What did you do in the Apiary today?

[pargyle]

Well ... I had a cracking bee afternoon ..... checked that my next Gasvap invention worked ... you'll have to look in the Gasvap Mods thread for that ... I even vaped one of my colonies (that's coming from a non-treater but ~ it was in the aid of experimentation to see if the new thingumibob worked ... and the other colonies I look after [not mine] were all treated in the autumn and I couldn't be bothered to go round there as it always results in a two hour stay). I put new aluminium tape on the edges of my inspection board (stops the critters getting in to the inside of the tubes that correx is made from).

Lots of bees flying and some pollen coming in but looking at the pond it's mainly water they are after.

Put inspection boards on all of the hives including the one that I vaped .. it will be interesting to see if there is a significant drop from that colony .. it's a strong one and there are plenty of bees in there so I'm really hopeful that the drop is going to be be negligible. It was over 10 degrees this afternoon so there's every chance there's brood - just hope we don't get a frost in the next week or two ... once we get past mid February down here in the Costa del Fareham we are usually free of any really deep frosts.

 

[Angularity]

Checked all my hives, and found a dead colony. The had clustered on one side of the hive and starved, as indicated by the abundance of bees with their heads in empty cells. Six inches to the left, and above them, was food but they didn't move across the hive. All I can think was that the wood was a little damp, so perhaps it's time to paint it, once I've finished clearing up.

 

[pargyle]

Checked all my hives, and found a dead colony. The had clustered on one side of the hive and starved, as indicated by the abundance of bees with their heads in empty cells. Six inches to the left, and above them, was food but they didn't move across the hive. All I can think was that the wood was a little damp, so perhaps it's time to paint it, once I've finished clearing up.

I've only ever starved a colony once and it's a tragic sight when you see all those dead bees with their heads in the cells ... I feel for you.

Did the hive have insulation above the crown board ? Was it a small colony ? I've beaten myself up enough today having lost one of mine so I'm not encouraging you to borrow my hair shirt but is there anything that you could have done to allow them to be more mobile ? I find with my poly hives and insulation above the crownboards that the bees are active on the coldest days ... 14 x 12's are big hives for them to keep warm so everything you can do to assist helps.

 

[beeno]

And overwinter?

Yes, with a view of breeding from her, but I would not risk a full sized colony.

 

[E&MBees]

Checked the hives today. One is doing really well. Hefted and weighed, plenty of stores still. A few were flying, but there was a chilly wind & no sun so they weren’t hanging around. A quick peep under the insulation and I could see them on the top bars mooching around.

Sadly the other colony has died. Feeling gutted. A very small cluster of dead bees, the rest on the omf. Plenty of stores all round them. Some had their heads in cells. There were a lot of drones very late in the season and when I sifted through the dead bees a large percentage were drones. I can only assume that the queen failed in the autumn as all was fine until then.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I would nuc those.

And overwinter?

Yes,

so which of these statements is true then?

I would not overwinter a third full season queen

 

[GuyNir]

Checked the hives today. One is doing really well. Hefted and weighed, plenty of stores still. A few were flying, but there was a chilly wind & no sun so they weren’t hanging around. A quick peep under the insulation and I could see them on the top bars mooching around.

Sadly the other colony has died. Feeling gutted. A very small cluster of dead bees, the rest on the omf. Plenty of stores all round them. Some had their heads in cells. There were a lot of drones very late in the season and when I sifted through the dead bees a large percentage were drones. I can only assume that the queen failed in the autumn as all was fine until then.

Sorry to hear Emily.

 

[beeno]

so which of these statements is true then?

Yes, with a view of breeding from her, but I would not risk a full sized colony.

 

[beeno]

[QUOTE="E&MBees, post: 745126, member: 18896"
Sadly the other colony has died. Feeling gutted. A very small cluster of dead bees, the rest on the omf. Plenty of stores all round them. Some had their heads in cells. There were a lot of drones very late in the season and when I sifted through the dead bees a large percentage were drones. I can only assume that the queen failed in the autumn as all was fine until then.
[/QUOTE]
Not a normal thing ... Good policy to overwinter one or two nucs to replace late failed queens.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes, with a view of breeding from her, but I would not risk a full sized colony.

so you

would overwinter a third full season queen

 

[E&MBees]

[QUOTE="E&MBees, post: 745126, member: 18896"
Sadly the other colony has died. Feeling gutted. A very small cluster of dead bees, the rest on the omf. Plenty of stores all round them. Some had their heads in cells. There were a lot of drones very late in the season and when I sifted through the dead bees a large percentage were drones. I can only assume that the queen failed in the autumn as all was fine until then.

Not a normal thing ... Good policy to overwinter one or two nucs to replace late failed queens.
[/QUOTE]
That is an aim for this coming winter, but I’m only a beginner and last year was very challenging. It is only due to the kindness of a forum member that I have another colony.

 

[Goran]

These days we are having 0 celsius day temps. So we are chilling.. Still we didn't start to make fondants, I am stranded with other obligations.. But since we have carnies, I don't worry.. We have plenty of time.. First fondants I plan to give somewhere in February.. not in fear of starving, in purpose of supporting brooding ( to don't have ups and downs in laying)..

 

[LeaBees]

Had a peek under roof to check on them. Seem to be doing ok with a decent spread over the frames and spied what looks like a lot of capped stores on a couple of the unobscured frames. Hefting hasn’t worked for me. First winter and first hive so hoping that’s enough to get them through.

 

[Swarm]

Well *Lagertha is a third season queen and over wintering with her colony, listening to the hives today a few of hers were flying past my ears.
All the others humming nicely so took the opportunity to walk the perimeter of the farm.

*Some simply deserve to be named

 

[GuyNir]

Well *Lagertha is a third season queen and over wintering with her colony, listening to the hives today a few of hers were flying past my ears.
All the others humming nicely so took the opportunity to walk the perimeter of the farm.

*Some simply deserve to be named

Brilliant name

 

[pargyle]

Not a normal thing ... Good policy to overwinter one or two nucs to replace late failed queens.

That is an aim for this coming winter, but I’m only a beginner and last year was very challenging. It is only due to the kindness of a forum member that I have another colony.
[/QUOTE]
The evidence is around that suggests there are more queen failures in autumn then there have ever been - there are no collated hard facts and I don't think anyone has any proveable theories about why queens are failing prematurely. The other thing is that the bees are not sensing these premature failures in some cases, whereas you would expect them to supercede. So.. the failures appear to be catastrophic and sudden. So, despite Beeno's contribution it may be becoming more 'normal' than she thinks.

They can occur in colonies that have been well treated for varroa so that's one theory out of the window...

 

[E&MBees]

That is an aim for this coming winter, but I’m only a beginner and last year was very challenging. It is only due to the kindness of a forum member that I have another colony.

The evidence is around that suggests there are more queen failures in autumn then there have ever been - there are no collated hard facts and I don't think anyone has any proveable theories about why queens are failing prematurely. The other thing is that the bees are not sensing these premature failures in some cases, whereas you would expect them to supercede. So.. the failures appear to be catastrophic and sudden. So, despite Beeno's contribution it may be becoming more 'normal' than she thinks.

They can occur in colonies that have been well treated for varroa so that's one theory out of the window...
[/QUOTE]

They were treated at the right time, x4 vapes and then another one at the beginning of December. They had syrup with thymol to build up winter stores. Insulation fixed into the roof. Weed membrane around the stand to stop up draughts. I carefully inspected the corpses. Couldn’t see any evidence of DWV. The cluster was very small, with most bees on the omf. There was the odd capped drone cell, but no sign of any other brood. Queen failure seems most likely, unless there is something that I have missed.

 

[pargyle]

The evidence is around that suggests there are more queen failures in autumn then there have ever been - there are no collated hard facts and I don't think anyone has any proveable theories about why queens are failing prematurely. The other thing is that the bees are not sensing these premature failures in some cases, whereas you would expect them to supercede. So.. the failures appear to be catastrophic and sudden. So, despite Beeno's contribution it may be becoming more 'normal' than she thinks.

They can occur in colonies that have been well treated for varroa so that's one theory out of the window...

They were treated at the right time, x4 vapes and then another one at the beginning of December. They had syrup with thymol to build up winter stores. Insulation fixed into the roof. Weed membrane around the stand to stop up draughts. I carefully inspected the corpses. Couldn’t see any evidence of DWV. The cluster was very small, with most bees on the omf. There was the odd capped drone cell, but no sign of any other brood. Queen failure seems most likely, unless there is something that I have missed.
[/QUOTE]
Did you find the queen amongst the dead bees ? I would agree ... queen failure or queen missing presumed dead seems likely ..

 

[E&MBees]

They were treated at the right time, x4 vapes and then another one at the beginning of December. They had syrup with thymol to build up winter stores. Insulation fixed into the roof. Weed membrane around the stand to stop up draughts. I carefully inspected the corpses. Couldn’t see any evidence of DWV. The cluster was very small, with most bees on the omf. There was the odd capped drone cell, but no sign of any other brood. Queen failure seems most likely, unless there is something that I have missed.

Did you find the queen amongst the dead bees ? I would agree ... queen failure or queen missing presumed dead seems likely ..
[/QUOTE]
I couldn’t find her despite her being marked with a blue dot.

 

[pargyle]

Did you find the queen amongst the dead bees ? I would agree ... queen failure or queen missing presumed dead seems likely ..

I couldn’t find her despite her being marked with a blue dot.
[/QUOTE]
More and more like a sudden queen failure in Autumn - the undertakers would have dumped the body but it may have been too late for them to create a new queen ... "lot of drones late in the season" - Drone laying workers once the queen has gone ? You may never know, clean it out, seal it up, move on, **** happens - you have the means to make increase once the season starts. Baptism of fire for you wasn't it ? All good experience even if we hate it ....