Casts

This post was started yesterday morning.

Morning
Firstly the cast from yesterday was back in the same tree this morning.
I got it back in the cardboard box before 10am. I will wait again until twilight. This time I will put them in a warre box with queen includer for a couple of days. Let's see if they like that any better.

I am still not sure if the papercrete hive is populated, lots of bees on the outside but very little happening at the entrance.

The other two 'prime' swarms in the kenyans are now bringing in pollen so I will remove the queen includers soon. The includers are knocking off the pollen.

Mid Day
Seems I was wrong on both counts, the cast in the Kenyan nuc is still there and so is the swarm in the papercrete hive!! Not only that, yet another cast, albeit smaller was sat in exactly the same spot on the olive tree. That is now in a very small cardboard box, again awaiting twilight. I will combine both these casts in the warre box this evening and let the bees decide which queen shall lead them. Removed the queen includer from the first swarm in the blue kenyan hive.

Mid afternoon
Seems like my policy of nil swarm control has backfired on me a little. This afternoon I am sat with 5 swarms/casts in cardboard boxes and a bucket waiting for hiving. Phew! I don't want this many colonies so I am going to have to start combining some.

Evening
I hived two large swarms in Layens hives, as that was all the full sized hives I have available now. The three smaller casts I threw into two warre boxes that were held together with metal brackets and a mosquito net stapled to the top of the top box. I upturned the two boxes which had topbars and starter strips in place and threw in all three casts one after the other. I brushed the bees which were spilling out back in and popped the floor on, then screwed that in place. I put on a queen includer on the entrance and turned the whole thing back the right way up, put the quilt on and then the roof. I will let them decide which queen to go forward with.