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  • Time to re-queen

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #4373  by Sipa
 04 Aug 2019, 10:24
Now the honey flow is either over or coming to an end, It's time to re-queen those colonies that under perform.
Re-queening in a planned way now, gives you a new young vigorous queen producing bees ready to overwinter.

In spring she will be ready to go with less risk of an early colony failure and a lack of available replacement queens.
 #4375  by NigelP
 04 Aug 2019, 18:18
SIPA, it might be over in your area around Newbury, but still going strong up North.
Hives in the garden are still piling it in and they have not yet touched the Balsam....
Heather is pinking up nicely and the hives won;t be be coming back from the moors until the flow is over usually early to mid September. That's about the time when we northerners start to think about varroa treatments and amalgamations and feedings and the like.
I feel sorry for you Southern beekeepers, sounds as though your season has just about finished.
 #4381  by AdamD
 05 Aug 2019, 12:20
Apart from Ivy - and the occasional Himalayan Balsam, there's not much coming into the hives for me and I have started to look at replacing queens. One started to supercede - and a nuc is superceding. I swapped out a queen at the weekend for a fresh one and I have a few more to swap out as needed.

I tend to park old or unwanted queens temporarily in mini-nucs - either because you never know when you or someone might need them or simply because they will create bees and then the mini-nucs can be shaken out later in the season in front of small nucs with wanted queens to increase numbers for winter.
 #4382  by AdamD
 05 Aug 2019, 12:22
NigelP wrote:
04 Aug 2019, 18:18
That's about the time when we northerners start to think about varroa treatments and amalgamations and feedings and the like.
I feel sorry for you Southern beekeepers, sounds as though your season has just about finished.
I have started varroa treament in nucs already - and yes the season is drawing to an end - honey coming off before I do the bigger colonies.
 #4384  by NigelP
 05 Aug 2019, 15:43
Bees have just found the balsam, first ghost bees seen. Means it's slowing down as balsam and rosebay willow herb are the last lowland nectar crops. around us. Balsam has been out for a month or so but bees weren't working it; I assume there where better nectar sources until now. Ivy flowers too late to be of any use up here usually mid to late November.
Time to put a few varroa boards in and see where we are with those ruddy parasites.
 #4416  by pjar
 09 Aug 2019, 14:20
Ah... this is a timely thread for me!

I wondered if anyone might like to chip in with some advice on a re-queened hive that I have, please?

This year, one of my hives has been doing poorly. I noticed a couple of supersedure cells on a frame when I was checking them a couple of weeks ago, so I left them and this week there was a new queen. So far, so good!

There are eggs present, so she is laying, but due to the size of the colony beforehand their supplies are pretty low.

Should I feed syrup and pollen now to give them a bit of a boost, or leave them to their own devices? There doesn't appear to be much in flower around here at the moment, though there is some pollen coming back.

We are in an area with a few 'country' gardens and back on to miles of arable fields which are currently all ripening cereals or being harvested or ploughed, so a bit of a monoculture desert I guess?

Thanks for any advice!
 #4421  by NigelP
 09 Aug 2019, 15:53
If they are short of stores then give them a frame of stores and another with pollen from another hive, assuming they can spare it.
If you can't then feed, it won't do any harm. But watch out for wasps if feeding sugar....they are being a right nuisance this year.
 #4425  by Patrick
 09 Aug 2019, 16:32
Hi pjar and welcome to the Forum.

Agree with Nigel, nothing to lose and plenty to gain. What you describe in your surrounding countryside is really useful context. Standard advice in books rarely takes into account such differences. If they are already weak and forage has finished queen may simply not lay enough to build up for winter.
 #4432  by pjar
 09 Aug 2019, 21:57
Thanks!

I'll pop in some supplies and see what happens... hopefully I can build them up a bit and they'll be strong enough to overwinter in good shape.

Yes, I've noticed the wasps too, just this last week.

I'll let you know how it goes !

Cheers - Pete
 #4441  by AdamD
 10 Aug 2019, 12:59
I have started to build up small colonies now in preparation for winter - a gentle feed over the coming weeks will encourage brood to be reared. I think this a much better way of feeding a colony than dumping a load of syrup on them at the end of September.