Category: Bee Keeping Journal

Corona St. hives were top inspected. The 2 mother colonies (028-029) and (025) looked in good health from the exterior. Good numbers of bees and resources still coming in a t a regular pace.

Colony (028-029) was briefly opened and only 2 frames were pulled. Two frames which were added last week after a split were now full of eggs and larva.

Colony (025) was only examined from the top and the number of bees while weak is a bit stronger compared to the last inspection. We will perform a more thorough inspection next week to make sure the queen is still laying and the colony is still viable.

None of the campus hives survived the winter location on the Berm. It was decided to relocated the hives to a bit lower elevation perhaps more sheltered from the wind. The hives are located about 50 yards due west.

Went back to officer Ed’s property and made another more complete split (009). I took the queen with this second split and a huge number of bees. I started the colony with 2 frames of old honey frames and 3 frames of empty polished brood frame. The the original colony was checked to make sure there are plenty of frames with eggs and larva of the correct age. This should stop the original colony from swarming any time soon. The queen was caged and will be released tomorrow.

Queen-less Split (026) started on March 14, mother colony (28-29) has emerged. We will check back in 2 week for eggs.  This split made 2 adjoining queen cells which could not be separated. The unhatched queen appears to be intact and not killed yet. The unhatched second queen emerged.

The Hive at Woody’s pond was opened and inspected. The hive numbers were very low and are a concern. The queen was found easily. There are eggs, larva and capped brood present. Also a large number of dead bees in the bottom of the hive. The last inspection I cleaned the bottom of the hive out, so these are all new deaths in the last 6 weeks. The hive may be getting too much wind. Sun is not a problem. I moved the entrance excluder to the other side as to maybe prevent wind from blowing directly on the brood.

Officer Ed’s hive was inspected. This hive immediately showed a huge number of bees at the exterior. Upon inspection the both shallow brood boxes are packed full of bees. I took 3 frames of eggs, larva and brood away from the mother colony and put them into a 3 frame NUC (027). NOTE: the mother colony has shallow frames which have been put into a deep NUC. Move these bees to full as soon as there is a hatched queen.

Queen-less Split (001) started on March 14, mother colony (28-29) has emerged. We will check back in 2 week for eggs.  This split made 2 adjoining queen cells which could not be separated. The unhatched queen appears to be intact and not killed yet. So this frame was cleared of all bees and moved into another split from the (28-29) mother colony. One frame of brood with nurse bees was taken from mother colony (28-29) and put into a 3 frame NUC box (026).

One frame of nurse bees from mother colony(28-29) was moved into the 3 Frame NUC box (026). The Single frame with the unhatched queen cell was added. Hopefully the unopened and undamaged queen cell still contains a viable queen. Otherwise we will combine this colony back with the mother colony or turn into a new split.

Queen-less Split (030) started on March 7, mother colony (28-29) has finally emerged. We will check back in 2 week for eggs. Mating flights may be delayed by a 2 day low temperature weather pattern that is starting 4 days from now. This queen was delayed by approximately 8 days from the normal expected queen rearing calendar. The delay was mostly observed in the time to begin the queen cell. Also may have been a 1-2 day delay in the queen gestational cycle while in the capped queen cell stage. We will see how the other 2 splits emerge which were created with a one week separation each.

All 5 Niagara Hives were inspected.

Hive, (001-002) was opened and inspected. Hive had good pollen and honey stores. The top box appeared to be mostly empty with only a dozen or so bees. The lower box was not very full of bees either. The queen was found and hundreds of eggs were seen in cells. However, none of the eggs were hatched nor was there any capped brood. I am concerned about this hive’s late start or possible problem. No smoke or veil was used.

Hive, (004-005) was opened and inspected. Hive had good pollen and honey stores. The number of bees was significantly higher than other hives. The queen was laying a large number of eggs and there were many locations of capped brood. A huge increase in this hive will be seen soon.

Hive, (019) was opened and inspected. Hive had good pollen and honey stores. This hive had extremely small numbers just 3 weeks ago and has seemed to bounce back a little bit. I will continue to shelter this hive during cold weather. Good looking amounts of brood, larva and eggs. The queen activity looks good.

Hive, (016-017) was opened and inspected. Hive had good pollen and honey stores. Number of bees was average compared to other hives but still far greater than (001-002) . This Warre hive had 3 frames of brood and the numbers look stable and healthy. The Queen activity looks excellent. No smoke or veil was used.

Split (003) was opened and inspected. No signs of queen cells are seen. No smoke or veil was used with thishive.

A quick look into the Corona property hives. Colony (025) shows approximately the same number of bees as earlier in the month. No significant growth is seen with this queen and the month of March.

Colony (28-29) still continues to grow at an astonishing rate. The colony is taking up sugar water and back filling some of the brood chamber a bit. The colony was extremely strong and 2 frames were removed for a third split for this month. These splits are likely too early in the season to produce viable colonies. however, we will either combine these bees back to the mother colony or use these splits as breeding colonies in April.