Artificial swarm

[crichmond]

After doing an inspection today and finding a nice size sealed queen cell, I did an artificial swarm and now have an extra colony assuming all goes well.
There was 8 frames of brood with larvae at all stages so the queen is laying well.

My other colony is at 7 frames of brood but no sign of queen cells yet, but when there is I will be going upto 4 colonies.

Question is though how long do I leave the new colony with the sealed queen cell before inspecting it? Obviously she has to emerge from the cell and then also have a mating flight, as you may be able to tell this is my first time creating a new colony from an existing one.

[Mrs Dobby]

No idea as to the answer Crichmond, but kudos for giving it a go! We're waiting for a fellow allotmenteer (from another site 5 miles away) to split one of his hives to provide us with a nucleus for our apiary! Cant wait for the bees to arrive, the apiary is fully up and ready to go!

[Plot17B]

Ahhhh...good question....and something I need to know too....
We were going to split the colony today as the hive (brood and a half plus 2 supers) was rammed and they were getting agitated. So with everything lined up for today's apiary work, they swarmed yesterday.

I wont write what I thought. It's a tad embarrasing. Mind you, they landed 20 foot away on a gooseberry bush and so i had them in my nuc box within 15 mins ( )and they are now housed in my friends hive next to mine. My first swarm collection.

So he has my queen (!!!!) and my hive's queen cells have been uncapped and clearly she's emerged (we did a brief check yesterday into the brood super but not into the brood box). The drones are active outside and clearly waiting to escort the queen for her maiden flight....

I want to go in and do a full check for the new queen, try to mark her, and check brood quality and quantity. And see if she's laying yet (dependent on her mating times of course). So same question really...."how long should I give her before going in?"
I'm going to hit the books and will update if I find a good reference.....

P17B

[crichmond]

On another note I did an inspection of my mates hive and found 7 sealed queen cells, shame I dont have queen rearing equipment as I could have given them away.
Unfortunately I couldnt save any as he didnt have a spare hive or nuc.

[Alice]

Fascinating stuff Crichmond but double Dutch to me.
I might just look and learn.
Good luck with the quest.

[seasprout]

I dont have any Bees and I dont think I will ever be able to have Bees but I like Bees and really enjoy reading about other peoples bees.

Keep posting guys.

[crichmond]

Ok i got the answer thanks to Linda from Lancaster Beekeepers.

A queen cell is sealed on the 8th day after the egg is laid. The virgin queen will hatch on the 16th day. She will go on a mating flight on the 20th day onwards. If the weather is good she will take several flights in the next week. Usually you leave well alone for 1 month from hatching so you have a chance to see any eggs.

So my inspection of the new colony wont take place until the 6th of June or there abouts.

[Headfry]

I was told about a month would be a good idea... I am two weeks yesterday and pacing!

Good luck folks, in the original hive all is well, they seem to have stayed put (thinking they have swarmed to somewhere new) I cant look in the 'new' hive yet - though as I use glass quilts I have had a peak and under the quilt is PACKED with bees so put on queen Excluder and super! Fingers crossed for us all!

[Plot17B]

Ahh....good job the weather was too windy/cold to do a check on Sunday then..
Just praying that the new queen mates ok....heaven knows where she's going to find any non-familial drones to hook up and "do the biz" with.....
The guard bees are a tad knarky right now (for the first time ever) and that's a sure sign of not being queenright just yet. One was a real persistent little devil.

Actually a bit annoyed that as the weather was pants the week before I did not go in....as would of spotted the queen cells and thus i) confirmed our suspicions they were getting ready to swarm and ii) could of made an immediate nucleus by lifting frames. (two friends are awaiting to establish colonies and we could of helped them). Missed a good opportunity to expand that way. **head hangs in shame**

Sigh..only 3 weeks and 4 days to go then. tick....tick...tick.....
P17B