What did you do in the Apiary today?

[victor meldrew]

cleaned up a load of feeders that have been sat in the shower/bath for a couple of weeks.

A believer that bathing weakens one???
VM

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why don't you heft Jkbm - then you can see whether your hive(s) is light on stores, and then feed if appropriate. No point feeding fondant to a hive full of stores...

Ben P

End of September this hive had taken down over 4 gallons of syrup, Hefted three weeks ago, a bit lighter than the time before but not seriously, that's why put some fondant on as I was going away the weather was mild and I was concerned they'd be using up the stores quickly as they were busily out and about but bringing nothing much in.
Only arrived back Saturday, they were light (hefted) but as the weather was closing in I thought putting another chunk of fondant over the crown board was a good stopgap.

But...had the carton been covered with cling film? Sounds like it wasn't. If covered the bees in the carton hardly know they have been moved. You could then put a piece of card under the carton to prevent them escaping before positioning it close to the hive entrance. They can then return almost directly to the hive entrance, as they escape from the original slits in the cling film covering.

No, no cling film but one for the future I think, as you say easier to get them out of the way and near the entrance (my intention was to do just that but without the cling film, it was just the alacrity with which they moved compared to the other two hives which caught me unawares!)

carton - box for goods, so box for fondant
of - preposition meaning concerning, pertaining to
fondant - soft sweet of (flavoured) sugar
carton of fondant = box containing (unflavoured in this case) sugar sweet (large sweet in this instance)[/QUOTE]

 

[For want of a better word]

Entertained the little ladies with a chain saw.... some even popped their pretty little noses out to see what I was up to!

 

[Erichalfbee]

With a full 14 x12 box in October, they are very unlikely to need extra feed before late February, and not even then, usually.
RAB

My wooden 14 x 12 has increased by 6lbs in five weeks and the poly one by 2 (slightly smaller colony to start with) AND I have four frames of stores removed in September as they were so full.

 

[drstitson]

just raised some eyebrows at airport security with my perfectly sized (LS) sandwich of polycarbonate and kingspan!

Everyone one else is either laden down with xmas presents OR heading to Lapland with kids for some reason.

(FINMAN - better stick some logs on the fire, batten down the hatches and start working your way through all those wild berries. best not venture out. until after the weekend at least!).

 

[Moggett]

Today I have been mostly oxalic aciding the bees....... Drop tray in - fingers crossed for a high kill %

 

[fatshark]

Drop tray in? Do you mean Oxalid acid of Apiguard? OA is usually added by dribbling along each seam of bees between the frames.

 

[Moggett]

National hive with a mesh 'varroa floor'. Dribbled oxalic acid on the bees and put a drop tray under the mesh at the bottom to catch the mites that fall out of the hive (for monitoring purposes)

 

[drstitson]

"Today I have been mostly oxalic aciding the bees"

Moggett - where in the UK are you?

Do you not think it was a bit early for OA? Bees have been active up until only a relatively few days ago (a week or so) so there is likely to still be a little brood present to protect the mites in some colonies.

Consensus (if that term can ever apply on BKF) on recent thread(s_ would seem to be that just after new year (first week of jan) would been best this year (ie 3 weeks after winter arrived). Last year was xmas eve and boxing day for me.

Any reasons (eg work/home schedule) which meant that you had to do it today???

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Checked fondant on all hives - bees now seem tightly clustered - saw a few fly out from no1, no2 - still busy on the fondant and the nuc has taken some fondant down but very quiet today.
Went up to the chapel to light the fire and do some repairs ready for Christmas day, and my mother's cousin Peter popped in - he'd been up to check the hives he has on a farm near the chapel 'to make sure they were still there after the high winds - talked bees for the best part of an hour.

 

[drstitson]

all bees tightly clustered. not bad temp in sun so took a peek through the polycarbonate crownboards (and swapped in the final one in place of existing propolis screen - only 2 bees came away with it and happily walked back in entrance).

knocked up a 22.5cm deep roof with 5cm kingspan insert to fit over my Paynes/WPF nuc.

Used some spare 18mm ply that was to hand - in retrospect could've used a standard LS roof of decent dpeth (with an inch or so packing inside each side) if available (will bear in mind for future but i wanted a decent weight/depth).

photos tomorrow.

 

[Alabamaeee]

Fitted my new Kingspan "biscuit" insulation (thanks to suggestions here on the thread I started) on the crown boards and added an early Christmas dinner of fondant in a tray slotted into the Kingspan.

Bees were quiet, some came out the entrance to have a quick look, but at 4 degrees didn't hang about!

 

[Moggett]

"Today I have been mostly oxalic aciding the bees"

Moggett - where in the UK are you?

Do you not think it was a bit early for OA? Bees have been active up until only a relatively few days ago (a week or so) so there is likely to still be a little brood present to protect the mites in some colonies.

Consensus (if that term can ever apply on BKF) on recent thread(s_ would seem to be that just after new year (first week of jan) would been best this year (ie 3 weeks after winter arrived). Last year was xmas eve and boxing day for me.

Any reasons (eg work/home schedule) which meant that you had to do it today???

Cheshire. Mine have not been active/flying for weeks but have been taking fondant. I know of others doing it this coming week here before the days start lengthening.

 

[Onge]

Today I have been mostly oxalic aciding the bees....... Drop tray in - fingers crossed for a high kill %

This week I have mostly been looking for my packet of Oxalic crystals.

Hopefully I can find them in time.

 

[drstitson]

Poly nuc mods as promised

Before and after shots. Hopefully now all nice and cosy with the extra 5cm Kingspan and so no more condensation on crownboard.

 

[Magic munchkin]

Oxalis Acid

Went into our three colonies and took samples of the dead bees for testing and then treated them with oxalic acid, quite happy and relieved to see our little ladies alive and well, checked the varroa boards which we put in Saturday - hive 1 no drop , hive 2 drop of 2 , hive 3 no drop. Two of the hives had a nice round cluster and one hive all seams crammed packed with bees, all 3 hives have a super full of honey and all brood boxes are full of capped honey.Roll on spring.

 

[drstitson]

MM (No, not you;the newbie above):

"all 3 hives have a super full of honey"

Are the supers above or below the brood boxes?
You have removed your QEs haven't you?

 

[Queens59]

Sat and watched a few hundred bees flying around doing what they needed...

 

[AndyJThompson]

Popped down to 2x National hives checked fondant, not been touched. Had a listen to the side of the Brood box, could hear bee's so presuming they have enough stores so far. No bee's been flying as far as i know for a while now.

 

[Suzi Q]

Checked hives today....one very quiet. The other was chucking their dead out, about twenty dead bees on the landing board, a few bees flying, seemed to be more flying out than were coming back! The odd wasp still sneaking into hives, not mine though.