What did you do in the Apiary today?

[manek]

Added a super each to my two hives (hive 1 already has an almost-full super), removed wild comb they'd built above the brood frames in hive 2 (and getting stung for not smoking them down beforehand!) so I could get the super on.

At this rate we might get three supers of honey by the end of August. And as it's my first full year, and both hives have new queens, I'm pretty chuffed - what could possibly go wrong??

 

[colinc]

Nothing today cooler wet and very windy here. Inspected yesterday as forecast for next 2 days is wet again but we will see. Few wasps around but the bees seem to be coping. will put the tunnels I use in winter back in at next inspection. 3 hives all on double brood with 13/14 frames of brood and boxes that are full of stores for winter, just hoping this wetter weather brings a flow on in August because it has been so dry the normal weekly lawn mowing only just needed doing after nearly 4 weeks.
Here's hoping for a pick up in the flow.....


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[B+.]

I've just had my BBKA Bee Breeders assessment with
Marin Anastasov And John Hendrie. I was the first candidate they've seen so, hopefully, things get better as they go along. I found some of the theoretical questions a bit vague (or maybe its usual for BBKA questions to be phased in an obscure way?).

 

[G4WIL]

My farm apiary has a lot of wasps around so I placed a waspbane - this is a pic taken after 4 days. [emoji33]

The wasp trap is only as good as its bait in reality!
Most people can construct a simple escape proof wasp trap .
The bait I use is cheap prune juice from budget supermarkets with an added dash of vinegar !


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[jenkinsbrynmair]

Prepared my entries for the Royal Welsh National honey show

 

[Goran]

Now I understand that transformation of north Africa from green fertile land toward desert doesn't have to be so long process.. In accordance what is happening to us.. Over 35C for I forgot how long with no rain.. What a joy these climate changes..
Always bumped on my mind tale of scorpion ( humans) and the turtle ( nature)..

Forgot.. One cycle of qrearing ended.. 2nd in the process..

 

[Millet]

I did nothing that i had planned as the rain is absolutely torrential, even if i opened up with a fishing brolly over me any bees that attempted to fly would have quickly been knocked to the ground and perished, i have things i need to check on as well, maybe tomorrow ? .

 

[Swarm]

Got soaked and eventually had to give up.

 

[wightbees]

Checked on mini nucs, as we had really bad rain last night but all is well. Put our chosen Queen in the jenter again which was a bit of a composition due to rain on the way no doubt! Trouble is the day for transferring is now forecast as heavy rain, can't believe it! What am I suppose to do now? Early or wait to next morning...

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I did nothing that i had planned as the rain is absolutely torrential, even if i opened up with a fishing brolly over me any bees that attempted to fly would have quickly been knocked to the ground and perished, i have things i need to check on as well, maybe tomorrow ? .

We had rain dry rain dry etc. None of the dry spells long enough to tempt me to open the hives

 

[bjosephd]

Checked on mini nucs, as we had really bad rain last night but all is well. Put our chosen Queen in the jenter again which was a bit of a composition due to rain on the way no doubt! Trouble is the day for transferring is now forecast as heavy rain, can't believe it! What am I suppose to do now? Early or wait to next morning...

My 'mini' nuc is a nuc dummied down to 2 frames. A single sealed QC that I got from another hive. It would be a bonus queen if it survives. I'm just nervous I didn't get enough bees in to keep it warm enough. But weather was so torrential that I couldn't check or do anything about it. Will they concentrate all their heat energy in that queen cell do you think? I might just leave them to it, but always amazed how much a nuc thins down after feeling like having shaken an entire hive into it!

 

[wightbees]

You can always shake a frame of nurse bees in of you feel is a bit light on bees but remember a poly mini only has a cup of bees in it. I have also used a standard nuc with two frames as I didn't have enough mini nucs , should be fine though

 

[bjosephd]

You can always shake a frame of nurse bees in of you feel is a bit light on bees but remember a poly mini only has a cup of bees in it. I have also used a standard nuc with two frames as I didn't have enough mini nucs , should be fine though

Well quite. It was a potential job for today. But the hive would have mostly had a shake of bees and a gallon of rain!

 

[Millet]

We had rain dry rain dry etc. None of the dry spells long enough to tempt me to open the hives

Much the same here, when i got to the Hive i thought i would have a quick cuppa before i inspected any, i should have done it before the cuppa as the heavens opened shortly after the teabag got wet in the cup, it is still torrential now and i got soaked walking the pooch.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Trouble is the day for transferring is now forecast as heavy rain, can't believe it! What am I suppose to do now? Early or wait to next morning...

It was a potential job for today. But the hive would have mostly had a shake of bees and a gallon of rain!

Having a lot of very rainy days here as well, but carry on doing the bee work regardless... using large umbrellas over the hives when the rain is really heavy.

 

[wightbees]

Cheers HM , if it isn't sweat it's rain! Just can't win

 

[Millet]

Having a lot of very rainy days here as well, but carry on doing the bee work regardless... using large umbrellas over the hives when the rain is really heavy.

Monsoon type rain here, coming straight down from the sky like peas and it has been like that all day, i nearly crashed twice tonight through aquaplaning into the left lane on a A road , do your bees not suffer bad losses when inspecting in this harsh weather.

 

[Hivemaker.]

do your bees not suffer bad losses when inspecting in this harsh weather.

No...we use umbrellas, sometimes all day if it keeps raining.

 

[Millet]

No...we use umbrellas, sometimes all day if it keeps raining.

I would need a marque or two at the moment over 3 hives to save any fliers that get disturbed when inspecting, you know what you are doing though i don't ? , sooooooooo i will not dis you..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

loaded the truck up and took my entries to the Royal Welsh showground. Pretty disappointed as, after being told we'd been moved from our original spot in the Glamorgan hall I'd assumed it was to give us more room as beekeeping is becoming more popular and we get a lot of footfall.
Pah - we've been stuffed into one corner of the horticulture marquee - dusty dim and dingy and more cramped.
They obviously wanted us out of the hall to get higher revenue stalls in like Marks and Spencer and the like.

I'll say one thing - people need to invest in honey glasses - or just ask the chief steward as some of the honeys were way out of shade - there were some medium honeys there darker than my dark honey!