Now is the time to do your splits and catch the last of the swarms. We have two items in particular that can help you with this...
- Our correx nuc box is great for transporting splits and moving them to another site for rehousing. We have these available in both Langstroth and National, which hold 5 brood frames.
- Our wooden transport nuc boxes will do the same job. They are made from wood, with a large screened roof area for those hot days, making it easy to spray a little water through the screen. These boxes are great for the settling in either a swarm or a split, over a few weeks while you check on the queen and make sure the swarm doesn't contain anything you don't want. These are available in both National and Langstroth sizing.
Our mesh suits and jackets have come down in price this year so that everyone can afford to keep a spare while the other is being cleaned, this really does help with your beekeeping and cleanliness.
Have you tried beekeeping using nitrile gloves yet? They help improve your handling skills and allow you to feel so much more than leather gloves. When looking at your bees, if you get stung it's normally just sore for a while, but what this can do is let you know that you could be being a bit heavy handed, try a more gentle approach. Alternatively, you could look into buying oversized gloves to keep your leather ones clean and change them between apiaries.
Sweat bands are a great thing to have in your pocket on hot days, I cannot say how many I have lost over the years but I carry them everywhere - it just makes beekeeping in the heat so much more comfortable.
Our top tips for July...
Queens will often take some time off from laying. If you cannot find eggs that are standing in the cell (not the laying down ones), then she may have stopped laying or something could have happened to her. A test is often a good way to tell if everything is ok. There is no need to sacrifice a frame from another hive to see if they will produce a new queen cell.
Try this, the bees only need one egg to produce a queen and if the queen is absent this will do the job...
- Take a matchbox or anything about that size, place it at the top of a frame, preferably with brood on it, in the middle of the hive where the most bees should be.
- Cut a hole in the foundation the size of the chosen object.
- Go to another hive with eggs larva, hopefully you will have more than one hive.
- Place the item to cut round over an area with eggs and larva in it, now cut out the same size area as in the first hive.
- Take the cut out piece with eggs and put it into the vacated area in the first hive, mark the frame, close up and leave it for 10 days.
- Be very careful not to damage the queen cell when you inspect, take out the first 3 frames creating lots of space. Do not lift the frame with the potential cell on it, rather slide it clear of the other frames first then lift it.
- If the hive does not have a queen they should draw out a cell, or the queen has started to lay again.
Thinking about extracting? Don't forget, we have a wide range of extractors available. They are built to last years and deliver a trustworthy service to you and your beekeeping. Browse all of our extraction equipment here!