Bluebell Hive. Update 03 Overwintered Brood and a Half

The bees were a bit put out at being inspected today, I think it was a bit cool, so most of the foragers in the colony, so quick inspection done. Queen was seen and no signs of queen cells. Once weather improves I plan to do a demaree, or a standard split. Thanks for viewing

[@WellesbourneHoneyCo]

Low barometric presure inbound makes them very grumpy.

[@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801]

Thanks for that

[@JM-nd4kt]

Beware of people who are selling queens called Buckfast l call them stingfast now. When you buy a queen you assume you will get a queen that is capable of producing reasonable tempered bees but l have found that is not always the case so l avoid buying queens now unless l have a drone laying queen in early spring and l want to save the bees. If you get a mated queen from your own local bees you can avoid the problem to a degree but the drones from aggressive colonies will affect the bees she produces if she is unfortunate enough to mate with them. I think we need some stiffer laws on importing queens at the moment it’s a free for all which means it’s impossible to make improvements by queen rearing from your own stock. The mated queen comes back and the bees she produces can be anything calm to pure evil and require a queen to be caged then killed and the hive requeened when only capped brood is left. I hope the temper of the hive improves Peter it’s all good experience at the end of the day. Regards Jason

[@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801]

Thanks so much for your comments Jason. I had checked the colony the previous week and they seemed fine. If they are angry next time I will certainly consider replacing, at this stage not certain if it's a permanent trait or just weather conditions. Will keep you updated and ta again as it's always good to hear others experience.😊

[@WellesbourneHoneyCo]

We breed for Localised bees. I call them "Apis Melifer'ish" 😉