in the pub

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Nige.Coll

Drone Bee
Beekeeping Sponsor
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Location
East Midlands
Hive Type
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some + a few more
sry if i ramble as title.

went to the pub tonight and met up with some fellow beekeepers.
i'm the newest beek of the group but sadly not the youngest .
we had a laugh and talked about allsorts from varroa treatments to swarms.

one of the group has decided that this year instead of waiting for queen cells to be found they are going to split all hives and make sure all have eggs and let them sort it out " bees know what to do and the bees will do it if we provide the tools".
they also said the buggers always swarm when they are on holiday lol
you can't see any q cells but the little buggers are gone when they return :)
personally i am dreading q cells i'll age 5 years first time i see 20
i'll be on the phone to samaritans and they will probably hang up.
then i'll come here lmfao
great if it works i'll be doing it .

one thing that stunned them was i refuse to use apiguard etc.
i tried it last year and it nearly wiped out the colony i had just bought.
stopped the queen laying .
it turned out i had bought a weak nuc with frames added.. little gits still alive but the q is abdicating this year if she don't get her finger out.
i had open mouths when i said the only thing i use is OA and i don't drizzle it .
seems like vapourising OA is tantamount to witchcraft.

then it was pointed out last year we had snow now...

then we talked about starvation this year and a couple had been caught out and had a colony loss, one guy was really upset about his first colony had starved even after an emergency feed.
he had more but wasn't the point.
it turned cold quick bees in wrong place no food poof gone. within 24 hrs of spotting it.
bit scared by that if i'm honest..

rest of the time was spent talking absolute rubbish that was very amusing.

sry if this is in wrong place. drinking whiskey :)
no one or animal or insect was harmed in the making of this post.
i admit to killing a few pixels though.

damn i'll delete this when i'm sober
 
Sounded a fun evening...
I would have liked to be there.. if only to join in the disagreements.
I never split a colony unless they are extremely strong and roaring for room.
Splitting all may weaken some to be vulnerable to disease etc.

Queen cells... no problem. Don't ever panic :sunning:

Removing a couple of outer frames to give you manoeuvring room, pull remaining frames gently out.
FIRST.. look for your live queen to ensure she is there. So many times do I read ... dumped all Q cells.. but now cannot find queen!! They have damaged any chance of a decent queen being developed as BIAS too advanced to use.
If you find queen cells put a drawing pin in the frames where they are found, Write with chalk on frame top the number of cells seen. Keep a red drawing pin for the frame with a nice big cell, the one of your choice.
A good queen cell has had a lot of preparation by the bees, very dimpled, good size well placed..
When you have identified cell number , stand back and have thinking time.. They aint coming out that soon.

If a couple of queen cells.. choose to leave the best. Dump any other. If the hive huge, move that old queen and half the frames to a new hive, leaving 1 cell for them to start again. Move the old queen hive back to old site and resite the one with Qcell. The fliers from this hive will return to old queen and appear like a swarm to them.

Sorry if told you the obvious as I am unsure of your knowledge.. but maybe others will read and it will be helpful.
If ever in Sussex, mine's a vodka :thanks:
 
read about it but never done it :)
been shown how to do it but again never done it for real .
it's going to be a fun summer .
only down side is getting to apiary and realising i need more equipment and having to drive home and fetch it.

we meet once a month just a few local beeks .
interesting to listen to the different ways people manage their bees.
 
Know the feeling. Once drove 4 miles to an out apiary .. had forgotten hive tools!!!
I make a mental list now to ensure I tick all required before I set off, as memory poor!
 
i have 2 large cardboard boxes i throw in my truck with everything in.
and a plastic box with tea making stuff in also

i forgot my smoker once lol
 
Oops, rarely take smoker, only once shut up hive to return with it.
Always teach to have lit nearby though.
I just take a few towels to cover bees.
Have a fun summer :sunning:
 

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