There were just seed pods when we came home but will make pretty Christmas decs. and the bees obviously did their job well.
Nothing to do with bees but remember that honeybees object to the
smell of horses and goats and can react quite violently.
When I got home and did the first inspection of the 4 hives this is what I found :
Silver hive - remember lost Q. and failed to raise a replacement on the
brood combs kindly donated by Blue Hive. Then a good friend gave me a sealed Q cell which I wrapped up to protect the developing larva and put in the middle of the brood nest. While I was away the virgin Q hatched out, mated and started laying! I soon found her and marked her red - this year's colour. This colony will now build up to strength ready to survive the winter but there will be no surplus honey from them.
Blue Hive: Kind friends carried out an artificial swarm to prevent this colony from flying off into the great unknown! On inspection I found the main Q cell sealed but also the little rascals had made 4 more Q cells. You'll find out how I dealt with these tomorrow.
Goodnight - things to do QBZZZZZ
No comments:
Post a Comment