Two Offshoots and a Youngster Colony.
The garden beekeeper has been waiting for weeks for his colony to form swarm cells. He wants to use these as the basis for the formation of four offshoots. Apart from the fact that they have built a few play cells, there is no sign yet that the colony is preparing for swarming, while elsewhere swarms are likely to fall in large numbers this year, as you can read.
After consulting his beekeeper godfather, it became clear that the colony originated from a very swarm-loving breed, and the garden beekeeper had been using swarming damping measures for weeks by
giving them enough space and room to build. No wonder that the colony is completely satisfied and does not want to swarm.
On 10.05. he decided to make a little help: From a breeding colony of his beekeeper godfather he got two queen cells ready to hatch. Softly embedded in straw and holding them in his hands, they
were brought to the garden by car. One of the two princesses decided to hatch in the hands of the beekeeper godfather during the car ride. Arriving at home, she was put directly into a hastily
made offshoot.
The second cell, which was ready to hatch, was also hung in a branch while still locked. An experiment, because the colony should actually be allowed to get used to their new queen for a while by
putting her into an additional cage for one day.
The garden beekeeper is now watching with great interest whether both queens will be accepted by their new colonies.
Finally the garden beekeeper got a new offspring, or rather a young colony, whose queen has already returned from her wedding flight and has been laying eggs diligently for a few days.
The cold weather, however, means that the bees hardly fly at all.
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