Tweet
The queen in one of my hives that was made from a split last spring has been so elusive that I never saw her at all last year, from the time she was just a tot in a queen cell.
She has proved herself a good and prolific layer producing a big colony, but search as I tried, I couldn't find her.
Yesterday, with the thermometer reading 16°C I decided the time had come, before too big a spring buildup of new bees, to make a concerted effort to find her and get her marked and clipped.
I took the brood box to the other side of the apiary to reduce the number of bees on the frames and went through every frame to find her. On the second run through, finally, there she was, and she was quick on her feet! Lovely big dark bronze lady, now sporting a big white spot on her thorax.
Yes, I know this year's colour is green but white is easier to spot, and I have few enough hives that I can simply keep a note of queen ages and mothers
She has proved herself a good and prolific layer producing a big colony, but search as I tried, I couldn't find her.
Yesterday, with the thermometer reading 16°C I decided the time had come, before too big a spring buildup of new bees, to make a concerted effort to find her and get her marked and clipped.
I took the brood box to the other side of the apiary to reduce the number of bees on the frames and went through every frame to find her. On the second run through, finally, there she was, and she was quick on her feet! Lovely big dark bronze lady, now sporting a big white spot on her thorax.
Yes, I know this year's colour is green but white is easier to spot, and I have few enough hives that I can simply keep a note of queen ages and mothers
Comment