On 10/10/10 we inspected the Cowper hive. We rescued a good amount of bees from this removal but it was two colonies and remember they balled and killed the foreign queen. So for about a month the colony was queenless and no new eggs were being laid. By the time the new virgin queen arrived, all the brood from the previous queen had emerged.
So now the new queen is laying good patterns, but not as fast and much as I hoped for. The population has actually declined and the girls are all working hard to get things done. The hive does have pollen and honey as the flow is going good at the moment.
You won’t see any or much propolis in this hive. They don’t even have the resources for sealing up cracks or gluing down the frames onto the hive box. Good thing is that while both hives next to their’s have had a wax moth visit them, the Cowper hive remains pest free. To help them I’ve reduced the entrance to prevent any pest entry or possible robbing activities at this time of the year.
