Hey Forum Folk,
This week Cedar inspects a weaker hive and looks for signs that the queen is still in residence as well as responding to live questions from viewers.
Topics of discussion included:
- Observing from outside
- Using your smoker & suiting up
- Opening your hive & ants
- Frame inspection
- Replacing frames
- Closing the hive
Questions included:
- How long can a colony survive without a queen?
- Why is the comb so brown, if there’s no brood in it?
- There’s been lots of rain here, should I feed pollen to the bees? (Hunter Valley, Australia)
- There’s been a lot of rain here lately, now that there has been a break, is it normal for the bees to be doing orientation flights? (Australia)
- When I am installing a nuc, where should the empty frames go?
- What is the difference between the package of bees and the nuc?
- There is a colony in the wall of my shed. Can I remove it and place it in a hive?
- My hive is producing lots of drones but no honey for harvest, should I requeen?
- How can I tell the difference between a few incidental ants and an outright infestation in my hive?
- Is there a suitable or recommended sized area needed to keep bees? (Trinidad & Tobago)
- None of your hives have two brood boxes. Is that recommended or is it because of your location?
- Nectar is getting into the collection channel in my Flow Hive. I have to turn the round plugs every week. I checked the frame is properly aligned with the key.
- How long before you can add a super to that hive?
Here is the video recording: https://youtu.be/gtc2zS4iEaQ
and the transcript: Live brood inspection Q & A with Cedar – Flow Hive AU
Hope you all enjoy the recording - and, as usual, please let us know if anything needs clarifying or raises further questions for you, or if you wish to comment on any of the content - we’d love to hear from you 