As beginnings go, this doesn't count as a good one. Hive 2 has lost her queen. We don't know what happened to her and it appears that the colony has not replaced her. The hive has lots of honey in it but no brood. Our friend John looked at the hive yesterday. He's an experienced beekeeper and this was the 2nd time he has looked at our hives. He confirmed our fears.
Life however is full of coincidences. We had an email on Tuesday from Mark and Kym - on whose beekeeping course we went last year - asking if we needed a queen as they had one going spare. They are joining up a weak colony to a strong one and didn't wat to kill off one of the queens. So, on Sunday, David will go to Northumberland to pick up the queen and hopefully, if she makes herself at home in hive 2, the colony will be saved.
I'll be away over the weekend so I'll be missing the fun.
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