I inspected the hives at my out apiaries today, all in good order and the new queens are laying well.
I found a new queen in one of the hives at Friars Green and marked her.
One of the new queens that I placed into a hive two weeks ago is laying up a storm, lovely solid brood pattern throughout the brood box.
The hives at Oakbrook are doing equally as well, with the new queen I installed two weeks ago looking good.
My oldest queen, white number 21, is still going very strong, with a strong colony of bees and full brood frames.
Despite it being quite a sultry day, overcast and threatening rain, the bees were all very well behaved, which is great and shows that my selection of queens to graft from was correct. The only test this years queens need to pass now is overwintering well, they have proved good layers, calm offspring and no diseases so far – and long may it continue.
