More Bee Fun

June 19 Swarm Cells!
Things had been going along rather smoothly in the hives for a while, so I restrained myself from gushing to you all about how fuzzy and buzzy the bees were. The Russians are still lagging a bit in the comb and brood building department, but it sounds like they are still normal. I’d been comparing them to my overachieving Italians, who have four boxes to the Russians’ two.

But now the Italian vigor may present me with a snag. Upon my most recent inspection, I found several “swarm cells”, two of which had queen larvae in them. The bees will prepare to swarm when they think they are getting crowded, or are building fast enough to soon become crowded. So they build some special queen cells, and start breeding a few queens.

According to a beekeeping friend, I may need to split the hive to keep them from swarming. Oh boy, three hives! At this point I have two or three weeks’ grace, because I destroyed the occupied swarm cells. They have probably started some more, and the new queens will emerge 21 days later. I’ll have to split the hive before that, so that I don’t lose Boudicca in a swarm. At least I have some friends who will take her and her entourage for a few weeks. A split hive needs to be separated for a while so that the splitees don’t return to the old hive.

I might also be able to avoid a swarm by letting Boudicca continue laying eggs in the topmost box. Right now I have a screen, called a queen excluder, between boxes 3 and 4. Box 4 was supposed to be for honey (for me), but I might have to wait until box 5. I’m waiting for an answer from my friend on that question.

With all the reports in my local bee group of swarming, I suppose it’s natural that I would also have one. I suppose it’s a sign of a hive’s success. The sign of a beekeeper’s success might be to recognize the swarm plans and take preemptive action. Wish me luck!

June 26: Making a Split
Yesterday I had three bee lovin’ friends (Julia, Joy & Harvey) come to help me split Boudicca’s hive. We confirmed that there was at least one capped queen cell (a swarm cell), so a split was needed. It was so hard for me not to stick my hand in to help. We located Boudicca, and put her in a fresh hive box with frames of brood, food and workers. Then we whisked her off to my friends Holly & Harvey’s garden for a “vacation”. The old hive remained with the queen cell(s). Hopefully I’ll get a new queen who successfully mates. It’s all so exciting!

The split simulates a swarm, and hopefully eliminates the urge to do it again. In the wild, the old queen takes off with a portion of the workers and supplies, and resettles elsewhere. This is why Boudicca was removed rather than the queen cells.

The theory behind moving the new split far away is that otherwise the workers may drift back to the old hive, leaving the queen and brood to die of neglect. The minimum distance recommended is two miles, because it is outside the bee’s typical range, so they won’t find their way back to the old hive. The bees reorient to the new location and forget their own home. After about three weeks, they can be moved back to the old bee yard, where they’ll (mostly) stay where they’re supposed to. Hopefully Boudicca’s crew won’t have filled too many more bee boxes by then, because carrying them all together could be a bother!

I have heard of effective ways to move them a shorter distance, but H & H seemed eager to bee-sit. Maybe next time I’ll try it the close-by method, and compare the results.

It is inconvenient to split a hive or have one swarm at this time of year. The big nectar flow is beginning, and a split hive has fewer workers to forage for nectar. This means less honey in August. From what I’ve read, the way I split the hive could salvage the honey crop. The old hive has most of the work force, which is now less interested in swarming, so they can get on with the business of making honey. The nurse bees will also have little to do in the hive after Boudicca’s brood matures and before a new queen begins laying. That means they can also get out and bring in the nectar. However, there will later be that little gap in the workforce because of the egglaying hiatus.

If a new queen fails in the old hive, I can recombine Boudicca & Co. and all should be happy. Strange how easily they can lose the urge to swarm. The nectar flow certainly helps. I suppose everyone is too busy to pack their bags & leave again.

I am fighting a small case of Boudicca separation anxiety. I have grown very attached to my first queen. I hope she’s happy in her holiday villa, and comes home refreshed.

Although I’ve not been laboring during my “medical leave”, I certainly haven’t had a chance to be completely indolent. I spent most of Tuesday on line, reading up on splitting hives and moving on to other subjects apain. Yesterday was hive-split day, which included a visit to Julia’s bee yard to help her locate a queen she feared she didn’t have (she did have). Then another friend, Ian, came over with scans of his gorgeous artwork for me to print out. The files were huge, and took ages to resize and print. But I had fun with it, and even printed a few refrigerator magnets for him (and me!). If I can ever stop typing here, I can plug in a movie and be lazy.