goodness the bees have been doing it for millenia and seem to accept our muddling!! Just 1 session of the bee keeping practicals left to go!! Tomorrow I am hoping to inspect the hive that they swarmed out fingers crossed they have fed up the 2 remaining queen cells and made themselves a new queen. Hoping for evidence of larvae and eggs Edited May 29, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 You've been feeding a swarm in Cambs? Amazing. Depends what people call a 'bucket', but generally a little food until they start collecting is all they need, if that. Depends on the weather, though. Last year a swarm filled a 14 x 12 brood box completely in three weeks. No feed, 12 frames of foundation. Nor was it what I would call a huge swarm, by any means. They leave with about three days supply of food, should be collecting (and maybe storing) from about day 2 and the queen was likely laying by day 3 or 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 That's the trouble with being a beginner, all the advice says to feed them, so we did, even though we are well aware of just how much natural food around there is, still better for them to have a good start in the new hive!! I have just inspected the original hive and am absolutely delighted - the new queen is laying, we saw her and also larvae and eggs - about 4 brood frames worth which for a new queen seems pretty respectable. She has plenty of room to lay as the hive is on a brood and half. Finally took out the Bayvarol strips that seem to have been there for ages (followed the instructions to the day on how long to leave them for)- the Varroa are well and truly under control for now and now we will leave synthetic chemical controls behind and know when to apiguard them in the autumn. It has been a steep learning curve this summer, it is the knowing what to do from the management of the hive side that has been tricky - thank goodness for a bee buddy and the bee keeping association - last summer getting the nucleus was the simple bit!! So despite lots of beginners errors, there are now 2 hives of healthy and thriving bees at the end of the garden. No queen cells, and they are busily getting on with the important business of being bees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
