Backyard Apiary

This weekend started off with making a split for the queen that was installed today. It’s good to make the split queenless 24 hours before introducing the new queen (in a cage). This makes them more willing to accept her. The split was created from 3 frames of capped brood (and bees) from Antheia and a frame of pollen and honey from Hegemone. I intentionally did not give the hive any eggs or larvae because I did not want them to try and raise their own queen. The split was a little small, but it will get a big boost in numbers when the brood emerges. All those empty cells give the queen plenty of space to lay.

The installed queen was purchased from <a href=”http://www.carolinabees.com/”>The Carolina Bee Company</a>, and she is a graft from a feral hive that was evicted from the roof of a school gymnasium after many years. Her genetics are a welcome addition to my apiary.

Hegemone appears to be queenless. There were no eggs or larvae, but a few empty supercedure cells. There was an uncapped queen cell with something in it, but I’m not sure if it was a live queen. Just to make sure the hive has everything it needs to survive, I gave it a frame of eggs from Antheia. This will ensure that they can raise start a new queen cell if needed.