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Sat, 11 Jun 2011 11:42:56 -0400 |
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>Let me tell you, I have heard a lot of bad advice lately. A friend told me that she was advised not to look at her newly hived swarm for two weeks. I suggested looking in right away to see if she even got the queen. In two days she should see eggs.
....The main swarm period could be over in two weeks!
I agree with the above, but
I was wishing to re-visit.
In my experience, the prime swarm will lay up
brood first, -so identifying that the hive has
a laying queen would a rather simple procedure
for a newbee. And could be performed between
2 to 4 days after colony initiation.
Where a difficulty may arise, is if the newbee
has a cast on her hands. The cast will generally
set up honey stores during the first week or longer.
The queen, being smaller and a bit more shy are
sometimes difficult to find. If a newbee is unable
to spot the queen, these symptoms may appear to
a newbee to be strong evidence that the colony is
queenless.
See:
Swarm Nomenclature. at:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/
The advice I have always given newbees for many years
is to 'keep your options open by providing options.'
I suggest to newbees who insist on keeping many colonies, to
as little as a single colony -to keep a few nucs on hand. If you
have questions with a new swarm, you can let it play out a bit
longer without much worry. By placing swarms from the prime
swarm season (which may last less than 3 weeks) in nucs,
you will not 'miss out' on the prime swarming season, and
you will not suffer a set back in your beekeeping experience.
Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/
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