Low in stores

[madasafish]

The weather had been poor this summer.. Just not consistent enough
Ow well if I get one super per production colony I'll be happy.

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3 supers per colony is my aim.. (One started early and I have extracted five from it already.)

 

[Curly green finger's]

3 supers per colony is my aim.. (One started early and I have extracted five from it already.)

Osr from the spring??


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[Monbees]

Well Murox, l have rosebay willowherb, clover, marjoram and Myrtle all flowering well and normally all covered with bees, but this year little interest in any of these.

 

[GuyNir]

Summer? What summer?
We didn’t go above 17c since mid May. Today, 22/7 we had a high of 13c, drizzle all day long. Very few flying weather days since May.
Cherry on the cake was EFB confirmed in 5 colonies.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I went through three colonies today to consolidate the supers. Ended up taking one empty one off each leaving a heavy....ish one on the bottom and a light one on top.
I’ll be lucky to get a super each off the production colonies.
Some brood nests are being back filled for winter!!!!!! It’s July and there is another ten days of rain forecast which will put paid to the Rosebay.
Only Balsam left and they’ve never got much from that. Then Ivy for winter if it stops raining.
What on Earth happens to beekeeper Spring optimism every year!

 

[Wingy]

My bees are doing ok here, had no June gap, extracted spring honey & now extracting summer crop. Have had to extract some brood frames to free up space for Q to lay. Most hives on double brood & I'm juggling supers as I’ve ran out. I think I’m lucky with location as I have all around my apiary woodland, farmland (OSR did well this year) large allotment site (so always something there) lots of gardens, waste land and waterways (ponds & canal)
My bees have willow herb, thistle, clover, still some bramble but seem to be favouring the HB.
The only thing slowing them down is bad weather but that said they are out even in the rain.

 

[madasafish]

Osr from the spring??


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No OSR here - no arable land within 3 miles..
Mainly Spring honey..

 

[Murox]

I thought it was just me, but my bees are not making much in the way of summer honey.

I take a spring honey crop, in case of osr, and that was ok. Am wondering whether to take what summer crop there is, now, then to treat for varroa then feed as though autumn? Any stores they make thereafter can be put below the brood box for winter. Or should l hold fire for a month or so?

Well Murox, l have rosebay willowherb, clover, marjoram and Myrtle all flowering well and normally all covered with bees, but this year little interest in any of these.

Thats obviously a concern for you. Bees will go up to flowers and then fly away without trying to gather from them, either smelling for nectar or smelling a bee scent left by a previous visitor. They do favour nectar plants that are relatively close by and some flowers are more attractive and at certain times of day, and some will ignore what is in their own back garden.

I know the weather has not been the best but I do think it a tad early to 'be shutting up shop' just yet. Are you satisfied with the general health and the numbers of bees in the hives? Are their stores of nectar/honey adequate for their needs? Has the queen stopped laying? Is there enough pollen for their needs?

 

[Curly green finger's]

No OSR here - no arable land within 3 miles..
Mainly Spring honey..

That's very good your box size must make a difference, that and some prolific queen's.
I can't remember what bees you keep bucks?

Im hoping to condense some colonys for the Heather today, and put clearer boards on.
As well as uniting some to free up some boxes.
I'm going to have to re- think about having to make frames easier and quicker.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Any stores they make thereafter can be put below the brood box for winter.

Winter stores need to be above the brood - don't put a full shallow of stores below the brood box - only put part filled frames of obviously unripe honey.

 

[madasafish]

That's very good your box size must make a difference, that and some prolific queen's.
I can't remember what bees you keep bucks?

Im hoping to condense some colonys for the Heather today, and put clearer boards on.
As well as uniting some to free up some boxes.
I'm going to have to re- think about having to make frames easier and quicker.

Langstroth jumbos: about double the volume of a standard national.I lift them twice a year - hernia time (cleaning and nadiring/un-nadiring super overwinter)
And a Buckfast/carnie/others mix..very prolific

As far as frame making is concerned I use a simple frame jig - see Youtube and a cheap electric nail gun (Ex Lidl £10).. and make 9 frames at a time...

 

[Angularity]

I've run out of supers, foundation and frames. One apiary was surrounded by winter oilseed rape, another is now surrounded by spring OSR and another has twenty acres of borage within 400 yards. I'm putting this one down as a 'good year'. This amount of OSR is really unusual compared to the last 5 years, and I don't expect it to be repeated.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Langstroth jumbos: about double the volume of a standard national.I lift them twice a year - hernia time (cleaning and nadiring/un-nadiring super overwinter)

And a Buckfast/carnie/others mix..very prolific



As far as frame making is concerned I use a simple frame jig - see Youtube and a cheap electric nail gun (Ex Lidl £10).. and make 9 frames at a time...

Thanks for the advice I'll look into it.
I've already got two new extractors this season which makes things so much easier.
Im hoping to start my grandads apairy back up next year and start some Carnica colonys at this apairy which is 85 miles away.. It will be interesting to see the difference between them and my amms.
Thanks madasafish.

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[Monbees]

Winter stores need to be above the brood - don't put a full shallow of stores below the brood box - only put part filled frames of obviously unripe honey.

A beginner's question, why the different storage requirement above/below brood box, for ripe and unripe honey? My nadired supers are usually half and half sealed.

 

[Curly green finger's]

A beginner's question, why the different storage requirement above/below brood box, for ripe and unripe honey? My nadired supers are usually half and half sealed.

The work for them to move it up plus if you think they move up through winter so it's better to have stores above them.
I don't bother putting supers below they get left above the brood box qx removed.

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[drex]

I occasionally put less than full or less than ripe supers under the BB, so that they can move it up, above the brood, consolidating it and ripening as they go. With my management this happens rarely.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A beginner's question, why the different storage requirement above/below brood box, for ripe and unripe honey? My nadired supers are usually half and half sealed.

Bees want to store the honey above the brood nest if it's ripe leave it there 9Half and half sealed means it is ripe, they will cap it when they have spare time to do so), if you go and put it below, you've undone all the poor buggers' work and they will have to start again shifting stores instead of concentrating their efforts in shutting down for winter and producing winter bees. Also the time of year you are doing all this unneccessary shifting around is also the time of year when colonies are more susceptible to wasp attack and general robbing - the reason bees store above and behind the brood nest is that it's further away from the entrance so easier to guard and less liable to be robbed. Nadiring a super full of stores in the autumn is like emptying all your savings accounts and keeping the money in a carrier bag in the front porch.
If, at the end of the season you have near empty supers with dribs and drabs of unripe honey you nadir it so that the bees clean it out and move it above the brood.

 

[Fritillary]

Nadiring a super full of stores in the autumn is like emptying all your savings accounts and keeping the money in a carrier bag in the front porch.

Nice! And easy to remember.

 

[Monbees]

Thank you for the very clear explanation. I now know how to proceed!

 

[StephenT]

If, at the end of the season you have near empty supers with dribs and drabs of unripe honey you nadir it so that the bees clean it out and move it above the brood.

Very helpful advice. Do you just leave the super underneath for as long as it’s takes them to move it up and then remove it?

Also, if you’ve just got say 3 or 4 super frames left with dribs and drabs, what’s the most efficient way to ensure that they get utilised by the bees? I’m starting autumn/winter planning and as a beginner have a thousand things going around in my head. Thanks.