Tough one. Feel for you, the bees aren’t reading the manual. I know we have some weeks left but what is going to be your over wintering strategy as the window on local mating closes and guessing you don’t want to buy any more queens in? Also agree with the other comment. Look for eggs if non find a queen cell. Select one and then shake off every frame. They are so sneaky with the QCs. Great video and tough watch as your are the happiest bee keeper I watch on here! Thanks for sharing the highs and lows.
It wasn’t the best day I’ve had on the bees I’ll give you that haha Both the split and the swarmed hive successfully requeened themselves with the cells left and added. Im not sure what you mean by what’s my overwintering strategy. I plan on taking 15 colonies or more into winter be they in nucs or nationals. I didn’t get my first bees until August so think I have 2 weeks left to make some more splits to get the numbers up. I’ve advertised over wintered nucs for sale. Any pre orders for those will have bought in queens, I may yet buy in more queens in a last hoorah and make 5 splits into poly nucs as the flow wains. In the videos to come there is some progression and I think I can make those numbers comfortably and bring them strong in their respective boxes for winter. Thanks for watching grant, we find out what happened with the queen cell I shook in the next video.
Taking the split I would do as you have been doing or take 12/11 frame hive and split across 3 nucs and take to another Apiary for 3 weeks to keep numbers stable. After this come mid September I would be looking to see if combining and compressing would be a good idea. Ones that do well may not need intervention at all. However given the number of colonies you have combining a nuc and full hive or two nucs may give it a better overwinter chance as the cluster will be bigger and you can take frames of stores and do some balancing across the apiary. Me personally I then use a hand held luggage scale. The type you lift the bag up with and use the hook to hook under each side of the hive/nuc to weigh it. Combine the two numbers gives and overall weight. Take a note and track it through winter. Knowing this help to gauge stores and how fast they are using them. Bit more accurate than hefting. Hopefully you get them all through winter and the clusters are of a good size. Then come mid April I would split hard and use bought queens and feed. This will give you time on them wanting to swarm but as you can feed the queen should be encouraged to lay and have plenty of bees for a spring crop if weather allows.
I reckon once you see an egg in more than one queen cup the game is up and the bees have decided to swarm and the only thing to do - split the colony. hopefully the queen can be found and removed..Of queens can never be found when you really need to find them.
Must have missed a hidden queencell hence the lost swarm. Maybe have to make a nuc up in future in another apiary so you can introduce the queen knowing there is no queencells and just nurse bees and very few foragers, once laying then paper combine with a hopelessly queenless colony.
!["The Biggest Swarm I've Ever Caught!" - [HUGE swarm catch in beekeeper's backyard] (10lbs of bees!)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E5fj0X5Hiq8/mqdefault.jpg)
Tough one. Feel for you, the bees aren’t reading the manual. I know we have some weeks left but what is going to be your over wintering strategy as the window on local mating closes and guessing you don’t want to buy any more queens in?
Also agree with the other comment. Look for eggs if non find a queen cell. Select one and then shake off every frame. They are so sneaky with the QCs.
Great video and tough watch as your are the happiest bee keeper I watch on here! Thanks for sharing the highs and lows.
It wasn’t the best day I’ve had on the bees I’ll give you that haha Both the split and the swarmed hive successfully requeened themselves with the cells left and added. Im not sure what you mean by what’s my overwintering strategy. I plan on taking 15 colonies or more into winter be they in nucs or nationals. I didn’t get my first bees until August so think I have 2 weeks left to make some more splits to get the numbers up. I’ve advertised over wintered nucs for sale. Any pre orders for those will have bought in queens, I may yet buy in more queens in a last hoorah and make 5 splits into poly nucs as the flow wains. In the videos to come there is some progression and I think I can make those numbers comfortably and bring them strong in their respective boxes for winter. Thanks for watching grant, we find out what happened with the queen cell I shook in the next video.
What size would you make a split to take a six frame poly nuc through winter?
Taking the split I would do as you have been doing or take 12/11 frame hive and split across 3 nucs and take to another Apiary for 3 weeks to keep numbers stable.
After this come mid September I would be looking to see if combining and compressing would be a good idea. Ones that do well may not need intervention at all. However given the number of colonies you have combining a nuc and full hive or two nucs may give it a better overwinter chance as the cluster will be bigger and you can take frames of stores and do some balancing across the apiary.
Me personally I then use a hand held luggage scale. The type you lift the bag up with and use the hook to hook under each side of the hive/nuc to weigh it. Combine the two numbers gives and overall weight. Take a note and track it through winter. Knowing this help to gauge stores and how fast they are using them. Bit more accurate than hefting.
Hopefully you get them all through winter and the clusters are of a good size. Then come mid April I would split hard and use bought queens and feed. This will give you time on them wanting to swarm but as you can feed the queen should be encouraged to lay and have plenty of bees for a spring crop if weather allows.
Sounds like a plan. Hoping to have 30 next year, at least 10 dedicated to honey.
I reckon once you see an egg in more than one queen cup the game is up and the bees have decided to swarm and the only thing to do - split the colony. hopefully the queen can be found and removed..Of queens can never be found when you really need to find them.
I’ve learnt the hard way that you are correct
Shes gone lucks gone heads gone lol
People phoned me up to see if I cried
Hi what part of Wales are you ?
South wales valleys
I'm upper Swansea valley you anywhere close by
Must have missed a hidden queencell hence the lost swarm.
Maybe have to make a nuc up in future in another apiary so you can introduce the queen knowing there is no queencells and just nurse bees and very few foragers, once laying then paper combine with a hopelessly queenless colony.
Yes I missed one for definite. There were a few capped in there.
I’m in the Caerphilly area. Not too far tho