What did you do in the Apiary today?

[The Poot]

Well then...............

Keh?

 

[Antipodes]

Agreed - it was difficult to “gently“ shake them out from above head height I just had to “go for it” and the bees rained down on me more than I intended.
Happy days...

Good effort to get them successfully from there...tougher one.

 

[The Poot]

Good effort to get them successfully from there...tougher one.

Here’s an action shot....I missed the bottom step....

 

[Antipodes]

They don't if they are gently handled. My party trick to entertain onlookers was to put a bare hand in a swarm cluster

11mins 30 secs to 12 mins 05.

 

[StephenT]

Checked three hives for requeening this evening. Two out of three after a few weeks are Q+ so pleased with that. Lovely brood pattern on one of them as per the photo. Am checking the Q- one with some eggs from another hive. If no Q will merge with the Q+ one.
Took 2 supers off for extracting this weekend. My wife has lots of customers at her pharmacy asking when the honey will be ready so expect to shift it quick.

 

[GuyNir]

Checked three hives for requeening this evening. Two out of three after a few weeks are Q+ so pleased with that. Lovely brood pattern on one of them as per the photo. Am checking the Q- one with some eggs from another hive. If no Q will merge with the Q+ one.
Took 2 supers off for extracting this weekend. My wife has lots of customers at her pharmacy asking when the honey will be ready so expect to shift it quick.

Nice looking frame

 

[GuyNir]

Destroyed the two EFB positive colonies early this morning, before any foragers are out.
The last few days they really started to fill the super. Last night at 20:30 they were still bringing in lots of pollen…
Anyway you look at this it’s awful, but had to be done

 

[Erichalfbee]

11mins 30 secs to 12 mins 05.

I never do anything to bees without PPE. Well maybe top up feed but the hand in a bivouacked swarm like I said is a party trick Yiu can walk right past a clustered swarm and they ignore you. I didn’t mean bees that you are shaking off a tree.

 

[Swn58]

They don't if they are gently handled. My party trick to entertain onlookers was to put a bare hand in a swarm cluster

Swarm bees are usually fine. so it must have been my imagination that I got stung the other day then?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Swarm bees are usually fine. so it must have been my imagination that I got stung the other day then?

Yes

 

[The Poot]

Went through them all and found the swarm culprit- the one I least suspected
Found two sealed and one unsealed queen cell. Made a nuc with the better sealed cell, destroyed the other sealed cell and left them the unsealed cell, which when found, was being fed and was a good size larvae.
Found the queen in the biggest colony, which I suspected had swarmed
No other swarm preparations found in the others.
Added a super to one, supers now being filled at a pace.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A COUPLE OF DAYS OF HEAT/SUN MAKES, ASTONISHING!
Yesterday’s swarm seem all settled in, will be vaped tomorrow and fed on Monday.
Lots of drones back in the colony that was killing them too, so all good with the world of bees

 

[gregior]

Added a 3rd super to a split that has filled a super and 1/2 in 4 days! Mostly hawthorn I think, is that a good honey?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Went through them all and found the swarm culprit- the one I least suspected
Found two sealed and one unsealed queen cell. Made a nuc with the better sealed cell, destroyed the other sealed cell and left them the unsealed cell, which when found, was being fed and was a good size larvae.
Found the queen in the biggest colony, which I suspected had swarmed
No other swarm preparations found in the others.
Added a super to one, supers now being filled at a pace.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A COUPLE OF DAYS OF HEAT/SUN MAKES, ASTONISHING!
Yesterday’s swarm seem all settled in, will be vaped tomorrow and fed on Monday.
Lots of drones back in the colony that was killing them too, so all good with the world of bees

If you move the swarmed colony away a few feet and put your swarm in its place all the flying bees will return there and you might even get some honey off them.

 

[BigAshW]

Nice to finally be inspecting in the sunshine.

Bees are starting to recover from the weather's set back.

One split looks to have failed so added a test frame to be sure.

Also did a paper unite on another colony that haven't accepted the new queen I gave them. Hopefully that colony will be strong enough to give a crop this year now.

My strongest colony still no sign of swarming so hopefully they'll move into the supers. They seem to be filling the top brood box at the moment.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Having a day off today, after yesterdays fun and games!

"Carry on Beekeeping" or "Carry on SWARM" - with Hancock's Half Hour (that's my surname!)

6.30am - Phone call there is a HUGE swarm in the village! I didn't think bees swarmed that early! Unless from the day before!

7.30am - Bloody hell, it is a large swarm, still clustering on a hawthorn hedge at the top, on a branch which had been missed, which I thought this is going to be easy, famous last words! and momentarily I saw the queen with a "laminated label D58", should have caught her, but was so amazed I then lost sight of her.!!

8.30am They had all clustered, Cut off the branch on steps, and slowly lowered into a Maises Poly Nuc, and added some frames of foundation, something for them to do! Job done I thought.... But something was just not right, I do not really know what it was, they were not fanning at the entrance, with the abdomen in the air, and very noisy roaring... I also got stung! (Who says swarms don't sting!) - that's my first sting since 2018!

10.00am I returned, and they were all back out of the poly nuc, on the hedge again on the next branch. This time I'll use a wooden swarm box, which has always worked well before. Cut the branch, placed in box, added foundation, closed up box.

Maybe they were unsettled, and just wanting to go....

11.00-11.30 - Before I left they were still in the box, popped off to Abelo, to pickup some brood frames and foundation, I'm now out! It's only 17 mins by car!

12.00pm - I returned, again out of the wooden box, so this time, I fetched a standard wooden national brood box, solid floor and queen excluder. The hawthorn hedge is running out of branches! Clipped branch and put in the box with frames.

2.00pm - I returned, and again they are out of the box. Nothing left in the box, so a slim queen must have gone through the excluder. Nothing left in the national. Added swarm lure, frame of brood and I walked them in, poured them on a pillow case, and watch them slowly march in, including the queen!

3.00pm - Still present in the national, but some returned to hedge, which I put in the box, and poured on the pillow case, and they walked in.

8.00pm - Returned most were in, many left on the hedge, caught in box, and poured on pillow case.

9,00pm stuffed grass in the entrance and moved to Apiary 2.

Today, they are finally pulling the grass out and doing orientation flights, or planning to leave! We will see!

I'm really curious as to what D58 queen is!

What a run around and today there are still a few bees flying around the original location. I had a good look and cannot see anything obvious, maybe it's on a ley line!

 

[Swarm]

Added a 3rd super to a split that has filled a super and 1/2 in 4 days! Mostly hawthorn I think, is that a good honey?

The best IMO.

 

[Worker bee]

Checked all my hives, checkerboarded some between two broods, some had a few blanks moved into the broods, checkerboarded some with an extra brood empty distributed between three broods, put a super on some that I'm using as honey producer's. All hives absolutely going nuts getting nectar into every available cell. It's about bloody time because I didn't think the bees would get anything off the oil seed rape, brambles and beans next

 

[GuyNir]

Having a day off today, after yesterdays fun and games!

"Carry on Beekeeping" or "Carry on SWARM" - with Hancock's Half Hour (that's my surname!)

6.30am - Phone call there is a HUGE swarm in the village! I didn't think bees swarmed that early! Unless from the day before!

7.30am - Bloody hell, it is a large swarm, still clustering on a hawthorn hedge at the top, on a branch which had been missed, which I thought this is going to be easy, famous last words! and momentarily I saw the queen with a "laminated label D58", should have caught her, but was so amazed I then lost sight of her.!!

8.30am They had all clustered, Cut off the branch on steps, and slowly lowered into a Maises Poly Nuc, and added some frames of foundation, something for them to do! Job done I thought.... But something was just not right, I do not really know what it was, they were not fanning at the entrance, with the abdomen in the air, and very noisy roaring... I also got stung! (Who says swarms don't sting!) - that's my first sting since 2018!

10.00am I returned, and they were all back out of the poly nuc, on the hedge again on the next branch. This time I'll use a wooden swarm box, which has always worked well before. Cut the branch, placed in box, added foundation, closed up box.

Maybe they were unsettled, and just wanting to go....

11.00-11.30 - Before I left they were still in the box, popped off to Abelo, to pickup some brood frames and foundation, I'm now out! It's only 17 mins by car!

12.00pm - I returned, again out of the wooden box, so this time, I fetched a standard wooden national brood box, solid floor and queen excluder. The hawthorn hedge is running out of branches! Clipped branch and put in the box with frames.

2.00pm - I returned, and again they are out of the box. Nothing left in the box, so a slim queen must have gone through the excluder. Nothing left in the national. Added swarm lure, frame of brood and I walked them in, poured them on a pillow case, and watch them slowly march in, including the queen!

3.00pm - Still present in the national, but some returned to hedge, which I put in the box, and poured on the pillow case, and they walked in.

8.00pm - Returned most were in, many left on the hedge, caught in box, and poured on pillow case.

9,00pm stuffed grass in the entrance and moved to Apiary 2.

Today, they are finally pulling the grass out and doing orientation flights, or planning to leave! We will see!

I'm really curious as to what D58 queen is!

What a run around and today there are still a few bees flying around the original location. I had a good look and cannot see anything obvious, maybe it's on a ley line!

A day’s work this. Well done

 

[einsteinagogo]

A day’s work this. Well done

Thanks

It felt like it, stressed, tired, I wish I was back at work, that's easy in comparison!

I just hope they now stay after all the excitement!

Just checked this aft, and bees at the original site seem to have disappeared eventually.

 

[Wilco]

Took a chance in between showers to pop up to the range apiary to check on a Demarree which is nearing queen emergence as Sunday (the usual inspection day) might have been cutting it fine, chosen frames taken out into a nuc and all other QCs taken down, that hive (which is really powerful) is doing fine with the bees already busily backfilling frames in the top box as brood emerges (will be doing a proper inspection Sunday).
Gave two earlier nucs a frame of stores as they were getting low. Bit early to expect the queens to be laying but both nucs look very healthy albeit a bit low on stores. I cast my eye over the other hives in case there was something seious that wouldn't wait until Sunday and notived one hive very quiet and with a few dead bees in the 'lobby', unfortunately for this colony, very strong, good stores and packed with bees, the long awaited opening of the hawthorn up there was too late for them, they'd stripped out all the stores and starved - probably just happened in the last few days, but it's a sad sight with most of the frames in the brood having a dead bee tucked well in to each cell, by the number of emerged cells I reckon that a recent, further population boom had overstrained them.

Sorry to hear that - there but for the grace of God go I... Was just about to pack down on last week's inspection as the weather became suboptimal but chanced a quick peek at one hive which had previously had decent stores despite the weather as spotted some dead bees outside: stores empty. Put feeder on and they managed to hold out until the weather improved in the last few days. Was a very close call.