G'day - Fred from Perth

Introductions
315

Don’t worry too much about hunting for the queen - it’s exciting to spot her but not strictly necessary. As long as you see eggs and very young larvae you can be sure she was there very recently & prob still is :wink:

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316

Photo of eggs for reference sake. I took this with my mobile phone today. I’m surprised at the clarity - especially zoomed in…

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317

Thanks for the photos. Colony is doing well. I have had a few inspections but cooler days have been hard to find. Medium is now nearly all built out and filling. I used a combination of wax foundation and the wood strips in home made frames. There is a bit of cross comb, but I don’t intend taking from this box either, so I’m not panicking. I have a couple of questions for you excellent brains trust folk.

  1. Is it worth putting the flow super on this late? I have a couple of flowering marri, but the red & pink flowering gums are all done. I assume the marri flow won’t last long in this heat? Thought I was doing well until I drove up through Mundaring -wow! I have some lemon gums and lots of Geraldton wax that will flower in July/August, but not sure what fills the gap?
  2. Queen excluders - I am picking up a sense that the plastic flow excluders may not be the best option. I have framed mine so it is like a top cover. Is the issue with the edges, or the size of the gaps?
  3. Washboarding has been almost a daily occurrence with anything from 5 to 50 bees in sync! I wasn’t expecting to see it so often?
  4. Robbing or heat?I see what I think is mass orientation flights of an evening about every two weeks. The hive is under flowering trees, so there are days when the front of the box is very busy. I don’t know that I’m seeing fighting. A lot of bees on the doorstep may be the heat? I have the entrance reduced to about 5-7 cm. I also insulated the roof and added two small grilled vents at either end. Using the mesh bottom board. Box is in part shade for all but about 1 hour, full shade from 2pm ish.
  5. I should have expected wax sheets to melt in 40 degrees, shouldn’t I!
  6. Are late season swarms a possibility?
    Sorry, that’s a lot to cover.
    Thanks and I hope you are all busy harvesting. I’m happy to wait to ensure the colony gets to full strength this summer.