Weather: Sunny and warm
Stings: None
A fairly quick visit today to look through the two hives and see how they are getting on. There's no doubt that the bigger colony has slowed down in its honey gathering. One super is pretty
Image via Wikipediamuch full and the other is about half full. That's not as much as I thought I would get. In their defence I have worked them fairly hard this year as they have effectively drawn two brood boxes of comb. That'll help next year as I'll have the resources ready for them when I move them to fresh comb in the year and when I do the swarm prevention. I think I need to get the bees out of the filled super and get them working on the emptier one. Time to get out the porter bee escapes.The newer colony is going along fine. I put some almost undrawn comb in last week and that has been drawn out now. I shifted the frames about a bit to get them working on the newer frames. They seem fine. I'm slightly worried about their numbers but they have got a entrance block in so they are safe(ish) from robbing by other bees or wasps.
The big problem I have to deal with is the other hives in the same plot. One is quite strong and fine. The other has been robbed out by wasps. They are going in and out with impunity. My fear is that they are setting up a nest there and, once they are strong, will rob all the colonies of their stores. It needs dealing with. But I'm not sure how. I can swap out the brood box for a solid one that has no hole in the side that they can use. Or I can block up the hole with a piece of wood. Either way it needs sorting.
