May 27, 2012
I knew my hive was getting full, so I decided to add some supers to make more room for the bees. On my way to the hive I noticed a lot of bees flying around. I was actually watching them swarm. They landed in a tree near the hive but unfortunately they were 60 feet up!! No way was I going to be able to catch the swarm. They stayed there for several hours then decide to fly to a new location. That was also 60 feet up a tree. I setup an empty box under the tree in hopes they would decide to setup residence there. We went away for the weekend, but nothing was in the box when we got home and the bees were long gone. Oh well!! Here's a video showing the swarm:
I contacted Mike and he explained that the bees make provisions for a new queen prior to swarming. He said that a new queen should hatch out shortly and she should be laying eggs in a week or two.
June 24, 2012
Checked my hives this morning to see how they were coming along.
The hive that I added a new queen earlier this spring seems to be doing good. It has both capped honey and lots of brood. Hopefully the population will build up before cold weather sets in this fall.
I next check the hive that had swarmed on May 27th. I was expecting to see brood, eggs and larvae, but had none of these. If there's a queen in the hive, she isn't producing. I contacted Mike to see about getting a new queen. Mike called me right back and I was able to pickup a new queen Sunday evening. He told me to put the queen cage in the hive and check it later to see if the bees are 'attacking' the cage. This means there's probably a queen already in the hive and they're trying to kill the new queen. If that is the case, I'll have to try finding the old queen and pinch her.
June 25, 2012
Didn't have time last night to put the queen cage in the hive, so I put it in this morning. Later in the day I checked to see if the bees were attacking the new queen, but it turns out she was already released. Guess they really wanted her bad!! So now the question is, is she alive or dead. The only thing to do now is wait a week or two and see if there are any eggs.
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