What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Swn58]

I was at my partners allotments over the weekend. Diddigdig Feeling it today!
I will be doing full inspections very soon and then spring varroa treatment. I'm about to order twenty poly-nuc boxes to help with splits etc..
Beatrice the bee was so tired coming back to her hive that she had to take a rest!

 

[Levitt53]

I tend to nadir a super on my hives each winter with the bits and bobs of honey left for them to store. It crossed my mind this year whether this helps them. I use poly hives with OMFs but the nadired super might keep them a bit away from the draft. Just a thought.

 

[Plastics]

Girls going bonkers - whole row of cherry plum to go at

 

[Nannysbees]

Nearly every little forager returning to the hive huge sacks of pollen

 

[CaptainCymru]

Nearly every little forager returning to the hive huge sacks of pollen

Same here ! It was properly warm today

 

[pargyle]

Flying like a summer day ... loads of pollen coming in and some heavy landings (water or perhaps they are finding some nectar). Looking good ...

 

[Newbeeneil]

Temperature of 13deg in the shade and 18 in the sun this afternoon so I took the opertunity to do a quick inspection on 12 hives and 8 nucs.
The first hive I opened was very crowded with lots of drone brood around the edges of the frames and an unsealed supercedure cell. Left them to get on with it but that was the only one with drone brood in it.
Most of the nucs and hives were as I would expect them at this time but one seemed queenless and light on stores so I popped in a frame of sealed stores with some eggs on it to see what they do with it.
One other hive had sealed brood on 9 frames so I felt I had to give them more room. I added another poly brood box with drawn foundation to hopefully put off swarming.

 

[Repwoc]

I'm about to order twenty poly-nuc boxes

SWMBO has just finished painting the 20 BS 2-in-1 nucs I bought a few weeks ago. I've run out of wax, so the frames aren't all done yet but mostly they're ready to go!

 

[Goran]

Over weekend had some no brain no pain job ( some heavy lifting around hazels, few tons of fertilizers).. While the cold northern wind was going through my bones and light snow sparkle in periods hitting our faces some odd bees fly by.. On Sunday was on slope where is more sheltered from wind and there was decent amount foraging at meadow. I was telling - go back to the hives nuts! It was below 10C in the open.. Well, at same time I might be unfair cause I also spent whole days out in such horrid weather.. Unfair double standards by myself seems..

 

[Swn58]

SWMBO has just finished painting the 20 BS 2-in-1 nucs I bought a few weeks ago.

So you bought the last lot! Last week I was waiting for a long promised payment to come in and was about to buy the nucs I needed. It never came. Today, I was finally ready to sort it all out and there was barely any nuc boxes left to buy! I managed to get twenty Maisemore nucs from Simon the B.K. Lucky that he had any really. Doubly lucky, as that's where I buy my frames and foundation anyway. Apparently I have hit 'pallet' status, with my total order this time!
This year is proving to be difficult already, on the poly-nuc and hive front especially, by the look of it. It's Brexit I think.

 

[Swn58]

I don't know if that is true ... draught reducers around the bottom of the hives - yes .. closing off the mesh floors - not so sure. Mine all have OMF all year round .. the hive stands I make protect the bottom of the hives from draughts .. bees seem to be OK with this arrangement.

My hives....both poly and wood, have OMF's but there is an inspection tray beneath that, which offers some protection.

 

[Repwoc]

So you bought the last lot! Last week I was waiting for a long promised payment to come in and was about to buy the nucs I needed. It never came. Today, I was finally ready to sort it all out and there was barely any nuc boxes left to buy! I managed to get twenty Maisemore nucs from Simon the B.K. Lucky that he had any really. Doubly lucky, as that's where I buy my frames and foundation anyway. Apparently I have hit 'pallet' status, with my total order this time!
This year is proving to be difficult already, on the poly-nuc and hive front especially, by the look of it. It's Brexit I think.

Yes I think I was lucky. BS Honeybees had only 17 in stock, but StB had 20+ so I got them there. Shortly after that both suppliers were out of stock.

Prices seem to be zooming up. StB is advertising Maisies poly nucs now @ £45 sans frames. I'm sure the ones I bought last year (admittedly in Maisies poly sale) were ~ £32 so probably ~ £35 normal price. The year before they were £28.

 

[Swn58]

@ £45 sans frames.

Yep....that was the price!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I managed to get twenty Maisemore nucs from Simon the B.K. Lucky that he had any really.

Why didn't you try Maisemores - they would give a decent discount for that quantity

 

[Swn58]

Why didn't you try Maisemores - they would give a decent discount for that quantity

Ooops!

 

[StephenT]

Weighed one of my hives on brood and a half that I haven’t bothered weighing for the last couple of months as was confident that it had plenty of stores. It feels really quite heavy to heft and I estimate about 40lbs of stores which is about 5lbs less than in went into winter with. Haven’t fed since October. It’s packed with bees from top to bottom, looking under the OMF with the phone camera and through the polycarbonate crownboard. Either frugal and prolific or I’m crap at weighing (or somewhere in between). Will stick a super on tomorrow to give them more space and then see if any frames of stores need removing on Sunday. Exciting times!

 

[Newbeeneil]

In the warm sun this afternoon I opened up another 5 hives. First one looked queen less and short of stores with a few drone cells so I may have laying workers. Nicked a frame of stores with some eggs on it from another hive so I'll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
The next was short stores so I pinched a frame of stores and installed that.
The next 2 were very full of bees and stores so I shut them up and will leave them till they need supering.
The last one was so full of bees and sealed brood that I was concerned they were likely to swarm soon. ( drone brood evident). I'll put a dummied brood box with 7 frames on top as soon as I get a chance.

 

[StephenT]

Put a super on a very packed (bees and stores) brood and a half. Quickly peeked at the first three frames and saw sealed stores, unsealed stores and eggs/larvae on them. Drone comb and larvae at the bottom of one of the frames.

 

[Sayle]

It's videos like that which remind me I started with a very weak swarm (may have even been a cast) last year and they're still not up to strength. They came to me after spending a night outside on a lawn and starting to make comb on the grass. Poor girls. Population is the highest its ever been but it's still very much not...that. Haven't even drawn out all the frames yet, but in a much healthier position than they were when they went in the box. Only managed to draw out a frame and a half in the first weeks after being homed. Even going into winter they only had a 5 1/2 drawn out and a couple seams of actual bees. Now they're pushing 8-9 drawn frames. Hoping to get them to a full brood box in a couple of months and get some supers on.

 

[robmort]

Girls going bonkers - whole row of cherry plum to go at

They're called Blackthorn round here.