What did you do in the Apiary today?

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First hive: moved a full super to the top, added a clearer board underneath; this one is ready for harvesting.
Second hive: added empty super above half-full one. By next week, it'll be full, at this rate.
 
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Think iv got some lime honey this year
In the village we have 12/12 old lime trees
We rarely get a flow from them but this year the weather was favourable
Jar on right is green tinged
Other jars are from spring on left and early June honey
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=823&pictureid=3913
If you can check pollen and for mint taste. My clear slightly green honey that coincided with the lime flowers contained mainly field bean pollen. I did find a lime pollen grain...just the one.
I have about 1/2 a dozen very mature lime trees only a few hundred yards away. Never had a crop of lime honey ever.
 
Been very good here, around seven and a half tons of honey from the Lime trees, not often they are much good around here.

Lime nectar or honey dew?
Only the seven and half tons.... :sunning:
If proper lime and minty I might be tempted to take a few hundred pounds off you. Assuming you are happy to deal in such minute quantities :)
 
If you have that many Hives you should not need a bee inspector as your experience should dictate your ability to determine problems .. are you pulling folks legs..?
Inspection was a result of one of my apiaries being with 3k of a ESB outbreak.
Having plenty of hives is no indication of being a good beekeeper, it just means I enjoy collecting swarms and playing with bees! 😀
 
Inspection was a result of one of my apiaries being with 3k of a ESB outbreak.
Having plenty of hives is no indication of being a good beekeeper, it just means I enjoy collecting swarms and playing with bees! 😀

Maybe that should have read EFB.....
I think ESB is a kind of alcoholic beverage if I remember rightly! 😀
 
Checked the hive I united last week. Few emergency queen cells in the lower brood box which I tore down but none at all in the upper brood box which contained the queen. Also put a clearing board on in preparation for my first honey harvest, the other super is being drew and filled out.

Made up another nuc from the colony unite as two of the frames were national and contained brood didn't want to put them back in the 14x12 hive.

Checked the apideas, the fondant has dried out and the bees had even made cells in it. In one of them I seen the queen has hatched. Thinking the best way to get that queen into the nuc I made up. I'm thinking of removing the divider in the (maisimore) feeder, use drawing pins to fix a strip of newspaper along the hole the bees climb up and then shaking the apidea into that...

Also with the brood box freed up was able to promote a strong nuc to a full hive.

I think I'm making good progress, I started the year with one hive.
 
Yesterday did a quick tilt of the boxes and the newspaper unite has worked and no dead bees outside hive so success.
Moved the last swarm I caught 3 miles away right next to a massive field of thistles and brambles as far as you can see so not fed it.
Todays plan is to move the new queen nuc into a full hive as is bursting at the seams. Decided to start new hive with this nuc as it has gained some of the flying bees from the combine I did, Also the double brood the queen was ear marked for that i had issues with seems to of calmed down, will requeen this hive early next year....
 
Managed to mangle a supercedure cell yesterday - annoying! Must get new glasses..........:hairpull:
 
Checked the nucs, the second tiers have been drawn out and eggs laid and the bees are turning black :)
Nine capped supers need clearing but that will have to wait a day or two. Considering adding a fourth brood box on one of my Amm as they are drawing comb and filling it for fun, they could end up providing Winter stores for the apiary.
Went and watched Hornets at their nest in a barn wall before leaving.
 
Checked in on a Q which I marked 4 days ago. She was limping and didn’t look right when I put her back. Well today fresh eggs, Q looked better and best of all no supercedure Q cells
 
Checked on a news paper unite from last week and all is good, checked on a 6 frame nuc and the Queen is in overdrive she will be in a full box tomorrow..
Checked the big hive and it is getting smaller in bee numbers and no sign of a Queen but i seen some eggs that have another damn laying worker written all over them..
Worst of all i checked on a colony where a Queen emerged a couple of weeks back and i spotted yet another small Drone laying Queen which i promptly splatted when i eventually found her the second time.
 
Removed first full super of the year (heavy!), and looking forward to extracting tomorrow morning.

The clearer board worked well, only three bees left in the super, so by dint of being very careful, I was able to make off with the honey without disturbing the hive or attracting their attention. I also clamped the super between two 460mm squares of plywood to seal it and tiptoed away.
 
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The clearer board worked well, only three bees left in the super....


Just did my first ever extraction this evening, did one super. Took longer than I thought. Will resume in the morning at put the super back on the hive. I only had two bees but the rhombus board was on for just over 24 hours.
 
Others may tell you otherwise but it has been suggested to put empty wet supers back on in the evening to prevent mass craziness. Bees can rush from the hive when they find unexpected honey booms in the attic.


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Just did my first ever extraction this evening, did one super. Took longer than I thought. Will resume in the morning at put the super back on the hive. I only had two bees but the rhombus board was on for just over 24 hours.

Yes, I used a rhombus board too. I went to the hive with full battle gear and a lit smoker, just in case. Neither were necessary - but might have been had I not used tgem!
 

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