Itchy feet?

[merylvingien]

This was one of mine yesterday in Andover!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJne2iqfGAk[/ame]

 

[oliver90owner]

merylvingien,

Have you got any that are really busy?

Regards, RAB

 

[victor meldrew]

Really Really Busy ?

John Wilkinson

 

[Skyhook]

Did that ,had a late Spring ( no obvious activity) , First inspaction revealed the little Bu**ers had drawn comb right down to the omf .
Be on your guard .
Winter 2010/11 I omited the super ,once bitten and all that

John Wilkinson

Ummm, I think you're supposed to put a full super under the BB, or an empty super under the OMF.

 

[merylvingien]

merylvingien,

Have you got any that are really busy?

Regards, RAB

Not really busy no LOL

 

[RoseCottage]

Merylvingien,
It's always nice to get supportive, re-assuring, posts...!

I now feel like a parent who's kids have failed their exams and have been sent to the back of the class in the worst school in the area.

I will be up with them later near the middle of the day...I will putting on the insulation and feeder. I'll have a little word in their ears too.

Maybe I'll take a video too and ask them to perform a few of their tricks...On a warm day it is quite a sight to see 2,000 bees all line dancing on the roof of the hive and their synchronised flights make the Red Arrows look like Libyan fighter pilots.

Sam

 

[victor meldrew]

Ummm, I think you're supposed to put a full super under the BB, or an empty super under the OMF.

Not the way I was encouraged.
In fact empty super over OMF, under BB is the wintering method at the branch apiary

John Wilkinson

 

[drstitson]

a friend in surrey on double brood with prolific colony was panicking on weds/thurs as his bees were so busy they were log jamming the entrance (and when checked "boiling" up out onto the crownboard.

 

[Poly Hive]

Not sure why you would have taken off the insuatlion as I keep mine on all year round, or rather did in the days of timber and now of course in poly it is there anyway.

Too early to unite. Just hang tight and wait a bit.

What you could do though is to dummy up your weak one. They need a suppie of feed, and I would use a frame feeder on the one side, move the bees towards it, and then dummy on the other side to keep them as warm as possible.

PH

 

[merylvingien]

Merylvingien,

Maybe I'll take a video too and ask them to perform a few of their tricks

Did you manage to get any video of them? It was a really nice warm day, mine were going hell for leather all day, i even got some better closer macro footage of them LOL

If you did take some footage, post it up!

 

[RoseCottage]

Sadly I had nothing to video...8-(

I think that I have figured things out a little more today. I moved my girls around July last year to a new location. I was forced into the move and the hives were strong. They stayed strong throughout the year so I didn't overly worry about their situation. However, I visited today at 1.30 and saw no flying bees from either hive. It was a glorious and warm day and yet no flying bees. The hives were in shadow and it was materially cooler on the skin than other parts of the field.

I think that this is a big part of the issue; they have stores but little or no pollen coming in so the queens not laying.

Since they really are not flying I am going to try and get hold of some pollen patties and give them these. Also I am in discussion with the farmer on moving them tomorrow/Monday to a better location in full sun. I think I can close them in, move them gently, and put orientation branches up to make them adjust to their new home. I doubt I will lose many, if any, bees.

What do you think?

The video may need to wait a week or two...but really a thousand dancing bees is very impressive

I have also ordered a local Nuc as a fallback situation in-case disaster occurs, but that will come much later in the year.

Sam

 

[merylvingien]

Rose Cottage, you see the thing up to the right of the page, where its say private messages?