What did you do in the Apiary today?

[BitterleyBee]

Just went , stood staring at them for a while with mixed emotions of nervous anticipation, possible resignation to loss of one of the two hives that was being robbed out by wasps towards end of year, hoping to see one bee, just one , stick her head out to say ‘yes, still here’. Shrugged my shoulders. Thought ‘bugger it’s cold’ and came away. Not sure why I went now. Just had to go and stare.
might go and stare again tomorrow.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just went , stood staring at them for a while with mixed emotions of nervous anticipation, possible resignation to loss of one of the two hives that was being robbed out by wasps towards end of year, hoping to see one bee, just one , stick her head out to say ‘yes, still here’. Shrugged my shoulders. Thought ‘bugger it’s cold’ and came away. Not sure why I went now. Just had to go and stare.
might go and stare again tomorrow.

Press your ear to the hive tomorrow. Cheer yourself up.

 

[Monbees]

Press your ear to the hive tomorrow. Cheer yourself up.

Moved one hive 50 yds within apiary as v cold and no bee activity in the last week, nor, according to forecast for the next week to 10 days. Will keep the entrance blocked for 24 hrs, don't know why really, probably just an excess of caution.[/QUOTE]

 

[The Poot]

Checked stored brood boxes in my garage, for signs of wax moth and found two affected frames only. Good so far.
Took an inventory of all stored kit, made up some frames and grew extremely cold.
Retreated into the warm kitchen and ordered frames and foundation expected to be required for the coming season.

 

[Swarm]

Hefted the colonies today, all ok. One double nuc is a little on the light side so I'll give them some fondant soon.
Reaction of one double nuc (a swarm) convinces me they were incomers. You could hear them piling through the poly boxes and dropping to the floor in their rush to pile out. This reaction to a slight tilt as I hefted. Same when adding syrup, piling out and after minimum disturbance, just the roof off. It was bloody freezing today so they didn't get far.
Guess they are an early combine.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Press your ear to the hive tomorrow.

But not the entrance

 

[Newbeeneil]

Just went , stood staring at them for a while with mixed emotions of nervous anticipation, possible resignation to loss of one of the two hives that was being robbed out by wasps towards end of year, hoping to see one bee, just one , stick her head out to say ‘yes, still here’. Shrugged my shoulders. Thought ‘bugger it’s cold’ and came away. Not sure why I went now. Just had to go and stare.
might go and stare again tomorrow.

Like Erichalfabee have a listen, I bought a cheap stethoscope which is easier than trying to get your ear to the hive.
https://www.medisupplies.co.uk/Diag...14FQRBu4nVyrqJRjBOiNU6m6XVQSEJdsaAtHhEALw_wcB

 

[pargyle]

Just went , stood staring at them for a while with mixed emotions of nervous anticipation, possible resignation to loss of one of the two hives that was being robbed out by wasps towards end of year, hoping to see one bee, just one , stick her head out to say ‘yes, still here’. Shrugged my shoulders. Thought ‘bugger it’s cold’ and came away. Not sure why I went now. Just had to go and stare.
might go and stare again tomorrow.

LOL ... I go one stage further and peek in through the clear crownboards ... even on a cold day like today down here there's usually a few looking up at me.

 

[pargyle]

But not the entrance

I went to flick a couple of dead ones off a landing board and the guard bee came out to have a look at what was going on ... wouldn't like to risk my ear even in midwinter ...

 

[madasafish]

Checked mini nucs- ok.
Hefted all nucs- OK.
Left main hives - too cold to be lifting them.

Went back to painting nucs I have finished.

 

[Michael ECB's]

So this is how my new year/season has started....
They so no good deed goes unpunished...
The black or darker strain of bee I was trying save/preserve turned on me....
Home apiary - Day before news years.
Bees agitated for no apparent reason and went for my two dogs. (Dogs have no access to hives and are only able to get approximately 8m behind fenced boxes)
Youngest son also stung a few times walking under oak tree... Son ok and dogs ok -
Dogs are a bit shaken up and shows signs of stress when a common house fly lands on them..

Quarantine Apiary - New Years Day
One colony started bearding and triggered another two hives to go "Bat **** Crazy". ( Robbing perhaps?)
Attacked my eldest sons dog and killed him. Son also stung while trying to get dog out of yard. Son ok BUT dog dead...
Hives almost 3m in the air on garage roof. (Pallet with iso board insulation)
Dog not even close to flight path. ???

All guilty parties from both apiaries had the BLACK gene..... Bloody crazy little B_t_hes ! - Putting it mildly!
Never have I come so close to throwing the towel in.... Especially after all the effort I have put in to look after these notoriously aggressive little girls...

All colonies responsible for Violence have been moved to a new "Wild Apiary" No Traffic, No Cattle and No People...
Lots of predators though - Good luck to them.

Just above Flood line. (Was tempted to place below)

Name still undecided...... Black Valley or Death Valley....
Pic below taken from closest farm road/path.... lets hope it far enough..

 

[Antipodes]

So this is how my new year/season has started....
They so no good deed goes unpunished...
The black or darker strain of bee I was trying save/preserve turned on me....
Home apiary - Day before news years.
Bees agitated for no apparent reason and went for my two dogs. (Dogs have no access to hives and are only able to get approximately 8m behind fenced boxes)
Youngest son also stung a few times walking under oak tree... Son ok and dogs ok -
Dogs are a bit shaken up and shows signs of stress when a common house fly lands on them..

Quarantine Apiary - New Years Day
One colony started bearding and triggered another two hives to go "Bat **** Crazy". ( Robbing perhaps?)
Attacked my eldest sons dog and killed him. Son also stung while trying to get dog out of yard. Son ok BUT dog dead...
Hives almost 3m in the air on garage roof. (Pallet with iso board insulation)
Dog not even close to flight path. ???

All guilty parties from both apiaries had the BLACK gene..... Bloody crazy little B_t_hes ! - Putting it mildly!
Never have I come so close to throwing the towel in.... Especially after all the effort I have put in to look after these notoriously aggressive little girls...

All colonies responsible for Violence have been moved to a new "Wild Apiary" No Traffic, No Cattle and No People...
Lots of predators though - Good luck to them.

Just above Flood line. (Was tempted to place below)
View attachment 23757
Name still undecided...... Black Valley or Death Valley....
Pic below taken from closest farm road/path.... lets hope it far enough..
View attachment 23758

Sorry to hear about this M. ECBs...particularly the dog. Very upsetting.
I'm guessing it was anaphylactic...unless it got heaps of stings?
Is there any sort of honey flow there at the moment?

 

[gmonag]

So this is how my new year/season has started....
They so no good deed goes unpunished...
The black or darker strain of bee I was trying save/preserve turned on me....

Is this common in your part of the world? We hear so much about "Africanised" bees in America and their aggression.

 

[The Poot]

That is not good Michael. I would feel vengeful if my dogs were killed for seemingly no reason.
I hope your sons are OK.
Having said that, the picture of the hives in the new position is lovely.
I hope things pan out all right and I hope you don’t suffer from further bee tantrums and enjoy keeping them again.

 

[Michael ECB's]

Sorry to hear about this M. ECBs...particularly the dog. Very upsetting.
I'm guessing it was anaphylactic...unless it got heaps of stings?
Is there any sort of honey flow there at the moment?

Acasia nectar flow on here at the moment...... Nothing out of the ordinary though....?
Dog died in my arms... My son recently moved out and lives alone... his first dog - just over a year old Boerbul...
Eyes welling up again as I type this.... Very upsetting.....

 

[The Poot]

Today, took delivery of a Dadent smoker and a QX cleaning tool. Put them in the garage and went back indoors beside the log burner
(Previous smoker was cheap and Chinese and leaked tar from the base after use. The lid had a habit of opening when in use too. It had to go).

 

[Michael ECB's]

Is this common in your part of the world? We hear so much about "Africanised" bees in America and their aggression.

Not common but also not unheard of..... One of our dairy managers had his two dogs stung to death a few years ago.... Wild colony in a chimney - also the darker varient...

We seem to be blessed here with this darker colonies.... At least once a month I have to remove a colony from somewhere on the farm...

 

[The Poot]

Acasia nectar flow on here at the moment...... Nothing out of the ordinary though....?
Dog died in my arms... My son recently moved out and lives alone... his first dog - just over a year old Boerbul...
Eyes welling up again as I type this.... Very upsetting.....

I’d invest in a few Jerry cans of petrol if that was me.....
Is there a danger of these bees “infecting” other strains kept locally?

 

[Michael ECB's]

That is not good Michael. I would feel vengeful if my dogs were killed for seemingly no reason.
I hope your sons are OK.
Having said that, the picture of the hives in the new position is lovely.
I hope things pan out all right and I hope you don’t suffer from further bee tantrums and enjoy keeping them again.

I must admit, it was a close call.... We removed 3 during the day at lunch time..... sealed up boxes and dumped them next to the river...... I almost did not open up....
But then thought I would only be punishing the innocent ones that stayed behind to look after the queen and brood....
Thankfully my Son sees it as,,,,
DAD, they are only doing what they where designed to do, protect themselves from what they perceive to be a threat...
No one could have seen this coming.......
Spent the weekend collecting all colonies with black gene and moving them to one spot.... Death valley also has a north and south apiary so it looks like they are going to continue surviving for a bit longer....

Will be taking a serious look at breeding queens to ensure other apiaries stay clean....

 

[Michael ECB's]

I’d invest in a few Jerry cans of petrol if that was me.....
Is there a danger of these bees “infecting” other strains kept locally?

I'm out in the rural districts/farming areas.... This is the local bee it would seem.....
Usually we find them in the mountains and cliffs... Recently they have been coming down more and more into the flatter areas...
I/we believe they have adapted to survive here... Only the strongest survive....
They are wild bees and indigenous here.... we only have two species in Southern Africa
Cape Honey bee
Scutellata African Bee - This is the one found in my area