Yeah, again! After the swarm there are at least 3 virgin queens roaming the colony: A solid gold one that is pretty much chill. She moves slowly and has very few bees in her retinue. The bees seem to pretty much ignore her. […]
So this time the primary swarm from the observation hive cast an after swarm. Hopefully this won’t be a daily occurrence! Meanwhile, back at the observation hive the congestion builds. I haven’t seen any queen cells yet, though.
I’ve known she was in there due to the increased foraging of pollen and the general calm of the colony and the wonderful full smell of the hive. Today I got visual verification! Laying and everything!
Yesterday evening I saw a virgin queen in the observation hive for the first time since this craziness began. She was running like a wild thing! The reason soon became apparent. The bees balled her! Note the condensation on the hive glass. This point on the glass was considerably hotter […]
Today may I present AfterSwarm D Here it is boxed up and ready to head to Kristien’s to live out it’s life in her top bar hive.
So on May 10th I thought the congestion had increased to the point the bees may swarm again. Well swarm they did! On May 12th the bees produced what has come to be known as AfterSwarm A. They congregated on the window. I dutifully swept them into […]
So the congestion in the observation hive is increasing again. It is 10 days since I first noticed a capped queen cell and none have hatched. I hear the queens quacking off and on. The bees are all over the queen cells that I have found. I wonder […]
When Kristien and I arrived from setting up the cloake board at the farm, this is what we found! We swept them into a bag and then dumped them into their new quarters. I have a short video of the marching but I don’t know how to post that. […]
All signs are there! The observation hive is packed with bees. And last night the bees capped a queen cell! I think this means they will swarm on Tuesday or Wednesday!
This is the first I have seen her lay on the outside of the frame for weeks!
