What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

Checking if everybody had enough stores........ and found this cluster odd different Ladybirds next to my crownboard.

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Harlequins.
My mother in law has thousands in her porch

 

[Beefriendly]

Nasty little cannibalistic immigrants....found everywhere now.

 

[Brian Bush]

These are not all Harlequins. The black ladybirds with the red spots, 4 are visible in the picture, are the dark morph of the common two spot ladybird. I know this from my degree studies many years ago. The interesting thing that was found by the research was that the number of dark two spot ladybirds was slowly increasing due to dark males being more attractive to the females.

 

[Brian Bush]

I have just remembered a piece of research that I read in an American publication quite recently. Researchers studying feral nest in the USA found that those with overwintering clusters of Harlequin ladybirds had very low levels, or even complete absence of SHB. Further investigations were being undertaken.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I stayed with my mother in law in her unheated old railway cottage last week. She had these inches thick in her porch. Stan likes to sleep with the bedroom window open and when we arrived he went upstairs to open it. Mother in law in the meantime was shouting at him as squadrons of these little things streamed into the bedroom as soon as the windows were opened

 

[Michael Palmer]

Aren't they Multi-Coloured Asian Lady beetles? That's the specie we have, but I've never seen them black like that. They arrived here in 1987. This autumn was crazy warm. 80˚F when is should have been 60. Over run with them. In the apiaries, they were a real nuisance, even biting. Things have cooled off now, with snow predicted tomorrow. -0˚F wind chills. Here we go.

Just finished wrapping hives yesterday. Oh Yay!! Upgraded some bear fences today, and cut a little brush. Amazing really...the little saplings that were there when I started with bees 40 years ago, are big trees now. Wish I had cut them way back then.

 

[Goran]

November.. as October.. I am so happy about having higher temps.. having on mind ice is melting.. and maybe we will be again on the shore of Panonia sea.. So we have to prepare for more tourists..
In many times when people told me I am sarcastic.. it turn into reality.. So not so sarcastic at the end..
We had few days ago some presentation and education ( by duo from Vespa solutions) about SHB and V. velutina nigrithorax as introduction to reality which will come at our place in " couple" seasons. It was nice to hear about theme from a first hand experience..

 

[Anduril]

One of my hives now a dead out, I had problems all year requeening 3 times. C'est la vie.

 

[Millet]

Weighed them all, i was panicking about one but they all average 100lb. in total with a mix of poly and wood added to the weight.

 

[JWF]

Didn't do anything with the bees, though they must have popped out for a bit as nextdoor's car had a liberal covering of poop in the afternoon

Also for the first time I saw a green woodpecker in the garden - squawking in a tree. I will have to keep my eye out for the little blighters this winter.

 

[For want of a better word]

Stock fenced one apiary as sheep ( not originally in field) had "tilted" a couple of colonies, fortunately well strapped together.
Small herd of deer stood and watched us from a distance!

Happy Days

Yeghes da

 

[Goran]

Only waiting for OA in December.. then again playing baker with fondants.. First fondants will go in at beginning of February..

 

[Wingy]

Planted 2 x plumb & a pear tree then 300 ish crocuses. Completed my raised staging all set to move my hive (5-6 metres) when they finally cluster up for winter. Space now for another 3+ hives for next year.

 

[drex]

Nice and frosty this morning so I scraped all the various boards and excluders, and one stack of supers. The brittle wax and propolis came off easily. Cleaned out a shed as need more storage space, three sheds already full. Good job I keep my bees and stuff next to my allotment where the wife cannot see it

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Cleaned all the feeders brought in from the out apiaries - quite a bit f wasp activity as I was working.
Checked the nearest wasp nest (in an old rat hole in a raised bed opposite the parking area) and still quite a few of them to-ing and fro-ing

 

[Michael Palmer]

I did nothing in the apiary today. Glad of it. Finished wrapping two weeks ago. Since then we've been upgrading the bear fences that are getting way too wonky, and cutting brush that had gotten way too high. I'm thoroughly exhausted and ready for a winter in the woodshop.
That is, after a trip to Mexico for a speaking engagement. Looking forward to that. One of my employees has been down there for a month, teaching the Mexican beekeepers how I raise queens and nucs. I'll be meeting with the small queen producers, and then participate at the ending of the multi-state seminar. He's found a grade school in the mountains of Oaxaca where the 12 and 13 year olds are able to establish nucleus colonies and find queens. Imagine having our kids taught that in school.

 

[Millet]

I did nothing in the apiary today. Glad of it. Finished wrapping two weeks ago. Since then we've been upgrading the bear fences that are getting way too wonky, and cutting brush that had gotten way too high. I'm thoroughly exhausted and ready for a winter in the woodshop.
That is, after a trip to Mexico for a speaking engagement. Looking forward to that. One of my employees has been down there for a month, teaching the Mexican beekeepers how I raise queens and nucs. I'll be meeting with the small queen producers, and then participate at the ending of the multi-state seminar. He's found a grade school in the mountains of Oaxaca where the 12 and 13 year olds are able to establish nucleus colonies and find queens. Imagine having our kids taught that in school.

I'm still a kid at heart but the sponge has less space for absorbing

 

[philipm]

Broken my leg so all I can do is think about the hives and hope they are ok.

 

[Millet]

Broken my leg so all I can do is think about the hives and hope they are ok.

That's bad news i broke my right arm the other year during swarming season and what a nightmare it was, luckily i have two bee suits so my lady friend could help me, can you not get some one to help you not that there is much to do but just for peace of mind.

 

[philipm]

That's bad news i broke my right arm the other year during swarming season and what a nightmare it was, luckily i have two bee suits so my lady friend could help me, can you not get some one to help you not that there is much to do but just for peace of mind.

Think I'll be co opting family members just to check ,also I have a good pair of binoculars so will be able to see my hives at the end of our field.Sadest thing is I can't go out to the shed to make anything just sitting indoors driving the wife up the wall.