JayBee

Good idea, @dansar - I might put a post on our local Facebook page. Thanks!

I have a Warré hive, @Trevor Gillbanks - hence the small looking frame. I will bribe my husband into getting a little closer to where the action is next time so I can have a better picture to show you!

Here's a picture of the remaining brood, @tristan - there are some eggs and uncapped larvae in the cells. I have given the bees some sugar syrup over the weekend and have made a robbing screen, so will see how they go. Thanks for your suggestions, everyone.

I'll try to take some pictures this afternoon, @tristan. The hive was actually doing really well prior to the MAQS treatment. I didn't do anything other to it than have a brief inspection, then pop the MAQS in. The hive was open for about 10 minutes, and the entrance was fully opened for seven days.

So ... it's a long, woeful story, but I'll try to keep it succinct. About ten days ago, I treated my one and only bee colony for Varroa mites. I used Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS). Because ventilation is essential when using MAQS, I fully opened the bottom entrance and also propped it up to the minimum height of 1.3cm, as per the MAQS instructions. Then the robbing began ... I wasn't really sure what to do as I couldn't close the entrance down (due to the MAQS inside the hive), and I didn't have a robber screen available (lesson learned ... be more prepared). So, I threw a damp sheet over the hive - it's all I could think to do. Seven days later, I removed the MAQS strips. It then became apparent how devastating the robbing had been. The colony basically have no honey stores left, but quite a bit of pollen (I guess robbing bees aren't into pollen that much)? I did notice that the queen is (miraculously), still alive as I found eggs and young larvae in some of the cells. I am a little confused about what to do now. I know the bees will need some kind of feeding, but I am really worried that adding sugar syrup will set off another robbing frenzy which will be too much for the much weakened colony. Would love to hear some suggestions. Thanks.

I had the same question a year ago, but nobody from Asure Quality would return my emails!

Awesome, thanks @tudor - your reply has been really helpful. My hive is currently five boxes high - maybe I'll wait a couple more weeks also and then move a few frames around and harvest what I can so I can bring the hive height down a little. Thanks again.

So ... I've just got a question for you regarding honey harvest ... I've been using One Size Boxes without a queen excluder and now I'm a bit confused as to what I am supposed to be doing in terms of harvesting the honey. I know I am a little late in doing so, but each time I have checked on the bees, the top boxes have been composed of both brood frames and honey frames, so I have been holding off. I was thinking that at this time of year, the brood nest would be starting to move down so I could harvest a complete box of honey, but the brood nest is still quite large. Should I wait a little longer, or should I start swapping honey and brood frames out with the boxes below now? I am concerned I am going to be confusing the bees by rearranging their home quite a bit! Thanks.

Sure is! The Warkworth Beekeepers Society is right on your doorstep! The next meeting is on Wednesday 1st February at the Warkworth Primary School hall. The doors open at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start - it's a great club and you are very welcome to come along!

Do your top bar hives have observation windows, @dansar?

Hi @Suniti - welcome! Probably the closest club would be the Auckland Beekeepers Club at Unitec or Rodney Beekeepers Club in Helensville.

Beautiful looking hive, @dansar! Where is the entrance on this hive - at the end?

Well done, @MissEmmz - how did you get the swarm into the box?