It's been a busy swarm season for me. I caught 3 swarms and did 3 cutouts. This video shows the progress all these bee colonies have made so far. We got to see Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Helen. It was quite good luck to see Queen Helen, as we did not see her during the cutout (May 18th), but it looks like she pulled through just fine.
Queen Guinevere seems to have Varroa mite problems. One of the workers had deformed wings caused by a virus transmitted by mites. Quite a few mites were found on the board under the bottom screen. I didn't do an exact count to see how bad the infestation is, but it does look high. Of course, the board has been in there for nearly a month, so it could just be that. I do not apply treatments, but I will be watching this colony to see how well they pull through.
Queen Dulce and Queen Guinevere are growing nicely and will be ready for a 2nd box in the next week or two.
I also plan on building some quilt boxes to place on top of the hives to give that a test.
Video Link
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