Thank you again, lots of great tips
On Sat, 7 May 2022 at 09:58, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi again Zuzana
Sorry I see that in my previous answer I missed the bit in your question
about how you can tell the queen (or princess) is there.
For a newly hired swarm, the easiest way to tell is just to observe how
they are at the entrance (e.g. the rap test is not appropriate).
if the bees are acting in a purposeful active manner (on a good weather
day, like today) and going about their business - setting out foraging (or
doing orientation flights if just hived), zooming off and coming back, then
that is a strong indicator that all is well, especially if there are some
with pollen.
If they were queenless, they would mill around a bit and not act in a
coherent or purposeful manner.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 7 May 2022, 09:35
Subject: Re: [oxnatbees] Hived swarm & nest building
To: <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi Zuzana
Swarms bees are usually bursting with wax flakes and start building a bit
of comb asap They don't do this quite like an established colony which
already has a nest. So no dedicated honeycomb as there are higher
priorities.
They make a small amount of comb rapidly with the wax they come prepared
with and this is used in combination for a nest with some pollen and nectar
storage so brood can be raised and fed.
The Queen (if a prime swarm) will be rapidly wanting to lay eggs and
getting her going on raising the new colony brood is the imperative.
For a princess, the needs are similar but of course no eggs will be laid
until she is mated (could be a few days, could be a week or so depending on
weather for the mating flight, etc).
Lynne (Paul is out atm so may have more to add)
On Sat, 7 May 2022, 09:07 Zuzana Meryova, <zuzanameryova@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
sorry to bombarded you with so many questions ....
Once the swarm is in hive, what is the order of building and can you tell
if queen is there?
For example, would they start building comb one-three and fill it with
honey first, then comb four-six for brood nest (on a day 4-5? or other day)
and so on? And what does queen do while waiting for the egg spaces being
built or just waits and keeps on putting weight on?
Thank you, and sorry to ask silly questions
