Synopsis of the season so far

[mbc]

Wait, wait, wait, hurry up!
Wait, wait, feed ,wait, hurry up, GET ON WITH IT!

Don't leave your supers in the shed folks, they're filling up like buckets under a tap.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

a fewe weeks ago I thought I'd been a bit over optimistic with all the new supers I'd made up, now I'm eyeing the 'spare' flatpacks in the chamber of secrets and wondering.................................

 

[For want of a better word]

All in the memory of the Late Flow!

What did happen to the poor lass and the expensive plastic?

Yeghes da

 

[Teemore]

a fewe weeks ago I thought I'd been a bit over optimistic with all the new supers I'd made up, now I'm eyeing the 'spare' flatpacks in the chamber of secrets and wondering.................................

Good that you have a few flatpacks... I have some cut timber that needs a bit more machining before i can call it a pile of flat packs!

Down to one extracted super after checking a couples of hives last night so I'll have do do a bit more extracting tonight....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Good that you have a few flatpacks... I have some cut timber that needs a bit more machining before i can call it a pile of flat packs!

Down to one extracted super after checking a couples of hives last night so I'll have do do a bit more extracting tonight....

I'm down to my last thirty - they won't be long going.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

What is flowing in Wales? With me, the bramble is over, as I think the chestnut is and the lime was a dud. There is some flow coming in but I am trying to work out what it is.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What is flowing in Wales? With me, the bramble is over, as I think the chestnut is and the lime was a dud. There is some flow coming in but I am trying to work out what it is.

bramble still going strong, Balsam and willowherb - won't be long before the heather opens

 

[Jed D]

Nectar is coming in faster than they are drawing comb , hence the brood boxes are filling with nectar. A few of our double brood colonies ,have filled the top box with honey and are capping it..
We also have flat pack supers in the shed that I wasn't gonna bother making up for this season.
Hopefully gonna spin some frames at the weekend and take them straight back.....

 

[Poly Hive]

Lovley to see masss panic.

Weather will break tomorrow most likely and then there will be lots of time to extract.

I hope for you all the heather is good but in El Nino years.... doubtful and at least two to go.

PH

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

who's panicking? and have had a decent crop from the heather the last two years - without even bothering taking the hives up to the middle of it.

 

[enrico]

Lime in full flow here and the willow herb is also producing. Not much bramble.
E

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Lovley to see masss panic.

Weather will break tomorrow most likely and then there will be lots of time to extract.

I hope for you all the heather is good but in El Nino years.... doubtful and at least two to go.

PH

Do you have a razor blade and a warm bath I could "borrow", PH?

 

[Swarm]

Not seeing that here. Balsam is flowering but it ain't flowing, I think I spotted one silverback last inspection. The bees were busy and one on demarree was backfilling upstairs and there was a lot of yellow pollen going in all hives, which I can only assume is Ragwort
But that was Sunday, we've had Summer since then, lol.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not seeing that here. Balsam is flowering but it ain't flowing, I think I spotted one silverback last inspection. The bees were busy and one on demarree was backfilling upstairs and there was a lot of yellow pollen going in all hives, which I can only assume is Ragwort
But that was Sunday, we've had Summer since then, lol.

Been seeing balsam bees in quite a few numbers here for over a week - had one young colony (still only on seven frames) fill a super to brimming since Saturday - lucky I'd forgotten to check my notes so popped the crownboard for a quick look . although some other colonies are plodding along at a more sensible rate

 

[mbc]

No balsam ghost bees coming back here yet, but the bees were packing through the supers on Tuesday, especially evident on supers of foundation where the bees had payed them little attention for weeks then suddenly drawn and filled them seemingly overnight. I saw bees working willowherb, bramble ,thistle and clover.

 

[tonyofarr]

Clover and bramble here, and an apiary close to the Tamar has just started to bring in a small amount of balsam.

 

[madasafish]

Lime and brambles.
Willow herb starting to flower as is HB - but bees ignoring them..

Been a difficult year here..

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

Plenty of balsam around me but they are not touching it the bramble is almost over did my rounds yesterday and some hives are slowing down where others are just going crazy even in the same apiary I think it depends if they have found the willow herb which is only just starting to flower . I will be taking hives to the moors Monday/Tuesday next week looks like heather is coming out early.

 

[mbc]

This is my dilemma, the mountains are pinking up while the main flow is only just getting stored in the supers, I usually wait until robbing starts indicating the main flow is over before whipping the honey off, empty supers back on and a trailer or two of bees up to the heather. It looks like being more of a squeeze than usual this year.

 

[nantmoel]

Plenty of balsam around me but they are not touching it the bramble is almost over did my rounds yesterday and some hives are slowing down where others are just going crazy even in the same apiary I think it depends if they have found the willow herb which is only just starting to flower . I will be taking hives to the moors Monday/Tuesday next week looks like heather is coming out early.

Where do you take your bees for the heather?