No swarm calls today...today was all about Queens. I received a call from Michelle Barnick, Treasurer for the Crossroads Beekeepers, and relatively new beekeeper. She had two hives going into winter, but one died and her surviving hive lost it's Queen. My grandson, Elijah, and I met Michelle at the farm this evening and swapped a frame of drawn comb for one with eggs and day old larva on it. Hopefully her hive will grow a new queen from some of the larva.
Next I tore into my Buckfast hive that I received from Lonnie Langley last year. I removed the Queen last Wednesday, and the hive started raising new Queens with many cells on five frames. I divided the frames and hive into five groups: four I placed into mating nucs, and the fifth I left in the original hive. We'll see how they do with raising their Queens.
I also took a photo tonight of my top-bar swarm trap. We'll see how it goes!
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