This is the second colony we are rehoming with another local beekeeper. It was originally supposed to be collected at the same time as the first nuc but it has now had an extended varroa treatment (using brood removal and bait frames). This has set the development of this colony back considerably but it's now in full health so should easily build up their numbers rapidly over the next few weeks.
I came out at 10:30pm and there were still quite a large number of bees crowding in the entrance and over the front of the nuc. They need to be sealed inside tonight so that it is safe to relocate the whole colony tomorrow morning but I didn't want to squash any with my bung! I decided to come out later at night and try again...
As I walked back to the house I heard a real noise coming from this colony, Dipsy's. I could hear a definite humming noise from both of the other hives but this one was almost roaring!
Peeping inside the entrance explained the noise - the whole left hand side was crammed full of fanning bees! They were all sitting there forcing a cool draught up through the hive. Hopefully this is a good sign of there being a large amount of nectar stored in there to evaporate (nectar is about 80% water but stored honey is less than 20% water).
I came out again just after midnight armed with my handy water mister - there were just two in the front entrance and a quick squirt of the water spray made them disappear inside. Before they realised it was just a trick, not a shower of rain, I bunged up the entrance with a wedge of hessian.
I used a short ratchet-strap in one direction (also holding the entrance bung securely in place), then an elastic bungy cord in the other direction - not nearly as fragile-looking as those lengths of packing tape I used last time!
It was pitch dark by this time of night but I didn't want to leave the nuc standing here until morning - the early morning sun on it could be fatal for all those bees shut up inside with so little ventilation. This meant feeling my way along the darkness carrying the nuc back to the barn, with a torch secured under the strap on top pointing the way!
I made it all the way back with everything still secure and found a good shady spot to leave it until the morning.
It was collected at 11am and they should be out in their new home by lunchtime.
