A Week on the Estate: Missing Queen, Merging Colonies & Handy Honey
We hope you’re enjoying this late summer of sport and fine weather. The weather is set fine and dry across the bank holiday weekend with temperatures in the range 25C-10C. The week to come will be dominated by the Atlantic and consequently more unsettled, with low pressure in the north tussling with high pressure in the south. Expect temperatures closer to the seasonal norm with a chance of dramatic showers.
In this week’s round-up, we’re catching up with Gemma for an update on our honey-bee journey. “We went to see the bees at Will’s last week,” said Gemma. “Unfortunately, there’s no sign of a queen or a brood. Ours was a virgin queen, brand new. We’re not sure what’s happened. Perhaps she didn’t survive a mating flight.
“Our bees are with Will for now. He’s got a colony of local honey bees that swarmed. They’re being moved next to our hive. When we check up on them this weekend, we might merge the two colonies if ours is still without a queen.
“It’s a weird one as our bees are still calm and businesslike. They were signalling as if a queen was still present and the honey is two-thirds full. A colony can’t survive without a queen as she’s the only breeder. If we merge, we’ll start by putting paper over the top of the brood box. One lot of bees will be below, the other above. They’ll chew through, get acquainted and become one new colony.
