What did you do in the Apiary today?

[nantmoel]

Grafted another 20 cells today, I removed capped ones yesterday and put the slider back in the cloak board, the bees were a little grumpy. Today they were bonkers when I put the grafts in! Little beggers got up into my bee suit and stung me 5 times on the chest and side!! A little price to pay for nice queen cells..

 

[Millet]

I've seen a few sniffing around underneath the hives

Funny enough with the wasp subject i spotted a hole in a rockery today with a fair bit of wasp activity in and out, the bad thing for the wasps is they made there nest 3ft away from where i park and open my car door, the bendiocarb was administered, i would have let them do there thing if they had picked a different spot.

 

[Brigsy]

Small fry for you experienced keepers, but at the weekend I have found a queen I raised in an Apidea as a backup during artificial swarm manoeuvres, successfully introduced and laying in a colony that I was changing the bloodline in.

Great.

 

[beeno]

Anyhow I am impressed. Well done.

 

[maddydog]

Grafted another 20 cells today, I removed capped ones yesterday and put the slider back in the cloak board, the bees were a little grumpy. Today they were bonkers when I put the grafts in! Little beggers got up into my bee suit and stung me 5 times on the chest and side!! A little price to pay for nice queen cells..

My cell starter and finisher colonies have gone from the best behaved to the worst in the space of 8 weeks. Not sure if it's the messing, queenless periods, etc or something else. Interesting though

 

[Millet]

Not the apiary but in the back of my car the damn car battery for my gasser tipped over and landed on my spare bee suit covering it with battery acid, so i quickly put it in the bath and then googled what to do to save it, i have done the worst thing possible as the water apparently speeds the process up of destroying the fabric, oh well a spare bee suit on my birthday prezzie list is in order.. lol

 

[Brigsy]

Anyhow I am impressed. Well done.

Thanks!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

early start yesterday Closing up nucs to give to the beginners then an afternoon transferring nucs I'd raised into hives. Bck home, settled down to dinner and a shout at countryfile (awful programme but have to endure it for the weather forecast) when the phone rang - urgent swarm call half an hour away.

 

[B+.]

the phone rang - urgent swarm call half an hour away.

Whats wrong with some people? Don't they know that a bee only needs 1/4" clearance? An open window is an outright invitation!

 

[madasafish]

Small fry for you experienced keepers, but at the weekend I have found a queen I raised in an Apidea as a backup during artificial swarm manoeuvres, successfully introduced and laying in a colony that I was changing the bloodline in.

Great.

Well done.
Gives you a great sense of satisfaction I find when a plan works..

 

[Brigsy]

Thanks. It's offset some of things that didn't go to plan.

 

[taurus]

I had a nuc I bought in May which had only half filled a single brood box and then queen cells started appearing. But only on one frame which was misshapen. The adjacent frame had twisted foundation when it came out of the nuc and the frame next to it had a bulge of comb that matched the twist.

They'd built queen cells along the rim of the bulge. The rest of the brood pattern was a bit weird and the bees seemed agitated.

So last week I whipped both those frames out, with the queen cells and put them into a nuc. Leaving the queen with the brood and bees in the hive.

I know that's not how the books say to do it!!! But it just seemed right at the time.

This week the queen is laying beautifully, the bees are totally calm and the brood pattern is photogenically perfect. No sign of new queen cells or a single cup anywhere.

The nuc with the queen cells is on a different site so I am leaving that alone for a couple of weeks before looking inside.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Small fry for you experienced keepers, but at the weekend I have found a queen I raised in an Apidea as a backup during artificial swarm manoeuvres, successfully introduced and laying in a colony that I was changing the bloodline in.

Great.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Whats wrong with some people? Don't they know that a bee only needs 1/4" clearance? An open window is an outright invitation!

They arrived via the chimney - the window was opened later

 

[Dadnlad]

Small fry for you experienced keepers, but at the weekend I have found a queen I raised in an Apidea as a backup during artificial swarm manoeuvres, successfully introduced and laying in a colony that I was changing the bloodline in.

Great.

Well done you - feels good doesn't it

We managed to 'rescue' a queenless (buggered up supercedure) colony with our first ever Q raised in our mininuc from a queencell, we were grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day !

 

[JWF]

Not the apiary but in the back of my car the damn car battery for my gasser tipped over and landed on my spare bee suit covering it with battery acid, so i quickly put it in the bath and then googled what to do to save it, i have done the worst thing possible as the water apparently speeds the process up of destroying the fabric, oh well a spare bee suit on my birthday prezzie list is in order.. lol

In my experience battery acid destroys any cotton based material - and the damage is often only evident after you've washed it.

 

[Millet]

In my experience battery acid destroys any cotton based material - and the damage is often only evident after you've washed it.

Its cream cracked really and on the washing line now with around 15 holes in it, i might be able to patch it up but i will not hold my breath.

 

[taurus]

Its cream cracked really and on the washing line now with around 15 holes in it, i might be able to patch it up but i will not hold my breath.

I wouldn't waste your time patching it - the material will just keep giving way and new holes appearing.

It's not quite as bad as the time I had my model aircraft starter battery in the back, had to brake hard and the battery fell over so that the terminals made contact with my steel vacuum flask. Now that was an interesting moment!

If you need to run a oxalic gasser consider the lithium ion starter packs - all the power you need in a small lightweight pack that is much safer to use.

 

[Brigsy]

Well done you - feels good doesn't it

We managed to 'rescue' a queenless (buggered up supercedure) colony with our first ever Q raised in our mininuc from a queencell, we were grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day !

Thanks. Yes, surprisingly satisfying.

 

[Millet]

I wouldn't waste your time patching it - the material will just keep giving way and new holes appearing.

It's not quite as bad as the time I had my model aircraft starter battery in the back, had to brake hard and the battery fell over so that the terminals made contact with my steel vacuum flask. Now that was an interesting moment!

If you need to run a oxalic gasser consider the lithium ion starter packs - all the power you need in a small lightweight pack that is much safer to use.