What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Hivemaker.]

Bell well out and Ling coming out in profusion, can see lots of bees working both the bell and the ling so promising.

Same here... and a really heavy honey flow.

 

[Beefriendly]

duplicate

 

[Beefriendly]

Just visited my other heather site PM..... flow is in full swing with spades! Heather scent was stunning, nice and hot and humid...perfect.
Supers are filling nicely! And forecast is for more good weather....

 

[Polyanwood]

Still taking off supers and extracting. Averaging 33lbs per hive. Some honey dew, but the surprise performer this year has been the false acacia/black locust bean tree.

Hot and dry not as bad as cold and wet

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just visited my other heather site PM..... flow is in full swing with spades! Heather scent was stunning, nice and hot and humid...perfect.
Supers are filling nicely! And forecast is for more good weather....

Do you go for honey or cut comb?

 

[deemann1]

Put on clearer boards today for my last supers ,loads of wasps around, the bees were very cranky today one of my colonies just went bazerk not a nice experience a cloud of stinging bee's I counted 78 stings on right glove alone !!!

 

[Beefriendly]

Do you go for honey or cut comb?

Both.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well I took an evening stroll to the apiary and ended up watching a young barn owl dipping in and out of its nest box to stand on the landing board, looking around, preening and trying its wings. Bees’ what bees?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Prepared for the Gower show, then decided to have an hour with the bees, hot and humid sultry weather not the best for inspections, but a fruitful hour - a colony which I thought was a failed mating has a queen, laying like a train. others now mated and going well.
No sign of the heather yet (I think it will be the twelfth as usual before it blooms) but they're bringing something in, quite a bit of it - I suspect it's willowherb and HB which has perked up immensely after the rain.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Attended a wild colony living in a tree in the grounds of a primary school in Selby to help Selby Beekers with relocation. Before I arrived preparations had been completed and we were faced with a vertical trunk about 75mm diameter with a lollipop of comb and bees on top at about chest height.
Available materials included a hive stand, floor, two empty brood boxes with frames, a crownboard and roof.
I suggested rather than peeling off combs and banding them into frames it would be easier, quicker and far less stressful for the bees if we could simply cut the top of the trunk and place everything inside an empty double brood box hive. Strap it together, leave until evening for fliers to come home, seal the entrance and transport gently later in the evening.
That's just what we did and tonight the colony will go to their new site.
Chriss of Selby Beekeepers took photos and videos of the performance. No doubt they will appear on the Selby Beekeepers Facebook page in due course.

The video is now up on the Selby Beekeepers Facebook page

 

[JWF]

The video is now up on the Selby Beekeepers Facebook page

Here's a link for the above mentioned video.

It's amazing that the colony managed to build so much comb in the open - I guess this year's hot and dry summer will have helped.

https://www.facebook.com/selbybees/videos/650469262003970/

Very interesting - thanks for letting us know John.

 

[colinc]

Two new hives from splits both now have laying queens that will need marking next inspection, up to 5 hives now.
Removed 6 full capped brood frames for extraction as the brood boxes are crowded and put escapes under another 3 full capped supers, have another super well on the way too.
Been an better summer than my spring harvest.


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[manek]

Discovered that a swarm captured last week came from one of my hives which was heavily honey-bound. Time to re-unite, I think - but give them more breathing/laying space. And in other news, due to wasps, the entrance blocks with minimal entrances went on both hives.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Went through all the colonies.
Two weeks ago I was madly extracting brood frames now all is well. Lots of brood where it should be and honey stores above.

 

[Murox]

After three weeks of waiting I opened up a five frame nucleus that had been transferred to a full sized hive. They had a kilo of fondant to play with if they needed it and some empty frames..
The result is good. They have built good comb on foundationless frames filled the old with some stores and the queen has laid in the newly drawn comb as well. Hive was really bursting with new young bees, there were around two full frames (national Brood) worth of capped brood and more uncapped. No obvious signs of any problems. Long may it continue.

I even managed to watch one bee free itself from the capping. Left them with some 1:1 syrup.

 

[Millet]

Empty supers coming of three tomorrow after today's inspection and rapid feeders will be added... brood boxes have bits of pollen but very little stores.. the other three are still going mental and the two double brood hives which started of slow have got into gear.. i thought i had this bee keeping lark cracked .. back to the drawing board it seems..

 

[stevebrowning]

Distributed the last 25 virgins into mating hives and screened/strapped 70 ready to collect from the borage, I'm ready for a break!

 

[Eyeman]

Distributed the last 25 virgins into mating hives and screened/strapped 70 ready to collect from the borage, I'm ready for a break!

I'm in the same position with 21 grafts into mating nucs 4 days ago and yesterday and today moved to mating sites and bees released. What are your plans for the queens when they get mated?
I will be putting mine in 3 frame nucs to 'briefly' assess their worth then will beuniting into 6 frame nucs towards end of September / start of October to over winter after choosing which is the 'best' queen to keep.
Been a great season for queen rearing so far.

 

[JWF]

Popped entrance blocks in as there are wasps everywhere. They don't seem to be attacking the hives directly so far, but they're having a good look.

 

[stevebrowning]

I'm in the same position with 21 grafts into mating nucs 4 days ago and yesterday and today moved to mating sites and bees released. What are your plans for the queens when they get mated?
I will be putting mine in 3 frame nucs to 'briefly' assess their worth then will beuniting into 6 frame nucs towards end of September / start of October to over winter after choosing which is the 'best' queen to keep.
Been a great season for queen rearing so far.

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They're in mini plus hives so will overwinter in them unless I need some for late requeening, it's been great here too for queen rearing, perfect weather!!