Hive 9 - time to test the mood of the brood!
Re-queened on 29th June by way of uniting, as the Queen introduced on 16th June had failed.
On the 3rd July when uniting complete, the boxes were condensed. The resultant hive was very aggressive.
On the 13th July, the hive was still too aggressive to inspect. This was from the moment the first super was exposed.
Working on the basis that the previous queen was despatched because her progeny were aggressive, there would be a three week period for the new brood to start to emerge.
So today we would expect the nurse bees to be from the new queen but the workers are still likely to be from the former queen. And so it appeared! The supers contained calm, but once into the brood box there was slightly more agitation and some aggression. However, the bees, the brood and the honey are all in good order. Queen not seen but lots of eggs and Brood in all stages.
The red queen seen and a lot of work drawing foundation and building stores, no super on this hive and not required. Looking good
Hive 7 - The united hive
Red Queen seen and bees working brood combs with good brood. Little activity in the super, but that is of no surprise,