Thanks guys. Hey "c", I was afraid they wouldn't even make it through this year. I lost one that had a huge cluster. However this one had some good winter traits in my opinion. They hardly ate through anything and we had a really bad winter for NC. I noticed this queen started shutting down real early in the fall, that's why the lack of bees. We only had our first above 50 degree day 1 week and 1/2 ago, so I didn't expect much. Just glad to see larva and queen.I'm a total newb, so take this for what it's worth, I don't see many bees there. Are you sure that they're OK? Here's what mine did on a warm spring day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM0qpkTN7Q0
When I opened the top up, they boiled over. Almost every frame covered. . .
Ahh....A spare hive with drawn comb and a remarkable queen. For my money I'd do a queen-less split. Move couple frames with standing on end fresh laid eggs and nurse bees to the spare hive, feed feed feed, let them raise a new queen and give you a new colony. IMHO best way to keep the genetics and costs nothing.Thanks guys. Hey "c", I was afraid they wouldn't even make it through this year. I lost one that had a huge cluster. However this one had some good winter traits in my opinion. They hardly ate through anything and we had a really bad winter for NC. I noticed this queen started shutting down real early in the fall, that's why the lack of bees. We only had our first above 50 degree day 1 week and 1/2 ago, so I didn't expect much. Just glad to see larva and queen.
Last year was really wet and cool, so I think thats why both of my hives didn't build up well. Just glad I got a survivor.
I've thought about this as well. Some folks on here disagree with the "emergency queen rearing" from a split like that. I don't know. So many opinions on this website, sometimes it gets really confusing.Ahh....A spare hive with drawn comb and a remarkable queen. For my money I'd do a queen-less split. Move couple frames with standing on end fresh laid eggs and nurse bees to the spare hive, feed feed feed, let them raise a new queen and give you a new colony. IMHO best way to keep the genetics and costs nothing.
It is indeed good to see the bees again! What kind were they? Carni?? Russian? I would think some of those traits were involved. Maybe not.Thanks guys. Hey "c", I was afraid they wouldn't even make it through this year. I lost one that had a huge cluster. However this one had some good winter traits in my opinion. They hardly ate through anything and we had a really bad winter for NC. I noticed this queen started shutting down real early in the fall, that's why the lack of bees. We only had our first above 50 degree day 1 week and 1/2 ago, so I didn't expect much. Just glad to see larva and queen.
Last year was really wet and cool, so I think thats why both of my hives didn't build up well. Just glad I got a survivor.
They were actually Italians from packages at Brushy Mountain I bought last April. I think they got them from Gardner? Not sure though. The other hive showed signs of starving even though they had stores around and above them. This one only went through 2 frames of stores and it was a colder winter than normal. No global warming here.It is indeed good to see the bees again! What kind were they? Carni?? Russian? I would think some of those traits were involved. Maybe not.
Ken