I did a quick check todayā¦and I was happy with what I found. My new queen, although still undiscovered, is laying well it seems. Keeping in mind I have 9 frames in an 8 frame box, Iāve now got 4 frames of honey and 5 frames of partially capped brood, larvae in various stages of development, and eggs. Big improvement from a week ago when there was no capped brood. My hive seems to be on the way to recoveringā¦now I just need the trees to start flowering to give it a boost.
With regards to the flowering, Iāve been in luck as the red flowering gum, lemon myrtles, and passionfruit vines at my house have all been flowering even though nothing in the nearby bush has. Over the last week Iāve noticed a steady stream of traffic from the red flowering gum to the hive so I did have hope going in for a quick look today.
I didnāt put the super back on but based on the inspection today Iād guess that at some point this month Iāll be putting the hybrid super back on. Not sure Iāll manage to also get the full flow super on season but weāll see
(One good thing that has come out of this is that Iām now good at spotting eggs, something I struggled with previously)
Iāve never seen eggs, expect in photos, I think itās me eyes. I see the very small larvae. Iāve tried two sets of glasses but Itās a bit hard with the veil. Any tips or tools that might help.?
Iāve typically inspected frames in shade or partial shade. If I inspect in full sun I find it much easier to spot the eggs. I find the increased light helps, and then I just slightly move the viewing angle of the frame.
Take photos (as high a resolution as you can). Then you can blow the photo up on you computer and see lots you miss otherwise. Also means you can take your time and not worry about the bees buzzing about asking you to get on with it.
Seeing some marri blossoming creeping towards the hills, smelling honey at the hives and even some comb building. Numbers beginning to explode, thinking swarm timeā¦
Wish I could use some smokeā¦ Iāll be testing the jacket this weekend if itās not too hotā¦ Hmmm 41Ā°c Saturdayā¦ Too hotā¦
Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes eh? I went back in the thread and saw jarrah flowering down your way in October 17 and it seems to be a 3-4 year cycle with them.
Are you seeing any buds on the trees? Gotta wonder how the commercial guys are making a buck without their core flow flowing. Iāve got trees budding up here on the block but as Iāve mentioned before, it doesnāt mean there will be a good flow.
It is interesting now I look for flowering plants to see the cycles year to year, just waiting to find some sort of pattern.
Trees are starting to flower along the South West Highway from Armadale to Pinjara. A couple are near my place up on the scarp in easy range of my hives, however the girls are interested in something in the other direction at this stage. Whatever it is the long hive is starting to thrive and my established hive is making ground.
Very little. The young saplings generally are a good guide as they just get covered like a big ice cream but I am seeing very little bud. I am hoping it is just late.
You can hold the frame up to the sun and you can see through the frames and possibly see the eggs.
Or the photo idea as suggested is good. Did you have a beekeeper help you to show you the eggs?
I couldnāt see them until my mentor pointed them out to me and showed me how to look at the frame.
I will be moving my hot hive up the hill tonight next to my long hive. This will cause a weakening of the hot hive foragers and a strengthening of the long hive which is going gangbusters with the flow starting up here.
I will try out my new OZ-Armour triple mesh suit on Saturday afternoon when I do a Shake, Kill and Replace on the, by then, partially depleted hot hive.
Iāll video the whole SKR episode if I can convince my darling wife to suit up and do the filming.
I hate to disappoint those that asked in the other thread, @Faroe, however, to avoid an XXX rating on my YouTube channel I will be fully clothed underneath even though it will be 36C.
Iāll drum everyone I can up into the flow super, then take it off and put it aside on top of an upturned telescoping lid that has some ventilation holes. A significant portion of bees, hopefully, will be trapped to reduce the number of angry bees flying around my head. Iāll then take the brood frames out of the box one at a time and shake the brood frames into the spare double box with a Qx between. Theoretically the queen will be trapped on top of the Qx while everyone else goes through. All the time hoping that the OZ-Armour will prevent any stingsā¦ Depending on the quality of the brood frames I might add one to the long hive, I also bought a new steel Qx while down at Beewise so there will be no issues with the girls falling through. At least that is the plan, all I need is the girls to co-operate. Once I clean everything up and reassemble, Iāll install the new queen in the flow hive.
Details; Given the collective comments in regards to my failing hive, ie. she might be just conserving resources until a flow eventuates, Iāve made a small split from my booming hive for the new queen temporarily. Split consisted of 2 honey frames, 2 brood, and a 5th drawn frame.
Iāve left the queen in the hive. Place there at 7.30 this morning .
Riverton area
2 hives;, 1flow (strong), 1 lang (Requeened itself about three times since spring)
Hi Terrence, where will the hot bees go that return to the original site? I would put a brood box there with some brood & drawn comb.
I would wait a day before looking for the queen. After that, she should be easy to find without shaking the bees. I would shake the bees as a last resort., for your neighbors sake.
@Peter48 can talk you through the process we used with his hot hive. He said āthis is the first time I didnāt get stung with this hiveā.
Thanks Jeff.
I agree shaking is a last resort, and my preference is to find her on a brood frame, however, she is very good at playing hide and seek.
Part of the reason for moving the hive up the hill before requeening was because I had considered the risk to my neighbour. Terrain, buildings and structures between the new location and the neighbour should protect the neighbour from any issues. I didnāt have anyone living next door for 3 years before the hive went in.
I just checked my live video feed on the moved hive and it looks like re-orientation is proceeding normally. The hive had a board in front of the entry to force re-orientation this morning, it looks like it has fallen to the ground but plenty of re-orientation is still happening, so they must have got the change of address message. The girls are very astute at moving blockages and partial blockages from the hive entry. Knowing these bees genetics over the last three years well, I fully expected them to have pushed the board off at some time today, and they did.
Iāll be home in a couple of hours and will confirm how many lost bees are in the trees and then I will be able to judge the level of agressive behaviour and if there is a need for a temporary box.
on my YouTube channel I will be fully clothed underneath even though it will be 36C. 
