In a standard season I be expecting to cut back my hive inspection frequency after the mayhem of Would possibly and June are over. As soon as the summer season nectar waft begins in earnest, colonies appear to concentrate on that fairly than on swarming. Maximum of my swarm regulate, queen rearing and requeening is over for the season, so I will be able to chill out slightly.
In a standard season.
After all, it isn’t actually mayhem, it simply looks as if that 😉. Managed chaos could be a greater time period, with a bit of luck with the emphasis on managed.
It simply every now and then appears to be like and feels like mayhem.
However this season is other for a lot of causes. At the start, the elements has been taking part in foolish blighters since April (or previous). The mix of cool northerlies with rain not on time swarming through many colonies, and performed merry hell with queen mating.
Even supposing the deficient climate not on time swarming, it didn’t prolong swarm arrangements.
Over and over I would open bins to search out mature queen cells and the marked 2022 or 2023 queen nonetheless laying completely neatly. On different events, too a lot of to depend (and all merging into one in my reminiscence now), I would to find the marked, clipped queen with a number of virgin queens scuttling round.
Piping queens in cells? Sure, the ones too. A number of occasions.
Swarm regulate appeared lovely futile when prerequisites have been too deficient for queen mating.
Colonies that did swarm – and I do know I misplaced a pair which is fairly abnormal for me – gave the impression to take without end to get the substitute queen mated.
And, in parallel to my manufacturing hives, my grafted queens in 3-5 body nucs have been doing exactly not anything for weeks at a time.
My first spherical of queen rearing used to be a washout. Actually. The second one and 3rd rounds ended up being merged into one. Grafting and mobile elevating used to be easy, however ‘rain stopped play’ and queen mating took weeks.
Suspending the inevitable
All of which supposed that through early-July my notes have been stuffed with feedback like “No eggs. Ultimate resolution subsequent week.”
As an alternative of lowering my inspection frequency – as a result of all of the bins have been queenright, swarming used to be over and my solely fear used to be having sufficient 15 kg buckets for the honey harvest – I used to be nonetheless looking for eggs each week.
Typically within the rain.
However bees were round for tens of millions of years, so there is not any probability they might be thwarted through a place of inauspicious climate or an impatient beekeeper.
In the end, love it generally does, issues turns out to have labored out.
And within the heart fortnight in July, the entirety just about got here excellent.
No longer best – I am a beekeeper, so there is all the time one thing I will be able to whinge about – however a complete lot higher than it will were.
The wind blew from a hotter quarter, the rain abated, the solar got here out and the nectar flowed.
By way of golly, the nectar flowed 😄.
Flax?
For the primary time I will be able to consider there is a large box of flax close to my primary apiary. Just a little Google-Fu means that flax (linseed; Linum usitatissimum) isn’t an ideal supply of nectar. Then again, the summer season waft is previous than anticipated, and I have now not noticed a lot else about.
Do any readers have sensible enjoy of flax/linseed as a nectar supply? A touch tells me that there could also be much more grown at some point.
The lime, after all, turns out to were a failure … however that is to be anticipated 😞.
Anyway, again to the purpose of the tale. While now not precisely “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat” issues gave the impression to have in large part labored out.
I have were given some fairly heavy supers and greater than sufficient nucs containing mated queens.
Outcome 😄.
So, despite the fact that the beekeeping is not completed for the yr, I am into the ‘house immediately’. There is the honey harvest in a fortnight or so, then feeding and treating.
Since I do not wish to feed and deal with colonies I do not want or need, the present focal point is on consolidating colonies. As well as, I am transferring area {{1}} and, sooner or later, wish to minimise the selection of colonies I therefore have to transport.
Swarm replace
Sooner than discussing the way to unite nucs and entire hives I assumed I would supply a snappy replace at the two swarms I discussed in Swarms, misplaced and located.
The swarm I know I misplaced, which ended up bivouacked 20 metres up in a cypress tree, stayed there for a few days of in point of fact terrible climate after which – at the first heat/dry day – disappeared for pastures new.
My bait hive, arrange very a lot after the truth {{2}}, used to be utterly not noted (as I suspected it might be, however it is all the time value a take a look at).
I’m hoping they live on and located a bait hive from some other Fife beekeeper.
The swarm that moved into my bait hive within the affiliation apiary at the 30th of June used to be accrued through a bee-less affiliation member the next night.
For 3 weeks there have been no eggs and no signal of a queen, however the bees have been calm, so I suspected there used to be a queen provide. I fielded a few emails from their new ‘proprietor’, the closing of which wondered whether or not a brand new queen will have to be bought.
Thankfully, an afternoon or two later (at the 24th of July) there have been eggs.
The swarm, which used to be a gorgeous excellent dimension, used to be subsequently a forged, headed through a virgin queen. It took her no less than 3 weeks from the swarm arriving to get mated and get started laying.
Have endurance!
For completeness, here is a graph of the native temperature right through July. The primary part of the month used to be in most cases cool. The queen must first pass on a number of orientation flights, after which takes a couple of (generally) mating flights, incessantly on successive days. Those did not happen till the center of the month.
One excellent day isn’t sufficient.
Poorly mated queens
If the queen solely will get restricted possibilities to mate you might to find that the colony makes an attempt to supersede her inside of a couple of weeks {{3}} of her beginning to lay. Normally, you can to find the queen provide and laying, but in addition to find a couple of queen cells as neatly.
How do you distinguish between a colony making an attempt to supersede the queen, and one intent on swarming?
Tough.
The quantity and place of the queen cells is meant to be indicative; cells at the outer edge of the body recommend swarm arrangements, while only one or two cells in the course of the face of a brood body point out supersedure.
Possibly.
Then again, I would all the time attempt to take different details/observations into account as neatly.
If the colony isn’t very robust, then swarming is much less most probably. Conversely, if I discover a solitary queen mobile – anywhere it is positioned – in a colony overflowing with bees and with 11 frames of sealed brood, my first idea is now not that they are seeking to supersede, it is ‘Yikes! Do I’ve a spare nuc with me?’
A number of of my colonies that requeened themselves right through swarm regulate ended up with poorly mated queens. Those colonies had constructed up very strongly early within the season and began to make swarm arrangements. As a result of this used to be earlier than I would began queen rearing (so had no spare mated queens), I used the nucleus manner of swarm regulate and allowed the field to rear a brand new queen.
However the climate used to be deficient and those queens, in the event that they did get mated, have been lovely unconvincing. A pair have been outmoded someday in June (now not all the time neatly), and a few plodded on till mid-July.
Cavalry queens
And, through then, I had new mated queens in nucs.
Take into account, those queens are being outmoded for the reason that colony has decided that they don’t seem to be excellent sufficient. I have no thought how they resolve this; is it pheromone ranges, the laying charge, or the behaviour? {{4}}
An underperforming queen in high-season is a little bit of a legal responsibility. While I may let the colony requeen itself once more, I don’t believe it is sensible. If the possible supersedure is for the reason that queen is poorly mated then it is most probably that the variety of sperm she has – both in quantity or genetic variation – is restricted. That isn’t a excellent start line from which to rear a brand new queen.
There is additionally the prolong to imagine. The top of the season is rapid drawing near.
Which is the place the brand new, mated queens in nucs are available, just like the cavalry showing over the crest of the hill in a Western.
By way of putting off the ‘dodgy’ queen (and all the queen cells), and uniting the de-queened field with a queenright nuc, the colony studies no interruption in brood manufacturing. Sure, I may simply exchange the queen, however what do I then do with the nuc field that is stuffed with bees and brood?
So, how do you unite a nuc with a complete hive?
As with virtually all strategies in beekeeping, there are a lot of tactics of attaining the similar endpoint.
I will in brief describe a few variants of the similar manner that I exploit, relying upon the time of the season, the state of the hive being requeened and the presence or absence of supers.
Easy uniting
A nuc has about part the selection of frames in a complete hive. Assuming there are not any supers at the complete hive, the most simple approach to unite the 2 colonies is to make use of a 2nd brood field, a sheet of newspaper and a fats dummy.
- Be certain the recipient hive is queenless and that there are not any queen cells provide.
- Duvet the highest bars of the brood frames with a unmarried sheet of newspaper and make an overly small hollow someplace within the centre {{5}}
- Upload a 2nd brood field and a fats dummy.
- Switch the 5 – 6 frames from the nuc into the gap within the higher brood field. Transfer the fats dummy to right kind the bee area across the added nuc frames.
- Upload again the crownboard and roof and go away the colony undisturbed for per week.
3 further pointers:
- Do not use newspaper with staples preserving the pages in combination. Within the ‘warmth of the instant’ you can rip the sheets seeking to separate the pages. Irritating.
- When uniting like this I all the time put the moved colony on best … I would like the bees to grasp that one thing has modified as they negotiate the decrease brood field en direction to the hive front as I consider {{6}} this encourages them to reorientate to the brand new location.
- Make completely positive that the queen used to be on some of the frames from the nuc, fairly than wandering round at the sidewall of the nuc field {{7}}.
The bees bite their approach during the newspaper, combine slowly and do not combat {{8}}.
I’ve overall self belief on this manner and do not commit it to memory ever failing.
After all, that does not imply I all the time use it 😉.
Two into one does pass
I like to overwinter my colonies in one brood field. Uniting as described above leaves me with a double brood colony to compress into one field on the tail finish of the season.
No longer best. The iciness cluster does not want that quantity of area, and there are different issues I would like to be doing.
On examining one hive closing week it used to be transparent that the queen used to be underperforming. Even supposing she wasn’t (but) being outmoded, her laying charge used to be low and there have been solely about 3-4 frames of brood within the field. Then again, there have been nonetheless a large number of staff, and the supers have been reassuringly heavy.
Somewhat than making a double brood colony, with a lot of area within the backside field, the logical factor to do used to be so as to add the nuc at once into the center of the only brood field after putting off enough empty frames.
I got rid of the supers and inspected the colony with the failing queen (and got rid of her). Thankfully, she used to be on the first actual body … do not you like it when that occurs?
I then went during the field and got rid of 5 brood frames that have been both empty or simply contained nectar. I organized the rest frames on each side of a central void, with the 3-4 frames containing brood adjoining to the void.
The odor of luck
To scale back any preventing I gave the ready brood field a sprig of air freshener to masks the odor of the hive.
The bees do not like this.
They do not get competitive, however they do generally tend to boil out over the perimeters of the brood field. Do not overdo it … or use an air freshener that is much less smelly than the can in my bee bag.
I then added the frames from the nuc into the ready brood field, giving each and every body an overly fast spray with the air freshener.
As earlier than, you should be positive that the queen used to be on some of the added frames. It actually is helping to have the queen marked so you’ll be able to spot her temporarily.
Once I use this system, I all the time upload the body with the brand new queen in the course of the frames added. If it is the first body I pick of the nuc field, it is going into the center of the void, with the extra frames being added to each side.
The speculation here’s to encompass the queen along with her personal bees for so long as conceivable, till the colony has mingled correctly. Then again, to be fair, I have no thought if it actually makes a distinction the place the body with the queen is going.
What I know is that the process works for me as described, and I am not willing to probably sacrifice a queen to resolve whether or not adjustments of this system additionally paintings.
Uniting supers
The hives I used this 2nd manner on closing week all had supers on. The ones supers have been stuffed with bees and nectar.
Do you want to offer those a sprig of air freshener as neatly? Finally, they will be added at once on best of the nucleus colony added to the center of the brood field.
Smartly, I suppose it’s essential to, however I do not wish to chance tainting the nectar with Glade’s Odeur répulsive {{9}}.
I subsequently unite the supers again with the ‘merging’ colony within the brood field the usage of the newspaper manner. That is almost certainly ‘belt and braces’, however – once more – I do it as a result of it really works for me.
By the point of the season I am doing those types of hive manipulations I am working out of time to get queens mated and get the colony as much as power for the iciness. I subsequently keep on with one way I know works, fairly than risking the queen.
Some other manner for supers
As an apart, in case you merely wish to unite two supers, or upload a great containing bees and honey to a brood field stuffed with bees, then use a crownboard with a unmarried 8 mm hollow within the heart.
Dave Cushman describes this system – and why it really works – well.
After all, I would not have a unique crownboard with an 8 mm hollow in it.
That will be foolish.
I have were given a bog-standard crownboard and a small piece of plywood with an 8 mm hollow that covers some of the Porter break out holes within the crownboard.
I guess I may have used this system rather than the newspaper … with the exception of, there is a nectar waft on, and I am not going to be again within the apiary for a fortnight. This setup must be got rid of after a few days at maximum.
The very last thing I would like is for the bees to backfill the brood field with nectar as a result of there is such a lot congestion across the 8 mm hollow resulting in the supers.
The place would their new queen lay?
And in any case
I used the similar manner of uniting a nuc right into a unmarried brood field with a colony that had killed (or misplaced) its mated queen and that I suspected – accurately because it grew to become out – had a virgin queen scurrying round within it.
However may I to find her?
I got rid of the excluder and set it apart earlier than sparsely going thru each body.
No signal of her.
Having got rid of a lot of frames I then peered into the corners of the brood field. Virgins do not transfer about like mated queens, and incessantly do not keep on with brood-containing frames. They are able to be anyplace.
No signal of her.
I then separated the rest frames, allow them to settle and re-inspected them sparsely {{10}}.
No signal of her.
I seemed once more within the inner most, darkest recesses of the field … after which, in any case, checked the queen excluder.
Ta da!
How time and again have I informed newbies to all the time take a look at the queen excluder for the queen earlier than environment it apart?
Having taken this fast video of the queen scuttling about, in part for this publish and in part to strike a cord in me of my stupidity, I picked her as much as follow the coup de grâce …
… and used to be promptly stung at the palm of my hand through a lurking employee. It is a unusually painful location to be stung. I dropped the queen who, being a virgin, may almost certainly fly completely neatly … and not noticed her once more, regardless of looking out the grass throughout.
D’oh!
I endured with the uniting – in any case, I had an overcrowded nuc field and a queenless (despite the fact that possibly solely in brief) colony – and can to find out subsequent time whether or not the virgin returned and slaughtered my presented queen.
Do not do as I do, do as I say 😉.
… you understand it is sensible. This web page exists due to masses of past due nights and the caffeine from “double-shot” cappucino’s coursing thru my veins.
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Notes
To steer clear of the ubiquitous AI web page scrapers which reproduction, butcher and regurgitate the unique content material I have sweated over for hours, I can an increasing number of be making one of the most internet content material to be had to subscribers solely – whether or not loose or paid. In case you are a subscriber (loose) or sponsor (paid) you’re going to nonetheless obtain the emailed e-newsletter however, if you wish to view the publish in a internet browser to get the footnote pop-ups, it is very important sign-in first. Loose-to-view content material will nonetheless be free-to-view, however it is going to lend a hand forestall an unnamed purveyor of beekeeping apparatus in Australia (and others) from lifting my content material and re-presenting it as their very own.
Possibly I will have to write a damning evaluation in their merchandise or customer support and spot in the event that they reproduction that as neatly?
😃.
{{1}}: I will be unloading the pantechnicon as this publish seems for your electronic mail INBOX.
{{2}}: The scout bees might neatly have already positioned a brand new nest web page, so putting in place a bait hive as soon as the swarm has left is generally a futile workout.
{{3}}: Or much less.
{{4}}: Or any of a gazillion different issues I have both now not indexed or that we’re blissfully unaware is of significance to, and measurable through, the bees.
{{5}}: On an overly windy day it is a irritating process. You’ll pin the paper right down to the perimeters of the brood field or upload a queen excluder over the sheet of newspaper.
{{6}}: With no proof in any way!
{{7}}: Sure, you guessed it. I discovered this the arduous approach … if you do not do this you will lose the queen whilst you shake the – now empty of frames however now not of bees – nuc field over the hive. Because you moved the nuc, the queen won’t go back, no less than to not the hive being united. And, if she’s clipped, she would possibly not go back in any respect.
{{8}}: How can we if truth be told know this?
{{9}}: Sounds classier in French and an Olympic reference.
{{10}}: This trick may paintings with a mated queen, however virgins are so much much less horny to the employees, so they do not congregate lightly at the queen-containing body.