I am a new beekeeper. I started with two packages in new hives on
foundation only (Pierco and Duragilt) last year. I had an early June
swarm, so ended up with three hives all of which made it through the
winter quite strong.

This year I had swarms from two of my hives. (I'm trying to get a handle
on swarm prevention, next year I'll do better!) I've hived the prime
swarms and the after swarms in deeps with new foundation. I'm feeding them
sugar syrup (I get sugar for free) and they are drawing new comb very
nicely.

The third of my original hives may be queenless. It has been four weeks
since I observed any signs of a queen (no eggs) and while there were a
couple of emergency queen cells a few weeks ago, I still see no egg laying.

My goal is honey production and a gradual increase in my hives (going from
2 to 8 hives is not my idea of getting into this slowly!). I also want to
get into comb honey production.

I would like to solicit some advice and opinions on what I should do with
the swarms at this point. My thoughts are to combine one of the smaller
after swarms with the queenless hive after the queen starts laying. I
would leave the other swarms to build comb on new foundation and combine
some of them later, at whatever time and whatever manner might be most
productive.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Wayne Chesley
Want-Not Farm
Brunswick, Maine

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::