What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Apple]

Well, that's a good job done then. Did you do it all yourself or have you got staff.

Taking feeders and feeder ekes off.. fitting fondant ekes and giving each colony a couple of bags of fondant... have another 80+ colonies to go... had the "apprentice " with me .. No 2 daughter died his hair violent red so he looks like Ronald Mc Donald.. bees NOT impressed!
Chons da

 

[Newbeeneil]

Taking feeders and feeder ekes off.. fitting fondant ekes and giving each colony a couple of bags of fondant... have another 80+ colonies to go... had the "apprentice " with me .. No 2 daughter died his hair violent red so he looks like Ronald Mc Donald.. bees NOT impressed!
Chons da

HIS hair?

Edit. Just reread it.... no.2 daughter dyed the apprentice's hair. Got it now.

 

[madasafish]

HIS hair?

Edit. Just reread it.... no.2 daughter dyed the apprentice's hair. Got it now.

Dementia comes to us all eventually

I am losing the track of which day it is...

 

[Angry_Mob]

Cleared space in the Apiary for a container, will be convenient having all my stuff in one place that is dry and secure for the boxes so they wont get damaged with wind etc, Wonder how long its going to be before I need a bigger one as I've ordered more hives from Abelo; so now I need more frames and wax.

Was a few bees about even at 8 degrees. The clearing involved moving a row of hives, one of the nucs was very light compared to the rest so will get some extra feed on that.

Finally finished reading Ted Hoppers guide to bees and honey, could probably do with another revision but on the whole an excellent book.

 

[Michael ECB's]

Crazy Season about to start here....
Huge amounts of reject chocolate, caramel and sweets waste coming in from production facilities.... And the bees have found it....
Tomorrow all chaos breaks loose as staff try and work around thousands upon thousands of bees....
Melting pots below show waste just before going into Bio-Gas plant.

 

[Antipodes]

Just a day to go until summer. I've created a monster of a hive, and stood in the dark in the home apiary late
View attachment VID_20201128_221354534.mp4
last night just listening to the roar as they dry the nectar.

 

[elainemary]

So, I ran out of frames a while ago and had to set out some trap boxes around areas with high number of scouts- When you see them, you just know you have only hours to react... Anyway, placed 10 frame boxes with only 5 frames inside,,, too fill spaces I uses 35mm strips of ply wood with a light coat of wax on stapled to the top... (Sad truth, I have done this many times before ) Another truth, it works better with more space inside the Brood box, bees seam to move in faster..
See below comb built on frame within 10 days of swarm setting up home... Truly incredible... Comb neatly cut off and reframed...
They not happy for now but will forgive in time...
View attachment 23158

Nice pic MICHael. Good to hear Bee stories from another part of the world. The reason they like more space in the box (vs box with filled frames), is the scout bees measure the size of the potential nest when looking for new nesting sites. So your boxes with comb in vs part empty ones, appear smaller and less suitable for their needs. They like a cavity of at least 20lts (up to 80lts) according to Tom Sealey.

 

[pargyle]

Crazy Season about to start here....
Huge amounts of reject chocolate, caramel and sweets waste coming in from production facilities.... And the bees have found it....
Tomorrow all chaos breaks loose as staff try and work around thousands upon thousands of bees....
Melting pots below show waste just before going into Bio-Gas plant.

That should produce some interesting 'Honey' ... but not as we know it !

 

[E&MBees]

Weighed and hefted both hives. The first felt heavy when hefted, checked with luggage scales, 69lbs. Saw a good solid cluster of bees through the poly crown board. Very pleased with how they are looking.
The other hive, hefted much lighter and when weighed was 54lbs. This colony was on brood and a half going in to the autumn. Cluster looked very small through poly crown board, although could be spread through both boxes. I’ve applied fondant in grease proof paper directly onto queen excluder over the cluster. Will check again in a few days. Varroa boards added to check mite load and stores uncapping.

 

[Paras]

I have hefted all my colonies, all have a good weight at this time of the year.

 

[Michael ECB's]

That should produce some interesting 'Honey' ... but not as we know it !

Bees feeding on this chocolate waste usually have a very strong/rich honey - That "raspy" feeling at the back of the throat. Like old wild colony honey. Very sweet / Strong / Mature.... Great for pork roasts......
Because it sets a bit faster I also end up using it to help out trapouts and colonies in need....
Give and take hey!.....

 

[StephenT]

Took off empty fondant wrappers, QE’s and Eke’s from two hives. All looking good through the polycarbonate crown boards. Put mouse guards on all hives. A tad late I guess but the bees have been active and only just started to cluster. There’s some condensation around the edge of the crownboards on a couple of hives. Got 50mm insulation in the roofs but still forming. Will have to keep an eye on that.

 

[pargyle]

I took off all except one feeder which was absolutely full of bees guzzling it down... didn't have the heart to deprive them ... all hives now hefting heavy ... still can't find my luggage scales but they all pass the three finger heft test.

Added the extra winter slabs of insulation... I've also started putting an extra polycarbonate sheet on top of my insulation supers. I've noticed that this really does keep the heat in ... i know... mollycoddling them again - but it's no real hardship and it keeps the slugs and wood lice out. Swapped over a solid crown board I had temporarily used on one colony as the rim of the clear one had become detached ... feel much happier when I can see them. They really didn't mind me opening them up... a few came up to see what was going on but just a little puff of smoke sent them back down until I had the new crownboard in place. There are a lot of bees in that box, looking down I could see almost all the frames had bees on them

One colony doesn't have as many bees as I would like to see through the crown board and there are more dead bees on the landing board (about 15 to 20 a day) than normal but there's not much that can be done at this stage... I might have a look in during the week if it is warm enough ... they have taken down plenty of invert and are flying so not panicky... they were very low on varroa when I sugar rolled them at the beginning of October... no sign of nosema or DWV ... could be queen failure... she's going into the third year but the colony gave a good honey crop this year and no sign of her laying being faulty although I haven't been into this colony since early october.

I washed up all the feeders and left them drying in the kitchen to annoy 'er indoors before she finds something more difficult to resolve on a Sunday evening when my weekend job list has remained rather static...

 

[Michael ECB's]

Relocation of another problem colony.... Started stinging cattle staff and the more inquisitive young heifers...
As soon as theses older and larger colonies get to a certain size they become very protective....
9 good frames of brood and a really decent chance to do well for themselves again.... In a more secluded area...

 

[madasafish]

Did my fortnightly check of 4 mininucs with Qs. Added fondant to each feeder.
(Fondant wrapped in clingfilm to speed debris removal from what are small feeders.)

It was 3C after a hard frost so not many bees flew to inspect me.
Hefted my nucs - they all seem good till Christmas.
Main hives should be fine but will check later this week.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Went to the butchers earlier to sort out our Christmas order. Nobody there when I first walked in but as I was chatting, putting in my order and getting some stuff From the cooked meats counter a few others turned up and were confused when Martin said 'that will be 110 pounds then please. Thanks for the order' then handed me my ham, scotch eggs (got to be done now), and a tenner before turning to the next customer.
Isn't barter great! I'm bottling his honey for him tomorrow

 

[Swarm]

Yes, used to enjoy the same until my butchers closed.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes, used to enjoy the same until my butchers closed.

I do the same with my local Chinese takeaway I phone in an order, Andy says 'hang on' and I can hear him calling to Mary in the kitchen, next thing he comes back with 'ready in twenty minutes - bring six honeys'
Twenty minutes later I walk in and drop a box with the honey in on the counter, Andy hands over my takeaway and the difference between the cost of the meal and what he owes me for the honey - everyone else waiting for their order just look on in bemusement

 

[Michael ECB's]

Another one today... double header,,, turns out a smaller hole opened up into another colony ?
(boxed as one colony with only one queen found...)
Snakes always a concern this time of year... Wide awake and very active..

 

[Michael ECB's]

Some new tenants in the quarantine area.... Some of those darker/angrier girls....
Couple of weeks then off to new home...