Hey guys,
We completed our 1st hive inspection today, approx 4weeks after installing the NUC. On the upside we spotted our queen and confirmed our colony seems to be doing reasonably well, expanding out into the new wax foundation frames.
I do have a couple of questions for the knowledgeable gurus in here though. With reference to the pics. On one of the original NUC frames, there are some bulbous capped cells which I think are drone cells but thought I’d check. Also, we found 3 of these small beetles in the hive, two around the lid and 1 in the tray. I did some googling and immediately got worried I might Small Hive Beetle? From the pics on the net, the beetle in my hive seems longer than the SHB, also the Dept of Ag WA website states SHB is only found in WA’s North. FYI, I’m based in Perth suburbs West Australia.
Hey Tony,
It looks like things are going well by the look of that frame. Your queen has a solid laying pattern and yes, those bigger pupae are drones. That’s not SHB and I don’t think you’ll have a problem with your three guests. It’s not unusual to have a few freeloaders like cockroaches, spiders, ants and beetles of various sorts. Squish them if convenient, otherwise the bees will take care of them. Concentrate on keeping your colony strong and they’ll deal with most issues.
Mike
