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Got 3 of my 4 queens marked which is a relief as they’re getting harder and harder to spot now the hives are expanding. The fourth one eluded me despite being in the smallest colony! The hive I nuc’d the queen from on 1st is still very busy and filling their first super. Hope they’re not set...

So just leave ‘em for 3 weeks now, right?

Update: I went into the nuc today and found and marked the queen. There were some eggs so I think all is well there 🤞. In the original hive there were loads of emergency cells which I took down, just leaving the one that I originally chose when I did the split. There was still quite a lot of...

I’ve had this happen before. It’s annoying if you want to put another bait hive in the same location. Best just to put a temp qx over the entrance to prevent absconding (removed after 48 hrs) and move a swarm the same day it arrives

out of curiosity then, for how many days after an egg was laid will the bees have the option of turning it into a queen?

I need to do this too. I was a bit unsure how long after nucing the queen the original hive will be able to make more cells…is day 5 the earliest you can do it and day 7 the latest (if the split was made on day 0)?

What do you mean by stickiest?

What criteria do you use when deciding whether to go double brood, as opposed to qx and first super?

I wonder if the main spell of swarming will be pushed back a bit this year. There seems to have been more talk of starving than swarming and I suppose even with a change in the weather, it might take a week or two for colonies that are light on stores right now to start thinking about swarming…...

Swarm traps all quiet today despite the good weather (yesterday there was half a dozen scouts at each) so hopeful it’s worked 🤞

I just expected that to happen today but I guess they left straight after the split yesterday…

Checked the nuc today and looks to be plenty bees. Oddly there are no/very very few bees venturing out of the nuc today. All other hives are flying well. Is that normal when you do a split? Is the frame of open brood keeping them occupied in the hive?

I’d feed them a little too if they’ve got no stores and been stuck in a tree for 10 days

Just one…I hope!

Thanks…I’d say they were around day six as per the chart you linked to. They were all pretty short to be honest, probably half way between a play cup and what I’d consider a finished swarm cell in terms of length. They were very clearly charged though with plenty of white gloop inside

If it was a virgin I found, why would there be charged queen cells in the hive?

If I think they are short of bees tomorrow can I just shake more in? The weather has been very cold but mostly dry for the past week or so. I’ve got swarm traps up in the garden and today was the first day any bees were showing an interest… Yeah at least one capped cell was charged and there...

I don’t think it could be a virgin. I inspected last about 9 days ago and there were just a few play cups. Should I swap the open brood for a frame of capped brood tomorrow or just leave them to it?

Found some charged queen cells (two capped!) in my biggest double brood hive today. This is the hive I mentioned in another thread that I think has found some OSR. They were bursting with bees and lots of nectar, with some capped honey. They are the calmest bees I’ve known so I’m very keen not...