This is just a bit more sophisticated spammer. It looks like forum has recent influx of them.
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Hello brains trust,
I need a second opinion on a 10f hive we established for a new beek back in Oct 2020 from a 5 frame nuc. It’s currently residing in the Bridgetown, Southwest of Western Australia and these photos were taken around Christmas time:
Frame 10
Frame 9
Frame 8
Frame 6
Frame 7
Frame 5
Frame 4
Frame 3
Frame 2
Frame 1
My prognosis: They have swarmed. New queen seen on Frame 6. Fully developed queen cell on Frame 8 suggest another cast swarm is immanent.
I have my theories on why they swarmed, interested to hear your thoughts. Why did they swarm? What can be done now?
Thanks,
Fred
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That would be a diagnosis, then doctor. Diagnosis refers to the cause of a problem, prognosis refers to a likely future outcome.
Did you ask them? 
Sorry, couldn’t resist! Common reasons for swarming are:
- No space left in the hive (not true in this case)
- The queen is 2 years old or more. Older queens are much more prone to swarming. That would be my top guess for this hive
- They did it because that is what bees do
Nice looking queen. If she is laying, I might take down those other queen cells. If not, I would take down all except for 2 nice ones. I would consider feeding them too - looks like they have very little honey. Nice photos, by the way. Very helpful 
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I agree with @Dawn_SD, especially her third point. I’ve seen too many young queens swarm, & they weren’t out of room…
Bees swarm because it’s how they reproduce. If the conditions are right, & the bees are in the mood for sex, they’ll go for it, if you know what I mean.
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Hi Stevo, thanks for this link. A great snapshot of bee biology for someone like me, a complete novice who has been busy planting up bee friendly plants in my garden, reading, researching and gearing up ready for Spring 2021 when I hope to have my own bees.
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Hi Fred,
I’ve really enjoyed following this thread and learnt plenty.
The critical question is…
How’s the sting count going?
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Thanks, the hives are closed up now for winter. I’ll reset the sting count come spring and try not to beat my pb 
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First inspection for the season today after wintering. Queen is healthy in both hives. One hive looks to be a bit honey bound - will sort this out next inspection.
During winter I assembled a handful of frames for the coming season. Ended up using one to replace this frame…
Now to work out what to do with this 
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So many tasty options, I don’t know where to begin
The top half should be not too bad for chewing as-is 
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The top half was nice chewing… question is, where do I put the key?
This was method was very slow… and not effective. Crush and strain it is through paint strainer bag…
You harvested it off the hive too??? 
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Inspected my hives again after an 8 day family holiday down south. Both hives are strong. Plenty of honey in super too.
Prior to the break, I performed a split for a friend and upon inspection today appears I got overzealous creating a split with too many frames. The cold wet weather we’ve been having and the small number of nurse need meant the new split suffered chilled brood. I cycled 2 frames with new brood to boost the numbers along with nurse bees. The frames with dead/chilled brood got out in the healthy hive to cleanup and reuse.
Only managed to get picture of my ‘happy hive’ - plenty of drones.
I did notice a lot of play cups. Do Queens lay in these? Or do the nurse bees form a queen cell around eggs?
Looks like next inspection will be swarm prevention split time.
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That is quite a bustling hive Fred! It looks like it needs splitting to me. The queen will indeed lay in the cups if the colony is preparing to swarm.
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Sorry that happened Fred, but it’s good of you to post the pics - I haven’t seen this myself so now I know what it looks like.
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G’Day everyone,
Brand newbie fresh off my first bee experience and my first 40 mistakes. Enjoying the content but not able to put it in context, until today.
Very northern suburbs of Perth.
1 flow hybrid and 1 home made hive.
1 swarm left in a trap box too long and cut out this arvo. It was chokka. Managed to rescue 1 frame intact and got lots of cross comb into empty frames with laccy bands. Big mess. Huge mess. Comb everywhere. Bees everywhere. So many bees!
Never saw the queen but lots of fanning on the front of the hive box, so hopeful she was on the one undamaged frame.
Now have a fair chunk of bees on the wall where the trap was (hive box is underneath, but 2-3 metres away).
Lost a lot of comb due to fat fingers and underestimating how soft it is. Rest of the brood box is frames with wax foundation.
Hope they will all make it in by tonight and settle down.
Any tips on how to avoid stuffing up over the next few weeks?
Thanks
JW.
Sting count 0 (no idea how).
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Hi JPdub, welcome to the forum! Seems like you did a decent job with your first cutout, if as you say there were bees fanning at the entrance to draw stragglers in - fingers crossed the queen is in there and unharmed.
Now all they need is a little time to reorganize and fix the comb. Someone more local to you can advise best on timing of a super, but it seems to me that they will be in need of more room pretty soon.
Welcome and well done. I take it the colony has settled in now? Swarms will build up very fast. This spring has been cold and wet, it must be confusing for the bees.
Thanks for the replies and reassurance.
They seem to be settling in well. First three days were wet and cold, so they must have had nothing better to do than stay in and clean up after me. Since then, heaps of activity and even snapped bands being dragged out the front. Lots of pollen coming in. Plan is to do a first inspection this weekend, try to find the queen, and see if another box is needed. Gum trees seem to be about to bust out in a big way, and all together too. Mine seem to flower in sequence most years.
Any tips on ants? None interested yet but that’s only a matter of time? We have the big bull ants the size of a bee, so I’d like to avoid that issue if possible.
Thanks again.
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Look up moats. Some people grease the legs.
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