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Predictably unpredictable (UK weather)

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little john:

--- Quote from: bemused on May 01, 2018, 04:42:45 am ---This weekend here in the South East looks like the start of a decent two weeks of sun. I'll be setting up my queen rearing kit Saturday and hoping for the best.
--- End quote ---

Is that South East UK ? (big hint to include location in profile ...) :smile:

If so - yes indeed.  For those overseas (from us) UK weather has been really weird this winter - temperatures up and down like the proverbial yo-yo.  A week or so ago a short heatwave - temperatures higher than we normally get in high summer, then cold again with continuous rain, and this weekend we're due for yet another heatwave.  Something very odd is going on.

Bit of an update on the 'life-support' colony, headed by a great-grandmother queen who's colony deserted her for a younger monarch ...
By using a controlled 15W heater-frame I was able to keep the hive temperature up to around 25C at all times, except during the two Siberian blasts we had, when it dropped to 15C with the heater on 100% of the time.  This 'life-support' was in place from mid-January through to mid-April, when I was finally able to transfer the remnants of this colony from a dummied-down hive (the largest size I currently have here, at 16 frames of 14x12), to a more suitable 5-frame nuc box.
Our weather today was perfect, and so I was able to make a detailed check - and she's now produced two frames (four sides) of CD-sized capped brood, with a smattering of BIAS where some bees have already emerged.
I was half-expecting to see tell-tale signs of a drone-layer - but so far so good - and with a bit of luck she'll keep going for a couple of weeks more before her inevitable supersedure.
LJ

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