OK so I opened up the Not So Happy hive and gave it a thorough inspection. It appears that the hive has foulbrood. I think it is European since it has 'melted larvae', doesn't smell awful or have a ropey consistency. The larvae that I have dug out with a toothpick are white and gooey, but not ropey.
The nuc actually looks the best right now. It has the most bees (again) thanks to the fact that I was feeding it. It has capped brood. It probably does not have as much honey as the other 2 hives, but will probably put away more before the weather gets colder.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Queenless?
Well it's been a while since I did a full inspection of the hives. Since the "Happy" hive always seemed to have plenty of bees -- coming, going and bearding, I did not think I needed to do a full inspection. Apparently I was wrong. I noticed a drop in activity so I checked it thoroughly today and found no eggs, no larvae, no brood and apparently no queen! Rats!
Tomorrow I'm going to do a thorough inspection of the other hives and see if things are going OK for them.
The nuc hive has finished off another bucket of syrup so I hope they are drawing comb.
The "Happy" hive still hasn't drawn any comb on the foundation that I got from the Honey Exchange. I don't know what's up with that.
The "Not So Happy" hive seems to have bees coming and going just fine so hopefully things are good there.
Now I have to decide what to do with the queenless hive. I have at least 10 frames of honey and still some bees. Should I try purchasing a queen, or is it to late? Should I purchase a nuc? Bee Pride has nucs for sale. Should I try putting a frame with eggs from the other hives into the hive and see if they can start a new queen, or is it too late? Should I just put the frames from this hive into the other 2 hives to make them stronger for the winter?
I think that I'll wait until after tomorrow's inspections to decide, and maybe email Rick Cooper.
Tomorrow I'm going to do a thorough inspection of the other hives and see if things are going OK for them.
The nuc hive has finished off another bucket of syrup so I hope they are drawing comb.
The "Happy" hive still hasn't drawn any comb on the foundation that I got from the Honey Exchange. I don't know what's up with that.
The "Not So Happy" hive seems to have bees coming and going just fine so hopefully things are good there.
Now I have to decide what to do with the queenless hive. I have at least 10 frames of honey and still some bees. Should I try purchasing a queen, or is it to late? Should I purchase a nuc? Bee Pride has nucs for sale. Should I try putting a frame with eggs from the other hives into the hive and see if they can start a new queen, or is it too late? Should I just put the frames from this hive into the other 2 hives to make them stronger for the winter?
I think that I'll wait until after tomorrow's inspections to decide, and maybe email Rick Cooper.
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