I have been counting down the days in hope that my colony hatch a new queen, due any day now. This morning’s early observation of the hives led me to believe they had a sleep in due to the cool temps. Mid morning business as usual, but at around 4pm, the nuc hive was going berserk.
There was a large number of bees flying in front, some diving to & fro, & a few fighting on the entrance board. So completely different from the much larger colony alongside who were just coming & going as per usual, in much smaller numbers.
My first thought was robbing, even though there is still a nectar flow here - river red gums everywhere. On the other hand, this is a queenless, small colony, probably weaker than most.
I threw a wet towel over the top & front of the hive & was chased by many angry bees - not normal here. I checked again 20 minutes later & things had calmed considerably, although I still saw 1 more fighting pair. By 7pm, all bees were back inside & I have reduced the entrance to 25-35mm. I could not see dead bees, ants could have taken them away, nor any capping or debris at the entrance.
Should I close the hive completely & feed the bees, bearing in mind, if a queen is hatching, she will need to get out at some stage…or do I leave the hive & observe again tomorrow, or move to a new location?
Thanks for your thoughts.