Oh the drama

Thanks for the note. So you know, I tried removing the bottom board yesterday but I think it confused the bees as they started clustering under the screened bottom rather than returning through the “front door.”

Sound familiar?

If you put a solid bottom board under the screened bottom board, some of the advantage of the screened bottom board for ventilation is lost. Having a SBB with nothing below it allows air to circulate throughout the hive as if the hive were bottomless.

However, looks like there’s about an inch of space between the screen and your solid board, so that may still allow for the ventilation.

Another advantage of the SBB is that it helps with mite drop. The varroa falls through the screen and can’t get back to the hive - your bottom board placement may still keep the varroa out if they fall off of the bees.

Regarding the swarm cell, I think it might actually have been a supercedure cell. Here’s a photo of it if you’re curious:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixwriter/2507847905/

2. Drones DO buzz louder than workers because they are almost three times as large. Their eyes are about TEN times as large - so they can find the queen on a mating flight.

3. Bees often build ‘practice’ swarm cells. They don’t move eggs into swarm cells - they select a normal cell with an egg already laid in it - and they then modify the cell to become a queen cell. Swarm cells are often built in large numbers - up to a dozen - and are usually built around the bottom and edges of a brood frame. A supercedure cells is quite different. They usually only build one or two and these are very large and placed in the centre of a frame.

If you are a beginner I suggest you buy a copy of E.B. Wedmore’s book ‘ A Manual of Beekeeping’ - you can get it on Amazon or Abebooks for a few pounds. Also, buy ANY other good books you can get.