Inspection Report - 6/20/2018
OVERVIEW
I have been unable to get in to inspect the bees due to security badge issues, so today was the first inspection since installing. We still need to clear up the badge issues as I do not have one yet.
Inspection today was to determine how the colonies have been doing since the install. The recent hot weather and swings in rain patterns had me concerned.
COLONY 1 - BLUE
This colony is in distressed condition. It appears the queen has died and there is no young larvae, brood or eggs in the hive. This is a serious condition as they do not have large numbers they will need going into the rest of the summer and fall. Because we are at the Summer equinox, this needs to be corrected ASAP as we have to be thinking of fall at this point.
Queen has died
A new queen needs to be added or the colony replaced immediately.
COLONY 1 - GREEN
This colony seems to be doing well. The queen is laying in solid patterns and plenty of new bees are on the way. There is good reserves built up (honey/pollen) and they have built out about half of the hive. This is exactly what we want to see at this point.
Colony is doing as expected
SUMMARY
There is definite cause for alarm on the BLUE colony. Since the queen is dead, the colony will not continue to grow. There are two options at this point:
- Add a new queen and hope she can get things going again
- Replace the colony with one that is more established
On my next inspection, I will make the call on what to do.