Electric Feral Bees

The Electric Feral Bees were not doing so good when I went to look at them today. There were bees going in and out of the hive entrance but too vigorously for my liking. Then I saw under the newspaper that overlapped the outside the broodbox was a cluster of very sad, unhappy bees.

I taped up the front.

Lifted of the super to find that the newspaper was intact and then removed it entirely. Everything was wrong. I eased the super back to make an entrance above the cluster and watched the bees in the cluster for some time. In the end I eased them all into the brood box picking up any that had dropped off on the ground in front of the hive putting them inside too. I then put the super back in place above them.

I made a small entrance by pushing the glass back on the crown board so that the bees in the super could fly .

I killed several wasps.

There were bees interested in the taped up entrance until it got dark by which time the bees in the super were flying in and out from the entrance at the top (the crown board feeder hole).

Maybe if it hadn't been such a nice day it would have all been different.

Next time I will seal the brood box entrance entirely so that no bees can get in or out of the brood box and make an entrance at the top of the super from the beginning. The feral bees would have been fine confined for a few days with plenty of room and plenty of food. The bees in the super would have had the time to get themselves established and to start to defend their own entrance before getting through the newspaper to the queen.

Uummm I live and learn. What happens now I don't know.