On checking the apiery yesterday I was relieved to find all was well after the sugar dusting and showed no ill affects except that the number of wasps attacking required that I put on the mouse excluders and limitted access by corking up all unnessesary entrances.
The TbH with the eco floor under tray was even hosting the embrio stages of wasps nesting right underneath the hive and so I had to seal the undertray join with Gaffa Tape to provide a more effective block to their entrance way in.
The split carried out in June is much diminished in numbers and shows signs of the drones having been relagated to the space above the bars, whilst the brood nest is only on two of the combs. I saw the queen and she looks well enough, but I fear she may have been laying drones and is no longer viable.
I am now thinking of replacing her colony into the doner hive to help her survive the autumn and winter. Stores are plentiful and I have added candoline feed which is being devoured but no pollen is incoming to this split.
