Q. Why do you care that there's only two cells in the new colony? What's the problem with having a number of queens and letting them duke it out? Is it just a resource issue, or is there more chance that multiple queens get mated and triggering a swarm? They obviously evolved the behavior to make lots of cells so there must be an overall survival advantage in doing so - though not necessarily as a single colony
Hi, good question, well I like to leave more than one cell in a queenless colony upping the chances, many keepers only go with 1 cell. I also didn’t leave all the good cells as they are more likely to swarm more than once. I have also found that this “one Queen will defeat all others” is not always the case, depending on the situation. (Bees will be bees) It’s more to control the situation at hand, you can make many Nucs in this situation if wanted. 🐝
Interesting. Thanks for the reply by the way. This is my first year, over wintering the swarm I caught last spring. Right now, based on the situation you faced, that I'd split into a pair of 2 frame nukes - as promoted by the chap on RUclips from Barnyard Bees. It seems like this should improve the odds a bit more before committing so many resources to the 5 frame nuke (nuc?)@@berintanbees I grew up in the south of England but lived 40 years or so in Los Angeles before retiring now to the Charente in rural south west France. Most of the educational material I see is from the US, so It's refreshing to see something understandable from this part of the world. The one difference here is that we have to deal with the plague of Asian hornets - mostly in the autumn and early winter - that hunt and threaten hives here. Cheers and keep up the good work. M
It seems only a matter of time before the Asian hornets make there way across the channel, so you might as well get used to the idea. Some years are worse than others - I gather this year hasn't been anything like the year before when many bee keepers felt like giving up. The problem is that the hornets hover in front of the hive entrance - a behavior called "hawking" - waiting for a chance to grab a bee that they then decapitate and take back to their nest as a source of prottien. This happens mostly from late summer and more so towards the end of the season. This hunting process scares the bees who stop foraging - right when they need to build up reserved for the winter. I found this solution which I'm trying out with the two hives I have. Don't be put off by the French, the pictures explain most of the system and you can always turn on RUclips subtitles if you feel the need. ruclips.net/video/R9_n5XZbhlk/видео.htmlsi=cc8gwOq7AqCRFebw The idea is this tent - sold for around 14 pounds - that sits in front of the hive entrance. When a hornet grabs a bee, it's natural response is to fly up to escape back to it's nest. The top of the tent is made of a 6mm netting that the bees can easily pass through. The hornets though find it very difficult to do so. A simple trap made from a pair of plastic bottles traps the hornets as they desperately try to fly upwards. According to the series of RUclips videos such as the one I referenced, the traps can capture 40 or more hornets each per day, after which the numbers rapidly diminish. Right now, in mid November, I'm still capturing 3 or 4 a day. It's 15 degrees here right now, so I expect all activity to drop off soon as the weather cools off. My main issue right now is the month-long period of near constant rain - We've had 60cm fall in the past 3 weeks!
Asian hornets have already crossed the channel and are in parts of England. We and the beekeeping communities are always on the lookout and every sighting/nest is reported. I have seen lots of these hive protection ideas and this one is very interesting, and well priced, thanks for attaching. With the bees not being able to sting the hornets they have however found that some bees are overheating the hornets eventually killing them. But this is a very timely process, and being the hornets are so powerful this comes at great cost to the bees. It’s all very sad. 🐝
Best place to look for eggs is in hatched brood,that's queens favorite place to lay. Hatched cell was a worker enclosed, that's why it's abnormally long and smooth...kinda weird they made all those supercede cells mine usually make 2 or 3 ..that nest was full nowhere to lay..I'd split too,good job!
Q. Why do you care that there's only two cells in the new colony? What's the problem with having a number of queens and letting them duke it out? Is it just a resource issue, or is there more chance that multiple queens get mated and triggering a swarm? They obviously evolved the behavior to make lots of cells so there must be an overall survival advantage in doing so - though not necessarily as a single colony
Hi, good question, well I like to leave more than one cell in a queenless colony upping the chances, many keepers only go with 1 cell. I also didn’t leave all the good cells as they are more likely to swarm more than once. I have also found that this “one Queen will defeat all others” is not always the case, depending on the situation. (Bees will be bees) It’s more to control the situation at hand, you can make many Nucs in this situation if wanted. 🐝
Interesting. Thanks for the reply by the way. This is my first year, over wintering the swarm I caught last spring. Right now, based on the situation you faced, that I'd split into a pair of 2 frame nukes - as promoted by the chap on RUclips from Barnyard Bees. It seems like this should improve the odds a bit more before committing so many resources to the 5 frame nuke (nuc?)@@berintanbees
I grew up in the south of England but lived 40 years or so in Los Angeles before retiring now to the Charente in rural south west France. Most of the educational material I see is from the US, so It's refreshing to see something understandable from this part of the world. The one difference here is that we have to deal with the plague of Asian hornets - mostly in the autumn and early winter - that hunt and threaten hives here.
Cheers and keep up the good work.
M
We are very lucky at the moment not having Asian hornets here. I really appreciate your kind words, we are a small channel so thank you. 🐝
It seems only a matter of time before the Asian hornets make there way across the channel, so you might as well get used to the idea. Some years are worse than others - I gather this year hasn't been anything like the year before when many bee keepers felt like giving up.
The problem is that the hornets hover in front of the hive entrance - a behavior called "hawking" - waiting for a chance to grab a bee that they then decapitate and take back to their nest as a source of prottien. This happens mostly from late summer and more so towards the end of the season. This hunting process scares the bees who stop foraging - right when they need to build up reserved for the winter.
I found this solution which I'm trying out with the two hives I have. Don't be put off by the French, the pictures explain most of the system and you can always turn on RUclips subtitles if you feel the need. ruclips.net/video/R9_n5XZbhlk/видео.htmlsi=cc8gwOq7AqCRFebw
The idea is this tent - sold for around 14 pounds - that sits in front of the hive entrance. When a hornet grabs a bee, it's natural response is to fly up to escape back to it's nest. The top of the tent is made of a 6mm netting that the bees can easily pass through. The hornets though find it very difficult to do so. A simple trap made from a pair of plastic bottles traps the hornets as they desperately try to fly upwards.
According to the series of RUclips videos such as the one I referenced, the traps can capture 40 or more hornets each per day, after which the numbers rapidly diminish. Right now, in mid November, I'm still capturing 3 or 4 a day. It's 15 degrees here right now, so I expect all activity to drop off soon as the weather cools off. My main issue right now is the month-long period of near constant rain - We've had 60cm fall in the past 3 weeks!
Asian hornets have already crossed the channel and are in parts of England. We and the beekeeping communities are always on the lookout and every sighting/nest is reported. I have seen lots of these hive protection ideas and this one is very interesting, and well priced, thanks for attaching.
With the bees not being able to sting the hornets they have however found that some bees are overheating the hornets eventually killing them. But this is a very timely process, and being the hornets are so powerful this comes at great cost to the bees. It’s all very sad. 🐝
Best place to look for eggs is in hatched brood,that's queens favorite place to lay. Hatched cell was a worker enclosed, that's why it's abnormally long and smooth...kinda weird they made all those supercede cells mine usually make 2 or 3 ..that nest was full nowhere to lay..I'd split too,good job!
That’s an interesting point about the cell 🧐 And thanks will see what happens 🐝
Veri good video sar ham aapki video Bharat se dekh rahe hain 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you very much 🐝