What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Swarm]

They were on something today, plenty of traffic all heading north. The odd year continues with another mixed bag, frame of eggs given to one, it's their last chance. One early queen is filling the hive with bees so added a third super, it was half full of bees before I got the crown board on. Chuffed with her progress.

 

[elainemary]

Bit lost at that statement.
Do you meant you don't know whether both have a queen? I can't think of any time where you would consider trying to unite two queenright colonies unless you didn't care which queen won (or whether both get killed)

Hi I meant if one is queenless and one is queenright it doesn’t matter which way round they go in the box though it makes sense to keep the colony already in the box in the same place. Of course you wouldn’t unite 2 queen right or 2 queenless colonies. Relates to Emily’s question she asked……

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi I meant if one is queenless and one is queenright it doesn’t matter which way round they go in the box

It doesn't with a straightforward unite with one box on top of the other

 

[Patrick1]

In the up there might not even be a legal remedy in many cases. ☹

I went to check the orchard bees in the home apiary yesterday and as I get there I see a swarm in the air, it's got to be H6 I mutter to myself. Sure enough the hive is somewhat depleted of bees and there are queen cells. I was not that bothered because the queen is clipped and the hive was destined to be requeened with a less swarmy strain.

After checking through the hive, under the hive and all the grass around the hive I still cannot find the queen, the bees have returned to the hive and I carry on checking other colonies. When I get to the last hive I have almost finished the inspection when I see the bees balling something, I smoke it and find the missing queen which I retrieve. On the next frame is the lovely big fat queen that belongs in this hive.

The swarmy queen must have dropped out of the swarm and then crawled up into the hive 9ft in front of it. After 26 years bees can still surprise you!

No law exists to prevent people placing hives wherever they want, I think that is the right position for us in a democracy.

However, I do believe we should have compulsory registration then the local SBI could visit the hives and reassure you that the hives are clean.

So many people object to registration. Voluntary registering on beebase is no the answer, the wider responsible community deserves to know where we have disease.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No objection to mandatory registration, but it's the idea that some have of licensing beekeepers is where I start having reservations.

 

[madasafish]

checked my cut down Nicot cage. No eggs. Released Q

(Weather has been lousy past 3 days so assume Q stopped laying).
If at first etc.

Came to take out Nicot cage and saw 9 piles of RJ glinting. (My eyesight without magnification is bad - but it was overcast as well). Under magnification on bench looked like under 24 hour old larvae.

Place them all in my QR hive.. Ben Harden) , after removing sole QC to incubator..

QR hard work this year.

Noted a swarm had occupied an empty Jumbo nuc (2 x5 frames). Assume from colour same parentage as one I had last year-Will be requeened when established. from local school. (on ground, in shade of hedge but 40+Liters)

 

[Dutchman]

So it pays to be patient, I had a nice surprise today, was going to shake the bees out of a wee kieler box as there should have been eggs 3 weeks ago, I checked every week since and had given up on them but was surprised to see it full of sealed worker brood this morning. So that's 8 new queens from 10 splits and most of them from my best hive which is still bursting with bees and filling 4 supers. Perfect!

 

[Boston Bees]

Shook out a double-storey nuc box. It has been 28 days since I released 3 virgin queens from their cells. Despite good weather there has been no sign of a laying queen. Then on today's inspection I found 2 emergency QCs with 2/3 eggs in, plus a frame of drone comb full of multiple eggs (but no eggs in worker comb). So my diagnosis was that the drone laying workers have kicked in.

The nurse bees were shaken out onto a ramp in front of another hive that needed a population boost, and duly poured into it. The flying bees clustered on a nearby hive and are making their way in.

If anyone else would have done this differently I would be grateful for advice of course.

 

[tonyofarr]

Came to take out Nicot cage and saw 9 piles of RJ glinting. (My eyesight without magnification is bad - but it was overcast as well). Under magnification on bench looked like under 24 hour old larvae.

Place them all in my QR hive.. Ben Harden) , after removing sole QC to incubator..

QR hard work this year.

Noted a swarm had occupied an empty Jumbo nuc (2 x5 frames). Assume from colour same parentage as one I had last year-Will be requeened when established. from local school. (on ground, in shade of hedge but 40+Liters)

What incubator do you use madasafish? I have 22 queen cells in my cell building colony at the moment and I am making up a load of mating nucs next week, and I am wondering if an incubator would make life easier with my next round of queen rearing.

 

[B+.]

It's an incubator day today. 10 virgins have emerged from their cells this morning and another 18 expected before the day is out.
For the Mid-Bucks people, these are from NL-55-35-15-2020 - full sibs of the ones you guys did on the 13th.

 

[madasafish]

What incubator do you use madasafish? I have 22 queen cells in my cell building colony at the moment and I am making up a load of mating nucs next week, and I am wondering if an incubator would make life easier with my next round of queen rearing.

I made mine from an old expanded polystyrene box, with 240V fan, 25W bulb and cheap electronic controller All told £25.

Been rebuilt over years: quails eggs, turkey eggs bees.All incubated.
Inefficient but works,

 

[B+.]

What incubator do you use madasafish? I have 22 queen cells in my cell building colony at the moment and I am making up a load of mating nucs next week, and I am wondering if an incubator would make life easier with my next round of queen rearing.

The incubator gives you a bit more certainty than allowing a colony to look after them.
I mark my virgins before introduction to a nuc but, unless you do that, you can choose your time to make up mating nucs (usually the day before they're due to emerge) secure in the knowledge that the cells are safe - a stray queen won't enter your cell builder and tear down all your cells, and the colony won't brace them together so you have trouble working out where the cell ends and the brace comb begins. I collect mine as soon as they're sealed (which gives me a few days to play with if the weather isn't very good). If the weather is consistent, you can usually get away without an incubator unless you have a lot on the go at the same time.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Found this on one inspection tray. First for me.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Found this on one inspection tray. First for me. View attachment 27003

I get loads of the white ones (all sizes) on my crownboards

 

[B+.]

Found this on one inspection tray. First for me. View attachment 27003

earwig?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's an earwig that has just shed its old skin - it looks white for a few hours until it hardens.
An earwig sheds its skin a few times as it grows

 

[CaptainCymru]

Made a split on the poly hives , new queen put in.Ordered some stuff on the bee equipment sale and painted these two cornish colours !

 

[drdrday]

Pleasantly ordinary day in the apiary today - three hives, all queenright, BIAS, lots of stores and pollen and all piling in the nectar.
I'm sure they won't let me get complacent though. Probably find swarm cells in every hive next week

 

[DaveG23]

Today was the first day with rain (drizzle) for a few weeks so scuppered my plans.

Yesterday had a text from a friend of my wife's asking for help as bees were trying to move in to her roof, she had a swarm move in last year, eventually the gaps in the roof were sealed, but she was worried they would find there way in again. I ended up at the wrong house, got out the car and indeed there were bees investigating the roof, then I realised there was a nuc box on a shed roof, so some other beek was either on the case or had caused the issue. Found the right house and no bees to be seen.

On the way home dropped in to my in laws and a small swarm was on a tree, so at least the nuc box got some use.

Got home and saw a message from our association to see if anyone would pick up a cast from a bench at the marina. So off again to do my civic duty...

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Absolutely bugger all.
10 am wife is thrown from a horse.
1 hour later ambulance takes her away. I can't go because of covid.
5 hours later phone call says she has a broken hip.
6 hours later waving at her through a window dropping stuff off.
We have both had both jabs and are covid free.
8 hours later wondering what was the point in having the bloody jabs.
Surgery in the morning for her.

Sorry to read this. Hope you are both doing OK.