What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Popparand]

Bought one of these John Deer gators for visiting some of our more remote apiaries during winter.

Bootiful.........I'll get one for the missus when her motor is next up for replacement.

 

[SDM]

Ivy has been out a week or so on Anglesey.

 

[Millet]

Ivy has been out a week or so on Anglesey.

One mile away from me the wasps are hammering the Ivy .. in the garden it is a week or three away from attracting anything..

 

[Angry_Mob]

2nd round of vaping completed. Does take a while, about an hour and a half start to finish to do my three hives and five nucs. Must invest in another vaporiser to speed things up.

 

[Beefriendly]

2nd round of vaping completed. Does take a while, about an hour and a half start to finish to do my three hives and five nucs. Must invest in another vaporiser to speed things up.

Buy A Sublimox....with 2 two ekes...I can do around a dozen hive in under 30 minutes. That includes the 7 or 8 minutes it takes for sublimox to get to working temperature.
You know it makes sense ...although not necessarily financially

 

[Angry_Mob]

I cant justify it yet, maybe next year If I get a good honey crop I can treat myself. Although that Provap 220 does look good as well with the built in temp gauge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lWc4wU-9OY

 

[Beefriendly]

I cant justify it yet, maybe next year If I get a good honey crop I can treat myself. Although that Provap 220 does look good as well with the built in temp gauge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lWc4wU-9OY

Interesting, looks like a sublimox with a temperature gauge. Is it cheaper?
I know sublimox is overpriced for what they are...but they are quick.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Interesting, looks like a sublimox with a temperature gauge. Is it cheaper?
I know sublimox is overpriced for what they are...but they are quick.

£350 as well.

 

[Beefriendly]

£350 as well.

Aye...seems they have gone uup in price. Paid £230 for mine about 4 years ago.
Already paid for itself in terms of not buying apivar strips at around £30/5 hives.

 

[Angry_Mob]

At £230 it would be just about justifiable, I think Abelo had them in their opening sale reduced but I cant remember what price they wanted.

 

[Millet]

2nd round of vaping completed. Does take a while, about an hour and a half start to finish to do my three hives and five nucs. Must invest in another vaporiser to speed things up.

Although it goes against the rules of vaping i do not let the heated pan cool down..i unclip one of the leads on the battery and move to the next hive and put the pan near the slot in the back of the hive under the mesh floor... i then tip the right amount of product in the pan and quickly slide it into the hive and then clip it back on the battery..when i do it like that i can get five colonies done in around 20/25 mins.

 

[Courty]

Inspection and food search

Inspected the hive, it’s 18 days since I last inspected, what a change!

Last time, of the original five combs of the nuc, the outer two frames were empty and the middle three were mainly brood in all stages and some pollen and honey stores round the edges, but they weren’t full. I was worried that they weren’t expanding.

Now the foundation of the frame I put at the front is full on the inside with capped stores, still foundation on the front face. All the original five combs are full, the outer two are stores on the outside and the middle ones are a healthy looking mixture of brood in all stages with pollen and honey stores at the edges, foundation frame seven is new comb on the inside with stores, the outer edge still foundation and foundation frame eight is untouched.

I saw the queen for the first time ambling over a middle frame, larvae seem to have plenty of jelly in the cells, lots of bees.

I discovered I’d put the crown board on upside down (Abelo poly national) so I righted that.

I had a walk around the area to check for available blossom as they are still bringing in pollen. Saw honey bees on snowberry blossoms, there is also red clover, Himalayan Balsam, willow herb, hawk weed and a few other wild flowers I haven’t identified yet. South Yorkshire countryside.

Scraped the bits off the inspection tray to do a mite count.

Now I have to make sense of kwhat I have seen, trying to balance the excitement of discovery with the discomfort of not knowing all the right answers.

Courty

 

[Millet]

Vaped the full colonies for the fourth time and give them all emergency feed (1lb fondant) they where all as light as a feather and i had no syrup made up or sugar at hand to make any.. Monday they will be getting 4ltr each in the rapid feeders..

 

[Hachi]

Tried to move the last two hives from the garden, messed up one and moved one. 2nd hive after I've fed it with three English feeders full of inverted syrup its a red faced lift.

 

[Swarm]

Removed all the excluders today and did a quick assessment of colonies and stores. The majority still have plenty but the Balsam and Borage they are on are only providing meagre reward so waiting for the Ivy now.
Finished the last batch of cut comb and just have a few pound of off cuts to sort out and that's that for the honey this year.
Varroa count still low.

 

[simonforeman]

Nothing but watching the bees coming and going.... 26 degrees here today, I think the bees think summer has started again

 

[masterBK]

Went to Farmfoods today to buy yet another 100kg of sugar. Only cost me 45p per Kg as I used one of their money off vouchers (£5 off £50 and sugar was 2 Kg bags for £1). Will make up the syrup tomorrow and take it down the out-apairy later in the week. Most of my colonies should then have enough stored to winter OK but I will still have a few colonies that will need a couple more gallons of feed ( there is no Ivy anywhere near them). At home I have never had to feed the garden colonies as the Ivy always provides sufficient stores. I visit the out-apairy weekly as the bees are near the local airport and I was asked by Sandhutton to be a unpaid "sentinel" and provided with traps to inspect for Asian hornet. During the spring and summer I also inspect my colonies and inserted traps for hive beetle and sent off floor debris to Sandhutton for analysis for Hive beetle and Tropilaelaps

 

[Beefriendly]

Went to Farmfoods today to buy yet another 100kg of sugar. Only cost me 45p per Kg as I used one of their money off vouchers (£5 off £50 and sugar was 2 Kg bags for £1). .

We'll make a proper Tyke of you yet....Good one.
Nearly a 2-hour return drive to my nearest Farmfoods in York....simply not worth the diesel or time.

 

[madasafish]

ApiB'd three hives.. One dropping 50+ per day..(it was very big: six supers)

 

[Hachi]

Final hive from the garden just moved to the wintering grounds and new home. Peace and tranquillity has return to Hachi Towers as Mrs H has got her garden back.....