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Thanks Jenkins, That sounds like a plan, weather permitting it shall be done Monday. What about the drone brood currently unhatched ? Should I put it back in the hive for the new swarm to sort out , or leave it out altogether. I am thinking brood would confuse them as it would be against the...

Morning All, Within the last week I have inspected one of my hives to find it to be Q- or she is not laying fertile eggs and the bias to be all drone although there are a very useful amount of workers. Also this week I have managed to lure a large swarm into a bait hive. My thoughts are to...

I can vouch for that,

Agreed , But that would just involve a move to the side for a few mins whilst I went into the main hive and as we are talking winter it would not be very often (maybe just to add fondant) . However it would make more work next year when the nuc is transferred to a hive approx 15 meters away ...

Thanks for the info , I had an idea it would be 2:1 but was not 100% as we are not yet in autumn. So thats cleared that up nicely. As stated above 5Kg (2 full frames depending on frame size) does not seem much but I suppose it depends a lot on the weather and bee activity as to whether they...

Morning All, In your expert opinions which should we be feeding our bees 1:1 or 2:1 syrup. Reason for asking is I have a couple of swarms and a nuc (not a swarm) which are a bit light on stores, There are no supers on the hives with the swarms in (Nationals) The nuc I will try to overwinter ...

Morning, I moved the Q back to her original hive hoping that she would be accepted and thing would be ok. My thought was it would be better to let the nuc raise some emergency cells, which they are doing and have a the hive complete and a laying Q. Rather than a complete nuc and a good size...

Yes , I wonder . Thats why in put back the original Queen. Maybe as they went bad tempered over a period of weeks, it will take them a similar time to revert . Just like human women !! :)

Quite possible, I was going to say I will have a good luck at the weekend but if thats the case its probably best left alone for a couple of weeks, I just hope if there is a virgin in there she gets mated ok as time is running out for her.

Not quite understanding me are you ?? The original Q was removed and she was very calm and a good layer (and all her offspring were very calm) , I removed her and a couple o frames to make a nuc. for the purposes of lessening the chances of the donor hive swarming also it gave me a nuc as...

Yes, They have two full supers on , I have had to feed my nucs though , they were nearly on empty .

Ok, But would they would be the same genes, as the Q I removed is the same one I put back in. She had been in a nuc for a few weeks.

Morning All. Approx 6 weeks ago I made up a nuc from my strongest hive which included the Queen , This was done to increase my stock and deter the hive from swarming. The hive in question did not produce another queen or if they did she is not there now. This colony before I intervened was such...

It was a fairly soft foam used to pack electronic instruments, Spongy and black. I just cut it down to size and crammed it in the National entrance as a reducer.

Not really on the same topic ,However. On inspecting one of my hives last week I happened to notice a wasp was stuck (Deceased) on some foam sponge that I left as an entrance reducer. As I removed the said wasp it would appear its feet were secure in the foam which made me think why was it stuck...

Ok, Thanks all for you input. Some interesting info you have all put forward and although some have different opinions than others, I have learned from the info you have all provided. I now have to make my choice in what to do and all your input is appreciated. Thanks again

Ok , Sound advice and easy done with with the rate the next hive is grwing. My only concern is would it have enough time to build up before the winter assuming it is currently Q- and they rear a new queen . Or would it be better to destroy any QCs and unite. I would prefer to have 2 hives...

The small swarm was captured approx 4 weeks ago and the Queen was seen by myself and she did look small (Virgin) . Last Friday I inspected and no eggs present and the bees seemed rather agitated which imo would suggest the Queen did not return from mating. However I will have a thorough look...

yes , I know the large colony has a good queen and I will check the status of the small colony beforehand , If it turns out she is laying well i may not unite , Decision will be based upon the small colony queen status .

Hi All I have two colonies approx 1.5 meters apart in nationals one of them being a small swarm (Possibly Q-) from a few weeks ago and the other is a large swarm with a good laying queen. Question is ,, Can I unite the two through newspaper and a Q excluder ? The Q- colony would go on top so...