Low Temps = Formic Pro Day

Temps for the next 10 day forecast are well below the 85 degree threshold for Formic Pro so that's the focus of today's inspections. The Tree Swarm hive really didn't like the FP and bearded in the shape of Kentucky after I finished all the inspections...the thumbnail pic. Triangle (Tree swarm) Only a couple frames drawn in the top box but I left it since the box below is full. Flipped the 1st/2nd boxes on the bottom to get the deep to the bottom. Added the formic pro to that box. Added the queen excluder to the super above that. Before I did that, I shook the bees from the super above since it has brood there...just in case the queen was up there. Too much to do to search every frame for her. I refilled/replaced the SHB traps and removed the sheets...those might be killing more bees than beetles. Cross (Old queen) Same as above minus box flip. I also cleaned out the IPM board...it was GROSS. I did find and remove a loaded queen cell. It was uncapped and likely a supersedure cell since it was mid-frame. I'm hoping they don't supersede (or even worse swarm) this late in the year since the new queen might not get mated. Circle (New Package) Same process...formic, shake bees into lower boxes, queen excluder, traps, and remove sheets. I'd planned to feed them but haven't gotten to it yet. 8 frame (OG) Same process...formic, bee shake, queen excluder, traps, and remove sheets. Combined Swarm Traps Still only 4-5 frames drawn so these girls may not make it. I did find the queen. I added formic pro. That might be the death nail but I didn't want to risk them getting overwhelmed then moving to the treated hives. Added 1:1 a couple days before and smooshed the patty further into the screen today. Also removed the entrance reducer due to the FP but I'm worried about such a small hive defending the larger entrance. I may add that back in a couple days once the first flush of the FP is gone. August 25, 2025 6:00 pm