What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Tim.S]

70 - 80mph winds and the bees are trying to fly. Another trait to watch for when q rearing - stupidity!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Pretty blowy here and 13degrees!

 

[simonforeman]

70 - 80mph winds and the bees are trying to fly. Another trait to watch for when q rearing - stupidity!

Mine are also.... 14 degrees here and sunny but very strong winds. Bees coming out as home hives are sheltered, as soon as high enough there gone with the wind.

My brother has lost power and brought his incubator round to plug in with 5 emu eggs in....

 

[Stiffy]

Checked out apiaries, all fine but as previously mentioned despite the gales lots of bees flying. Although a bit early to crow but it’s looking like only one hive lost out of fifty, I guess the one lost hasn’t become local adapted
S

 

[Bee Bumble]

Checked our hives at some out apiaries for wind damage - all OK, but two trees came down, leaving one trunk just 18" from one hive. A very close call!
Two more apiaries to check tomorrow.

 

[nantmoel]

Lucky no damage to any hives, none blown over but 3 pieces of glass gone in the greenhouse, all replaced now.

 

[SWEET]

First check since November and all Hives/Nucs have survived so super happy.

 

[Karsal]

All 10 hives thankfully fastened down well and no issues when up at the apiary this morning. Some have already eaten 1kg of fondant so will be looking to top them up later in the week.
I do find that my colonies don't seem to cluster in the poly hives as you can see them moving around a lot under the clear crown boards. We don't seem to have much in the way of winter so they are active most of the time therefore eat their stores up quicker.

 

[pargyle]

We don't seem to have much in the way of winter so they are active most of the time therefore eat their stores up quicker.

Wierd isn't it ... I find that with poly hives and loads of insulation in a super on top and our really mild climate down here on the Costa del Fareham I see exactly the opposite. My local mongrels usually come through without the need for fondant and stores left in there at the first inspection .. Paynes 14 x 12 Polys with an empty super on with at least 50mm Kingspan in it.

Always loads of bees over the top bars when I look in throught the clear crownboards - very rarely clustered.

Not saying that you are wrong ... just different to me down here.

 

[madasafish]

Most bees here were deep in the combs when I looked last week.

5cms of snow just now so not looking......

 

[Erichalfbee]

Wierd isn't it ... I find that with poly hives and loads of insulation in a super on top and our really mild climate down here on the Costa del Fareham I see exactly the opposite. My local mongrels usually come through without the need for fondant and stores left in there at the first inspection .. Paynes 14 x 12 Polys with an empty super on with at least 50mm Kingspan in it.

Always loads of bees over the top bars when I look in throught the clear crownboards - very rarely clustered.

Not saying that you are wrong ... just different to me down here.

Same here
I overwinter bees in both wood and poly
The bees in poly eat much less even though they are moving about the top bars. Just goes to show that keeping the cluster warm seems to require more energy than being active?

 

[Anduril]

Did my storm checks and a big branch was blown down knocking a poly nuc upside down. Luckily bees are still alive after all the rain we had.

 

[Millet]

I am currently trying to save a colony that is a very small colony..it is in my garage under artificial light on a timer with added heating..call me sad but i am trying..

 

[pargyle]

I am currently trying to save a colony that is a very small colony..it is in my garage under artificial light on a timer with added heating..call me sad but i am trying..

I think, as long as they were a healthy colony, with stores in the hive and a bit of insulation on top I rather doubt that bringing them into your garage will make a blind bit of difference.

You said they were dummied down which was probably the best you could do.

Bees are capable of surviving sub zero temperatures so probably don't need the heat and light you are providing.

It probably makes you feel better that you are trying but the odds are that if they are destined to die out they will anyway ...

 

[citrus]

Wierd isn't it ... I find that with poly hives and loads of insulation in a super on top and our really mild climate down here on the Costa del Fareham I see exactly the opposite. My local mongrels usually come through without the need for fondant and stores left in there at the first inspection .. Paynes 14 x 12 Polys with an empty super on with at least 50mm Kingspan in it.

Always loads of bees over the top bars when I look in throught the clear crownboards - very rarely clustered.

Not saying that you are wrong ... just different to me down here.

Agree .. down here in sunny sutton (surrey) its the same but I always worry about feeding fondant (spoked by comments from our northern cousins but haven't needed to in my first few years doing this.

(poly double brood and double kingspan on top of the lid)

 

[XYZ]

I am currently trying to save a colony that is a very small colony..it is in my garage under artificial light on a timer with added heating..call me sad but i am trying..

Makes sense to me mate. A relative saved a small swarm in November/December and put them in his house for a short time. Sorted them out with a heat pad too. He stuck them outside when they seemed stable so they could do cleansing flights and thought they died off. He gave them the heat pad again and they rallied. Seem to be doing a lot better now
Shelter, food and heat - hopefully they'll pull through.

 

[Ian123]

Just FYI if you keep them in with additional heat watch they don’t foul in the hive, I suggest placing out on warm days so they can take cleaning or water.

 

[Beefriendly]

One of the problems with very small colonies is they struggle to produce sufficient heat even in well insulated conditions. Finman used to use terrarium reptile heaters to get small nucs of his through the Finnish winters.....now there they have some serious minus winter temperatures.
I'm pretty sure they are better off inside a sheltered garage at the moment than sat outside in this howling gale sucking the heat from the entrance and floors.
Come to think of it any hive would be better off inside at the moment.
Interestingly the large Canadian overwintering sheds remain dark which ensures a brood break.
Interesting article about them here.
https://beeinformed.org/2017/12/05/...ers-overwintering-their-bees-in-cold-storage/

 

[Ian123]

They also used to put them into cellars under the house...still cold though to get them to cluster think along the lines of fridge not the freezer.

 

[Millet]

Interesting stuff..i have been checking on them and the bees are definitely more active and not tightly clustered like they where outside..so fingers crossed if the Queen is still in there it might work out ok..