Today was the final beginner’s beekeeping class, and time to see how the ‘swarm’ Poly was getting along.As expected, there was a good number of bees working the hive - made up of all the flying bees from the original hive on the new site. However, they hadn’t got much drawing done, so I decided to give them a feed to encourage drawing the new frames.

1 gallon of 1:1 syrup was added, although closer to 0.5 gallons reached the bees, after I had to change feeders over having discovered a leak in one! This should give them some extra energy to draw out the new foundation, and allow them to create space for brood laying and honey storage more quickly.

Todo

On Wednesday, return and refill or take off the feeder. DONE

On Friday 20th May check Wood for a laying queen and find and destroy her if she’s still not laying, adding in eggs for a new queen. DONE

Tues/Wed 2nd/3rd June check Heather to see if she’s laying. DONE

Varroa count in Heather and Wood.


Matthew Richardson