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  • From: Jerry Schoendorf <jerry AT schoe.com>
  • To: NC Beekeepers Orange County <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [ocba] what to do, what to do?
  • Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:10:22 -0400

Managing the spring swarm season and spring build-up has been a son-of-a gun.
I’m thoroughly flummoxed and want to run up a white flag and ask for help,
please.

5 days ago on April 19, I split a hive that was crowded. There were no eggs,
brood, and it was honey bound. Clearly, it was headed for swarming. In fact,
it might have been the source of a swarm caught 10 days earlier. Swarm cells
were present on April 9 but I didn’t look for swarm cells on the day of the
split because the weather was cool and I was hurrying. To be sure that all
would go well, a frame of eggs was added the following day to each of the
split halves. Today, four days later, there are no swarm cells in either hive
and the eggs from 4 days ago are little larvae. Apart from those single
frames there is no brood in either hive and it has been almost three weeks
since there was young brood.
Should I re-queen or be patient?

A separate hive had four frames with varying numbers of swarm cells on April
10. These were removed and placed in a nuc box. A week later those swarm
cells were opened - mostly in the middle - and I presumed that a queen had
hatched. Today, two weeks later, there still are no eggs or new brood in this
nuc.
Should I re-queen or be patient?

The hive that the four frames with swarm cells came from also does not have
eggs or brood. When it was checked on April 9 it had eggs and brood in all
stages. There were two swarm cells on April 21. I presume that it’s best to
be patient until these swarm cells hatch. Does that sound right?

Thanks very much !!
Jerry


  • [ocba] what to do, what to do?, Jerry Schoendorf, 04/24/2014

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