got my bees today

[mark s]

hi all
thanx to mark im now the proud owner of my first lot of bees
they hived nicely and are settling in well still flying as we speak but i think the rain should soon put a stop to that
thanx again mark

 

[ribblesbees]

Now you can enjoy the joy/frustrations/pleasure/anguish/satisfaction/worries etc etc of these enchanting creatures along with the rest of us

Seriously tho, there's nothing like being hands on to get up what can be quite a learning curve.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

 

[mark s]

thanx ribblesbees
im sure i will

 

[Heather]

Now sleepless nights kick in - did I squash her?- will the rain get in? - have they enough feed?....
Every good luck with your new venture. Isle of Wight.. have they got varroa? I am hoping to get to the Isle this next week - if the seas slacken off a bit.

 

[DrNick]

Well done Mark, you will love having them despite all the what ifs and should I have dones, make sure they have enough feed so they can put plenty away for over winter.

 

[Hombre]

Congratulations Mark, enjoy.

Loosely related question for the forum:

Feeding pollen substitute pattie is good for building up bes in the spring, but is it also good for building up winter bees in the autumn, to give them the necessary reserves of body fat?​

 

[Finman]

Feeding pollen substitute pattie is good for building up bes in the spring, but is it also good for building up winter bees in the autumn, to give them the necessary reserves of body fat?​

One year I made it to 6 nucs. I used electrict heating too.
All happened very fast and I got whole box of brood in August from 3 frames of bees.

But every hive became sick at winter and collapsed by nosema.

I think that larvae and emerged bees did not get enough good fresh pollen.

Our main beekeeping teacher told that he made plenty of nucs in late summer with natural pollen frames and he had noticed any trouples.

 

[Poly Hive]

Hombre?

Never heard of feeding pollen for winter. If I were too, it would be pollen not substitute. No point in skimping for the main challenge.

PH

 

[mark s]

thanx for all the good wishes,i must stop sitting there watchng the girls and get on with some work though...........lol

 

[Hawklord]

Hope all goes well for you. Could do with a change in the weather for my girls.

 

[mark s]

i agree hawklord the forecast for august does not look promising,but there again that does depend on who you are listening to.
ive heard that its going to be the wettest august in history and another has said temps up into the 40's

 

[steve1958]

Hot and wet.
Thats sort of Tropical Weather.
Good for Dandelion pollen

 

[mark s]

well they seem to be finding something round here at least

 

[northernsoul]

Congtratulations, if you're anything like me one was never enough and before you know it they'll have taken over.

Hope the weather improves a bit though.

 

[mark s]

thanx northernsoul

 

[skydragon]

Good luck Mark.

I too installed a new bought-in 5 frame nuc in a national hive a few days ago.

the transfer went smoothly and I managed to spot the queen.

I',ve set them up with a syrup feeder, have narrowed the entrance down to 3cm and plan to add a pollen substute patty shortly. I've placed a wasp trap approx 10 yards from the hive. The key I guess is getting them to build up and lay down a decent amount of stores for the winter.

I've also bought some bakers fondant which intend to add on top of the BS frames, come October.

The weather round me has been terrible recently and the next few weeks looks no better. It's not a great start for them and I'm hoping that they will get a better spell of weather mid August through to late Sept (fingers crossed). If the weather carries on like this I wonder if they will survive...

If they do survive this winter, i plan to split the hive in two (in late April/early May?) and hopefully develop a new colony in a spare national hive I have, giving me two hives.

 

[mark s]

thanx skydragon
good luck with the weather where you are

 

[skydragon]

that and I'm hoping the number of damn wasps bothering the hive reduce as well....grrr

 

[oliver90owner]

I've also bought some bakers fondant which intend to add on top of the BS frames, come October.

Skydragon,

They should have enough stores by then to keep them going the whole winter and into the spring (brooding ready for the early honey flow). If not, you should be feeding concentrated sugar solution before then to help them to do that.

Fondant is generally a means of feeding bees in the new year when stores are running low for some reason.

I had bees foraging right up until Christmas last year, so a lot depends on location and weather. I am in South Lincs. and had not seen bees taking in pollen on the winter solstice before. This year could be different, but we will have to wait to find out.

If the weather carries on like this I wonder if they will survive

No reason why they should not if you keep feeding them now, so they can build up numbers initially, and then fill them up with winter stores. And keep that fondant ready if they run low during the winter.....

Regards, RAB

 

[Hombre]

Thanks for your wise advice Finman and PH, no point in causing problems.

I liked the idea of them going off like a rocket, but the crash and consequences reveal the flaw in the plan.

A bit like too much nitrogen on green plants; it makes them lush but very weak and susceptable to disease.

Nice pictures Mark.