Summer harvest?

[Susan1]

Lovely spot but don't think I could afford it.

 

[enrico]

I wouldn’t shout about it as they might!
I agree that Somerset is a lovely county, but there are some dodgy areas…..

Theres dodgy areas everywhere.

 

[Nannysbees]

Thursday set to be warm. Need to inspect, don't think there'll be much to extract, I'm not comparing though we have had a good harvest

 

[pargyle]

I think you all need to move to Somerset. It's lovely here

We are trying to but the blasted down from Londoners have pushed the price of a derelict pig sty on a postage stamp piece of land up to the price of a small farm in West Wales ...

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I’m thinking I might leave it until the first weekend in September, which will potentially still give me time to put the apivar strips in.

I’m more concerned about some settled weather to lift the onions, they’ve been ready for 2 weeks and need to come out, but also need to dry off a bit before I store them.

I wasn't too impressed with apivar last time I used it. Your experience might be different

 

[lindsay s]

I was busy consolidating my supers yesterday. I filled 5 with empty frames and undrawn foundation and took them away. A mixed weather forecast for this week, but on fine days there is still a lot coming in. A lot of my hives are still packed with bees because of a slow build up which is common up here. But the honey will be coming off at the end of next week regardless! If they need extra space I will put on an eak or empty super for a short time. Looks like an average harvest this year but I won’t count my chickens till the honey is home.

 

[Martimart]

I wasn't too impressed with apivar last time I used it. Your experience might be different

I‘ve only had my hives for 3 years, and the Apivar strips are all I’ve used beside a oxacylic trickle on the shortest day in December. Never really have any varroa when I’ve done the checks. Might just be luck.

 

[Nannysbees]

I‘ve only had my hives for 3 years, and the Apivar strips are all I’ve used beside a oxacylic trickle on the shortest day in December. Never really have any varroa when I’ve done the checks. Might just be luck.

We are going into our 4th winter, we usually use apiguard and then oxalic around Nov/Dec, but this year we are going to do the oxalic treatment and not the apiguard

 

[Amari]

. A mixed weather forecast for this week, but on fine days there is still a lot coming in.

Is that bell or ling heather or something else Lindsay?

 

[Amari]

There seems to be an unexpected honey flow despite the cool showery weather! As previously posted I extracted my supers a week ago. I had put 1-2 supers with empty drawn comb beneath the clearer boards to drive the bees down into, taken the full supers off, extracted, then returned them to the hives for cleaning above the CB, removed them 2 days later. This still left the two supers with empty drawn comb on the hives. My bees have been surprisingly active during this week and today I could hear the buzz as I entered the apiary gate. There was frenetic flying activity at all but one hive. No strong suspicion of a robbing frenzy (UFE hives). I was surprised to find the lower of the two supers 3/4 full of honey and the upper starting to fill.
I've no idea where the honey is coming from: bramble almost finished, no HB. Rural arable setting.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We are going into our 4th winter, we usually use apiguard and then oxalic around Nov/Dec, but this year we are going to do the oxalic treatment and not the apiguard

Are you missing out autumn treatment entirely?

 

[Moobee]

We are trying to but the blasted down from Londoners have pushed the price of a derelict pig sty on a postage stamp piece of land up to the price of a small farm in West Wales ...

Don't get me started on the DFLs...... although they do buy my honey from the couple of outlets I supply to.....

 

[Moobee]

There seems to be an unexpected honey flow despite the cool showery weather! As previously posted I extracted my supers a week ago. I had put 1-2 supers with empty drawn comb beneath the clearer boards to drive the bees down into, taken the full supers off, extracted, then returned them to the hives for cleaning above the CB, removed them 2 days later. This still left the two supers with empty drawn comb on the hives. My bees have been surprisingly active during this week and today I could hear the buzz as I entered the apiary gate. There was frenetic flying activity at all but one hive. No strong suspicion of a robbing frenzy (UFE hives). I was surprised to find the lower of the two supers 3/4 full of honey and the upper starting to fill.
I've no idea where the honey is coming from: bramble almost finished, no HB. Rural arable setting.

Ditto here - wondering of the local farmers have planted green manure crops as I had what looked suspiciousy like phacelia pollen in a couple of hives.

 

[Nannysbees]

Are you missing out autumn treatment entirely?

Well, im going to follow Emyr, he treats with oxalic

 

[protheroe]

Well, im going to follow Emyr, he treats with oxalic

I haven't done an autumn treatment for a few years now.Vape in late december or early january without problems.Haven't seen any dwv of late.I do think my bees are dealing with varroa much better these days,i just need to watch the hives with purchased queens next year.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well, im going to follow Emyr, he treats with oxalic

Yes. He treats three/four times in the autumn and once in the winter. It's all I've been doing for 12 years

 

[Erichalfbee]

I haven't done an autumn treatment for a few years now.Vape in late december or early january without problems.Haven't seen any dwv of late.I do think my bees are dealing with varroa much better these days,i just need to watch the hives with purchased queens next year.

That's a good sign. Mark. Quite a few people seem to be managing just that

 

[WalnutTreeBees]

That's a good sign. Mark. Quite a few people seem to be managing just that

Some of us don't treat at all these days.

 

[lindsay s]

Is that bell or ling heather or something else Lindsay?

The ling heather is out in parts of Orkney but the yield is very verifiable due to our climate. My sites aren’t close enough to get any real benefit. Plenty of meadowsweet still out and the bees work it well up here. Where the white clover was cut for silage it is now in second flower but again we are depending on the weather. Last year I cleared my supers from my town apiary mid August. I had left a super on my strongest colony with 8 empty frames for room and they filled them in less than two weeks which I wasn’t expecting!

 

[Nannysbees]

Yes. He treats three/four times in the autumn and once in the winter. It's all I've been doing for 12 years

Yes I thought I'd give that a try this year, sounds like a good method