2026: Cliffe Castle Bee Blog 5

On Monday 4 May, Steve and I checked the hive that we could easily

see was rammed with bees. As anticipated, they had made a start on

preparations to swarm. We found two early queen cells, full of royal jelly

with a larva floating in each. Beekeepers call these “charged” cells.

Sadly, because the cells were at the bottom of the frame and the frames

in the observation hive hang above one another, the cells were

accidentally damaged during removal. But they were a clear warning

that the bees were feeling too cramped as things were. A decision was

needed, whether to risk leaving the bees for another week or take early

action to manage the swarming instinct, remove Beedicca, and prevent

a swarm. We decided on the latter.

Beedicca was put into the small poly nuc box on the frame on which we

found her, along with 4 more frames of comb and stores (kept in store

from her winter quarters), a frame of wax foundation and three good

shakes of bees from frames in the observation hive. The entrance to the

poly nuc box was set to ventilation only and put into the boot of my car,

for return to the ABKA Apiary.

Another frame of foundation was added to the observation hive, to

replace the one we removed with Beedicca. The other frames contain

stores, sealed brood, larvae and, most importantly, eggs. The bees in

the hive will soon realise that Beedicca has gone and begin preparations

to raise a replacement queen. They will flood each chosen cell with royal

jelly, a thick, white, energy packed food that provides the special

nourishment that a queen larva needs to develop.

Anthony and I are going back to Cliffe Castle on Sunday morning, to

check how many “emergency” queen cells they have been making. We

will choose the best of these and knock back the rest. Hopefully, this will

contain the new queen of 2026 for the observation hive. So, no need to

look for the queen at Cliffe Castle for the immediate future. I’ll keep you

posted about what we find on Sunday. Meantime, Beedicca and her

small colony are safely back at the apiary. It’s only 3 weeks since they

left! I did remember to open the entrance on arrival, but put some sappy

grass in the entrance hole, to give the bees some time to adjust to their

new nest. They will soon remove the grass and be able to fly to collect

stores and go to the toilet!!

Linda