What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Eyeman]

Beekake ..... I like the off hive system of clearing bees.

At a convenient place in the apiary, I set up a stand. On the stand goes a knock-up floor which is open front and back. Above this goes a clearer board for the bees to go DOWN. Now comes 4 or 5 supers of honey and bees. Topping this is another clearer board for the bees to go UP. Finally a reversed double exit floor. This stack is left for 24 hours then the supers taken away for extracting.

With this system you can have supers in the stack from different hives without a problem. It also means that you only have to disturb the production hive once.

If the weathers bad do they still fly back to their original hives?
With different colonies honey supers and bees stacked together is their any robbing going on before they fly back home?

 

[maddydog]

If the weathers bad do they still fly back to their original hives?
With different colonies honey supers and bees stacked together is their any robbing going on before they fly back home?

Interesting system, not one I've heard of before.

Like you, I'd be a bit concerned that clustering would occur in cold weather. I guess a set of scales could confirm whether robbing has occurred - allowing for weight of bees etc.

 

[beekake]

Beekake ..... I like the off hive system of clearing bees.

At a convenient place in the apiary, I set up a stand. On the stand goes a knock-up floor which is open front and back. Above this goes a clearer board for the bees to go DOWN. Now comes 4 or 5 supers of honey and bees. Topping this is another clearer board for the bees to go UP. Finally a reversed double exit floor. This stack is left for 24 hours then the supers taken away for extracting.

With this system you can have supers in the stack from different hives without a problem. It also means that you only have to disturb the production hive once.

Sounds interesting. I'm assuming that the clearer board on top goes upside down, so the bees exit through a large gap, but can't get back in through a small one. I'd always assumed that the motivation for the bees to evacuate the supers being cleared was the sudden change in the hive odour, which they then track to the openings in the clearer boards, and follow it down below the clearer board. In your system, the bees presumably exit the supers simply to get back out to forage again, before returning to their home colony. Neat, but perhaps only good when the weather is fine (in my case 50:50).

On another note, the small swarm that complicated matters was still there this morning...I've tried trapping it and I'll see what happens later.

 

[Barbarian]

Responses.

Yes, the top clearer board is reversed. The large holes are on the underside and the exit holes are topside.

Weather .... I choose when I set the stack up. I want flying conditions during the 24 hours.

Robbing .... When taking the stack away I would have expected to see robbers circling the stack. Doesn't happen. Stack is often quiet.

Residue ... I often find that a handful of bees refuse to leave one of the supers. I brush these off when I get the supers home.

I have used the off hive system for several years. I prefer it to the usual on hive system.

 

[Wingy]

Well my small cast swarm that lost its Q is doing well after introducing a mated Q. BIAS & first new bees hatched a week ago. These were in a dummied down langstroth BB and scaresley covering 3 1/2 frames so this week I've:
Made a 5 frame nuc from 18mm ply (36mm) at both ends, 4mm correx CB with access into a ply feeder I've made where I can place syrup, fondant & patties practically sat on top of the frames so the bees won't have to work too hard. This is covered with 18mm ply top board insulated with 50mm Kingspan. Over this is a 18mm ply roof, felted. All wrapped up in a 50mm Kingspan cosie. Inside went the 3 frames they are filling nicely, 1 frame of foundation on one side & 1 of foundation 1/2 drawn & filled on the other side. When it gets cooler I can close the OMF up to keep some heat in & fingers crossed.

 

[Anduril]

3 hives still piling in the nectar after removing the capped ones.

 

[Millet]

Checked the hives today visually without opening up, i was going to check on them for stores but all three where showing a lot of activity in and out so i left them alone till my next visit.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Almost all supers are off. I left the two strongest colonies with one each in the vain hope that next week's better weather will make something of the balsam.
They have been really busy between showers this week but very little income
Checked all the brood boxes for the last time this year, I hope; all queen right. Brood box stores are rubbish though there is a fair amount of pollen and brood.
I will give them a feed to last till Ivy starts.
Last time I looked into one colony the queen had laid up a fair bit of drone in a quarter of a free drawn comb so I had moved it next to one end of the box. The bees were pulling the drones out as they were emerging. Never seen them do that but I have seen fluffy drones thrown out at this time of year so I assume it happens routinely.....sad though

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh....and I forgot to take a queen introduction cage out. Should have done it a week ago ........well, the colony with the newest queen from a friend has eggs, didn't look any further

 

[maddydog]

Removed all supers, modest harvest but the point of this season was to replenish numbers.

Lost two queens in my nucs for over-wintering. Fine a week ago, murdered this. One weak nuc getting plagued by wasps so bolstered and swapped positions with a strong colony

 

[Codford]

Watched a Bumble disappear through the (reduced) entrance into one of my hives this morning - unchallenged! Waited 20 mins to see if it reappeared; it didn't. Inspecting tomorrow and will be curious to see what, if anything, happened. I understand this is not uncommon.

 

[JWF]

Sometimes they don't make it out - I've found big bumbles read on a frame before, completely denuded of all hair!

 

[beeno]

Checked the hives today visually without opening up, i was going to check on them for stores but all three where showing a lot of activity in and out so i left them alone till my next visit.

Hi Millet, Left mine with 'adequate' stores as I went away for 7 days. Was able to put super frames straight into freezer as they were cleaned out! Some of mine have started brood rearing en masse after a lull, so be careful. Feeding all colonies now for winter, so they can concentrate on pollen collection as pollen stores are being cleared out as well.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi Millet, Left mine with 'adequate' stores as I went away for 7 days. Was able to put super frames straight into freezer as they were cleaned out! Some of mine have started brood rearing en masse after a lull, so be careful. Feeding all colonies now for winter, so they can concentrate on pollen collection as pollen stores are being cleared out as well.

Yes mine are similar very busy on balsam but absolutely nothing in brood boxes

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet, Left mine with 'adequate' stores as I went away for 7 days. Was able to put super frames straight into freezer as they were cleaned out! Some of mine have started brood rearing en masse after a lull, so be careful. Feeding all colonies now for winter, so they can concentrate on pollen collection as pollen stores are being cleared out as well.

I had to feed two colonies a couple of weeks back as they had nothing at all in the brood box, i give a double 6 frame nuc 6 litres of syrup and 1kg of candipollen gold and some of my own honey from last year, the other which is on brood + half got several frames of honey fed back to them that i took from them a couple of weeks before, them two colonies where doing good last week and there is a flow on from somewhere from what i seen yesterday, so hopefully my decision to not open them up yesterday was the right decision.

 

[wightbees]

Started another 20 cells today in Queen rearing colony. I have had good results with jenter kit this year. Still have loads of Drones too so looking hopeful with these lot!

 

[JWF]

Second vape completed on all my colonies this evening. Got stung on the ankle by a little rug rat for my troubles.

Whilst vaping had a huge bee mimic hoverfly land on my suit, sadly by the time I'd got my phone camera switched on it had buzzed off.

Oh, and looks like a small number of bees from one colony have found some balsam, as they had stripy heads. I'm not sure where it is, as we aren't exactly blessed with rivers round here!

 

[madasafish]

Weighed all hives and nucs using travel digital scales and rope under front and back of hives.. Need to purchase approx 20kgs sugar to meet target weights of 34kg (floor, broodbox, nadired super, crown board) on full hives..

Approx 5kgs for nucs.

Down to two mated queens for overwintering - rest used,given away or sold...
One awaiting emergence and mating. Raised 17 mated this year to date.
Apiguard on 20th August, drones being ejected. Big HB flow - the combination of rain and sun has given a bumper crop from the acres near us...

Sold over half of own extracted and bottled honey.. Association apiary adds 20odd lbs to stock for sale...

Not a lot of wasps..Present but that's all..

 

[Brian Bush]

Inspected all my hives and made the decision it would not be worth extracting honey as they had consumed much of their stores. Some hives really short of food as forage has not recovered following the drought. I have been feeding NUCs a pound of fondant a week for over a month. The wasps are also a nuisance in one apiary and I cannot find a solution.

 

[beeno]

My hives were a bit 'happier' this afternoon now that there is a flow on i.e. me feeding sugar syrup!