Just a second though and I’m sure you have looked so just a reminder if it slipped you mind.
When you do your next inspection check that the frames except for the outer ones are not clogged up with pollen.
During the drought up here and very little nectar available the bees were bringing in heaps of pollen and with the colony shutting down the queen laying as normal the brood cells became pollen storage cells so when the drought finally broke I had to add new frames to the brood area.
Cheers
Hi Pete. I inspected the hive about a month ago. Frames of capped and uncapped brood, some pollen and a few frames of honey. I even took out a frame of brood because I was worried about them swarming again - & taking what little honey that was there-. Already the numbers are back up.
I was down on the Gold Coast about 4 weeks ago doing some visits, The major issue was swarming that is very out of season but the weather was warm, some rain, and our classical Spring weather and the bees didn’t look at a calendar to see it was March.
Taking a frame of brood is a bit harsh but note you have only one hive so you had limited options. If you had a second hive you could have given that frame to a weaker hive. Food for thought, I’m constantly swapping brood from strong hives to weaker ones to reduce the risk of robbing.
Cheers
Hi Pete,
I have two hives, and the brood on both was okay, but the 2nd hive just had so many more bees. So many more. I’ll take a picture.
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