Rain on the 5th July prevented our planned inspection; David suggested trying again on the 6th so a small band of 3 attended.
Smoking the frames
There had been slight rain about 4 pm but it stopped and though there was a little buffeting wind, it was warm enough.
Eggs and grubs
Hive 1 – which we’d thought to be queenless and was our first swarm was first. David spotted a queen, small so possibly unmated, just a week before. Three frames with eggs were seen. The varroa tray showed about 20 or 30 mites but we were not sure when it had been inserted – two or three weeks before we believe. We cleaned it off so we could check it next week. We wondered whether it was worth trying dusting them with icing sugar which is said to encourage them to groom and would not damage any honey. They will get a treatment in the autumn.
Hive 2 – our youngest swarm – had 6 frames of brood. We saw the queen again – it is possible the amount of masking fluid with which she was marked hampers her movement a little as it may stop her wing closing fully. There was varroa on the board – not as much as hive 1. There was also some sealed brood that showed signs of a little hole in the capping – was that a sign that the bees knew there was some varroa? We saw one little varroa walking over the comb – I tried to squash it but failed. We wondered whether we should add a super next week as they were drawing out a few more frames.
Hughenden Buzz 