Apiary a Buzz

Restocked and on the move!

Added two nuc's today (green & red) from one of our local bee suppliers.

Unfortunately, the red colony arrived queen-less. the good news is they had four queen cells capped, and conveniently located as two cells on two separate frames.

Always the opportunist, I took two cells and placed them in a mating nuc (blue box, front left). Assuming I guessed right, both queens "should" be mated & laying eggs by the 4th of July.

Mating nuc made with two queen cells (on one frame) and a frame of honey from one of my (many) dead-outs

I was torn about using an entrance reducer, but considering the robbing....I stuck it on. Both red & green have inner covers, so that should help with heat & airflow

Green hive seems quite strong, and although I couldn't find her majesty, there were plenty of eggs as well as larvae. I marked it as a re-check (brick on end) in about a week.

My survivor hive continues to plug along. I think they were getting robbed, so I added a homemade robbing screen. So far, it seems to be working well, but sometimes the foragers forget and fly around a bit before getting back in the hive.

She's quite small, but laying well. She should have brood hatching soon - no doubt the daughters will be welcome. The remaining bees are quite old....I plan to boost 'em with brood from the green hive once they build up a bit more.