Metropolis swarmed a week ago, this was my first chance to see what remained in the two boxes they had swarmed from....would there be many bees left...?
I need not have worried, there were loads of bees in there, and it was clear they had swarmed for lack of space. The natural thing that happens when a colony fills up all the available space, part of it breaks off and find a new home, leaving the young bees to sort out a new queen for themeselves and carry on.
The 'Other ' box on the right was full of burr comb in the top of the lid area, this one has a hive mat, almost looks empty at first glance...
Even peeling back the mat, first time it has been opened in almost 5 months, not much going on..
Top box is full, lots of capped honey, but mixed in with a lot of brood.
One of the end frames out of the top box. Very healthy amount of honey I reckon. Note to self, don't wait until the end of September to check your bees, next spring.
A couple of queen cells. There were about 6 in the bottom box, a couple in the top. When a hive swarms, the queen that leave takes all the flying bees, and as much supplies as they can carry. What remains is all the younger bees and some queen cells, and all the honey, nectar, pollen, brood, grubs....
There's 5 new bees emerging into the world as I watch...
Cracked this frame. Just the weight of honey in it put too much load on the hanging ledge thing, which was a bit mushy. I did a quick fix with a screw, but I'll have to replace this frame. It's one of the original frames we got from Ennio, I think.
Bottom box, pretty full. Loads of bees in there, If I hadn't seen the swarm, I don't know if I would have noticed that that they had gone. Must have been very crowded before they left.
Another couple of queen cells. One of these will hatch and provide me with a new queen, if they havent already. I have to wait another week or so, then check if I can spot the new queen, or at least some eggs that she has just laid.
After the chaos of the inspection, bees all over the place.
I had a quick peek into the 'Other', they had already re-filled the top with burr comb.
- gotta get a hive mat
- gotta put another box on top.
Later that day I went through Baghdad as well....
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