Hi everyone,
Today was the day I planned to retire the mini mating hive to the garage and let the bees find a new home within the apiary. I noticed they were slow moving when I opened up. Upon inspection I discovered no pollen, no food, just capped brood.
This is the same mini mating hive I took the queen from last week and put in a queenless colony.
The capped brood looked chewed and the comb brittle. I could see no signs of deformed wings. I wouldn't know what else to look for.
Assuming (dangerous, I know) they were just starving, I cut out the combs from the frames and fixed them into a shallow frame with elastic bands and swapped that frame for the most-capped frame in my biggest colony's super. I then tipped out the mini mating hive in front of the largest hive and stuck it in the garage with the entrance shut and no way in.
Images below show what I mean regarding chewed caps:
Does anyone know what this is? Any thoughts or comments?
Today was the day I planned to retire the mini mating hive to the garage and let the bees find a new home within the apiary. I noticed they were slow moving when I opened up. Upon inspection I discovered no pollen, no food, just capped brood.
This is the same mini mating hive I took the queen from last week and put in a queenless colony.
The capped brood looked chewed and the comb brittle. I could see no signs of deformed wings. I wouldn't know what else to look for.
Assuming (dangerous, I know) they were just starving, I cut out the combs from the frames and fixed them into a shallow frame with elastic bands and swapped that frame for the most-capped frame in my biggest colony's super. I then tipped out the mini mating hive in front of the largest hive and stuck it in the garage with the entrance shut and no way in.
Images below show what I mean regarding chewed caps:
Does anyone know what this is? Any thoughts or comments?
Jazz