Get a grip woman!

trix-a-belle

so sorry to hear about your neighbour SL, that will be hard for him to adapt to the loss and having to relocate

debtfreeoneday

Sorry to hear about your neighbour. 

Suffolk_lass

Thanks guys. The neighbour that lives behind had a long chat with the daughter yesterday and they were all shocked - nobody suggested it would be anything other than a long-term chronic illness that would need treating. He has passed on my number and his but as yet, nobody has the children's numbers so they have the means to contact three of us, if needed.

In other news one of our bee hives is really struggling. Mostly drone brood and they have made a Queen supercedure cell so they know they have a problem. If the weather is warm enough for us to take a frame of eggs and brood out of a stronger colony and introduce that, they might be saveable but it is not great.

Cheery_Daff

So sorry to hear about your neighbour, what a shock all round.

Fingers crossed for your bees too 😕

Karmacat

Oh dear, SL - I had a quick google at what drone brood means, it doesn't look good.  I hope you can adjust the situation.

Suffolk_lass

Karmacat said:

Oh dear, SL - I had a quick google at what drone brood means, it doesn't look good.  I hope you can adjust the situation.

Yes, normally if there is only drone brood it is from a badly mated queen or worse, a laying worker. It is impossible to identify which worker is laying so the only option is to shake them out and remove the colony.

If it is a drone laying queen it is because she did not mate with enough drones when she went on her mating flights last year and so she is basically shooting blanks. The drones exist only to mate with new queens from other colonies. The other disadvantage of a DLQ or laying worker is that the drones are much bigger, so the cells they are laid in become too big for workers. Not good, whichever it is.

We are toying with the idea of letting the supercedure cell go to fruition (it does suggest a DLQ) and they will kill the old Queen so that the colony survives. Alternatively we could remove a frame of brood in all stages, which must include eggs, from another colony and introduce it, so that the remaining workers can make a new Queen from a good egg and the larvae and sealed brood on that comb will look after the colony until the new Queen has mated.

Not sure what is going on money wise as all accounts are showing pending transactions, well after 08.00

debtfreeoneday

I find your bee keeping posts fascinating but have to confess it is so much more technical than I ever thought. 

Suffolk_lass

debtfreeoneday said:

I find your bee keeping posts fascinating but have to confess it is so much more technical than I ever thought. 

I think it is more complicated because there are always alternative ways of doing things. I'm glad you find them interesting, I always think my diary is seriously dull compared to others

themadvix

What?! It’s never dull in these parts SL! And I agree- bees seem to be very complicated, but it’s always interesting to hear about them.

Humdinger1

@Suffolk_lass your diary is never dull! And while I'm on the subject, you are never smug, a thing you sometimes accuse yourself of.  The mix of day-to-day, grounded discussion and philosophy make it utterly compelling.  Love Humdinger xx