Well I split one of my hives (Queen Anne) earlier in the year. I then had Q Beatrix and Q Catherine. Now this last week Queen Anne has swarmed. In September forsooth, I shall write to the Times!I collected the swarm and stuck it in an old Warre hive.Now Q Beatrix looks like she will swarm too! I shall check for queen cells today but I’m out of places to split her to. Yikes. Anyone else in UK having this problem. I want to post pics here but can’t see how. Queen Anne can obviously read too. She read the appletree labels and landed in Monarch!
Oh Jenny, your bees clearly have a flair for drama — September swarming and all! Queen Anne must have fancied a change of scene after reading those appletree labels. Monarch indeed!
Good luck with Beatrix — fingers crossed you find just a few queen cells and not a full-on exodus brewing. It does feel like the bees in the UK haven’t read the same books we have about “not swarming after July”!
Wish we could see the pictures — sounds like quite the royal saga.
No Queen cells on Beatrix or Catherine. Already the swarm now in Warre hive ( now Eleanor) have drawn out that lovely white comb. Of course with the useless frame bars they are all over the place and I will have to do a cut out and rubberband into proper langstroth/ flow hive frames when new hives arrive. I began the year with two nucleii and never thought I’d be up to 5 before winter. Hive no 4 (Queen Douce) has the quickly bought Carnolian queen plus frames from B and C when I thought I’d lost Anne. There is now a virgin queen in Anne…..watch this space. Maybe I should start a podcast.
If that pic doesn’t tell a story - wow! A swarm clustered in an apple tree is not unheard of, but how about next to all them gorgeous apples
Just wanted to mention that when one of my colonies “swarmed” in fall, what really happened is that they absconded. Same behavior, very different reason: their hive had become unlivable due to wax moths. I realized that this infestation must have taken hold after a robbing event. So the colony decided to take off in search of better digs.
Oh that is useful to know. In this case I have been inspecting brood every other week or so ( keen newbie) no sign of wax moth. The remaining colony have produced their own virgin queen. So closed hive and will wait a few weeks so she gets mated and settled. They were very calm. Hope both can build up before winter with fat bees. The swarm has already built squiggly white comb in that silly Warre hive so I will have a cut out come Spring as the Warre bars are way too small for Flow/ langstroth boxes. (I had a tiny peek).
As you say. Have put fondant in all hives. But sadly last week on inspection the virgin queen Anne 2nd had disappeared. Hive was very subdued ( no other word) unlike feisty Beatrix. I fear she may have been lost on mating flight but then surely they would sound angry? I have depleted Beatrix and Catherine so much taking brood frames for Douce I darent take more for Anne. I will have to cross fingers and hope. ( Will prob have to begin another split in the Spring if it dies which will be a pity as Virgin Q Anne 2nd was nice and docile) Meanwhile Anne’s honey stores are so full even if she was there, mated and wanted to lay there is no room but in the flow supers. I have decided to remove all the Q excluders and let them all move slowly up during our mild winter. If any of the queens lay up there I shall just move them down in the Spring and wait one brood cycle.
