Yesterday I spent the afternoon pulling cages and checking on the 50 packages we started. Overall I was pleased with what I found. I unfortunately had one dead queen and most of the bees in that hive had absconded to other hives. I’m always blown away at how much burr comb the bees can build in a few days. A few of the hives had blocked off the sugar plug with wax trapping the queens.
Overall the majority of the hives had maintained a solid population and in a lot of the hives the queens were already laying.
I was disappointed that none of the virgin queens I had set a week and a half ago had started to lay yet….I prepped 7 more mini mating nucs for the girls emerging this weekend. Should be able to set 16 viable cells. Just a few weeks away from being able to really start cranking out the queens!
American Heritage Apiary 