Final Checking

**Jon** · 26-10-2011, 07:36 PM

The weather here has improved to sunshine and a balmy 12c so I checked a couple of colonies I had doubts about for one reason or another
The last time I checked these was about a month ago.

One which I hoped would be quite strong had dwindled to 2-3 frames of bees.
It had about 5 frames of brood a month ago and was covering 8 frames. It also had next to no stores in spite of being fed so I suspect a combination of nosema and robbing. There was a bit of brood and I saw the queen. I reduced it to 5 frames with dummy boards and combined it with a queenless nuc which I put on top above newspaper. Don't fancy its chances though.

Another which seemed to have little or no activity at the entrance and was taking down very little syrup had 4 frames well covered with brood both sides. No queen seen but obviously fine and dandy. Stores were not too bad bit it will need a little more.

I saw the marked queen in another which was attempting to supersede at the start of September. There were fresh eggs so I didn't look any further.

**Adam** · 27-10-2011, 01:13 PM

I haven't looked in anger at any hives for a few weeks. It's been generally quite mild and I wonder if the bees are munching through stores rather than going to bed like they should. One new local beekeeper emailed me to say that next years OSR has started to flower so her bees are bringing in pollen and honey from that.

A couple of autumns ago I united two weak colonies, squashing one queen. The weather was really too cold and the following day the top colony had not even got through the newspaper so I shook icing sugar over them and put them all together in one brood box. They got through to the next year OK although the surviving queen was quite slow to get the colony going as she was small and didn't have a lot of get up and go in her. Fecundity I think they call it. If you have fed them a Nosema treatment I guess there's a fair chance. Better than without intervention.

Jon I wonder of the marked and nearly superceded queen will continue long next Spring. You'll have to let us know.