Finally, after a long six weeks the bees have begun to work the super. When I lifted the lid to check, there was a mass of bees. In the past, there were only a few bees hanging around. If there is a good fall for nectar then maybe I'll get some comb honey in the boxes. Lets hope, I need some for Christmas presents.
The nuc is full of bees, I guess the new queen is working well. The expansion into the brood box is slow, but I think that it has a lot to do with the dearth that we are experiencing right now, no nectar, no comb building. In the evening the mass of bees hang in the brood box so the upper nuc must be getting full of honey and brood. Although the white clover is still producing, it is drying up as well. A few bee flowers are yet to bloom in the bee garden and the Asters should begin to bloom also. There is also the tree I found last year which will produce for all three hives when it comes into bloom in a couple of weeks. I took a cutting and it has rooted so I will transplant that in back by the bee garden. The Japanese Apricot is doing well even though the top of the stick died. I cut it off and am training the top-most branch as the tree top. Hopefully it will branch out. I took cuttings of it also and it has also taken root.
The nasty hive is slowly gaining in strength, if the robbing of the hive would stop it still might have a chance if I feed it all winter. I have left the entrance reducer in but I may have to reduce it further if the dearth gets worse as the robbing will get worse too. There's a small group of bees in the nuc who use the upper entrance who look suspiciously like the culprits, as the are very dark and have little hair (which gets chewed off by the guard bees when they try robbing). Only a guess, but its funny how they seem to stay to themselves at the little upper entrance.
Plan to check on honey supplies at the end of the month, should get a frame or two without causing any harm. Later
