Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Hive Inspection (New Queen / Feeding) - (June 13)

I checked the #4 hive (newly created from a split of #1) and found the queen on the #1 frame.  Her abdomen looked larger than the last time I saw her a few days ago and was very active.  She was almost running around the frame.  There were no signs of eggs.  It’s still a little early as she may have just mated this week so I’m not worried just yet.  I will wait another 7 – 10 days until I check again.  By then I will know if she is laying or not.

I also checked the super in #2.   They have eaten all stored food except for the 2 frames on each side of the super.  Since I’m not feeding this hive, this looks to be a sign we are in a dearth.

I checked the #1 hive since this hive had a few Queen cells last time I checked.  I checked the top brood box and found plenty of eggs and larvae in a good pattern.  One frame had a high number of drone brood.  I spotted 2 more cells they have started to build into queen cups.  I went ahead and removed those as I will be re-queening from the Nuc soon.
The 4 honey supers I have on this hive are also being eaten on.  Once again confirming the nectar flow has drastically slowed.

The #3 hive was empty of food so I added more 1:1 sugar/water in the bucket feeder.  I checked a few frames and found plenty of brood.  All looks good.

I did not open the Nuc as the queen just hatched a few days ago.  I put an entrance feeder on to make it easier them to get food and to hopefully have a stronger queen.

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