What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

Just back from a break.
Quick check on a few supers I’ve put over empty ones for bees to take down. Satisfyingly empty.
Checked a couple of broods. Sensible bees have stopped filling the box with bees and stores are being laid down.
The plan is to put a foundation frame in the middle next week

 

[jeff33]

Removed all excluders on hives going into the winter as dble brood or brood and a half. Topped up nucs and light hives with full frames of honey and pollen.
This year I have not extracted deep frames so I have 24 frames of capped honey ready to be put back in the hives over the next 2-3 weeks and I also have 3 hives on dble brood with the top box full of honey. I will hopefully need to feed very little.

 

[StephenT]

Put Apivar strips on the last of the 3 hives. They’ve got about 5 frames of stores and lots of bright orange pollen stored. Need to feed them back a couple of kilos of 22% honey so hopefully they need none or minimal feeding this year. Will check in 4 weeks when I move the strips. A couple of frames had propolis on the bottom of the frame as per the picture. Bit odd. Anyone else seen this before?

 

[Swarm]

Yes, quite often.

 

[pargyle]

Put Apivar strips on the last of the 3 hives. They’ve got about 5 frames of stores and lots of bright orange pollen stored. Need to feed them back a couple of kilos of 22% honey so hopefully they need none or minimal feeding this year. Will check in 4 weeks when I move the strips. A couple of frames had propolis on the bottom of the frame as per the picture. Bit odd. Anyone else seen this before?

Something they wanted to cover up ? Dead slug ?

 

[Nannysbees]

Lovely surprise extracting our last 37 jars of glorious honey, that's a total of an unexpected 129 jars for this year, absolutely delighted with our girls

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lovely surprise extracting our last 37 jars of glorious honey, that's a total of an unexpected 129 jars for this year, absolutely delighted with our girls

Lovely isn’t it
Well done

 

[jeff33]

I am sick of extracted and jarring!! I have the last 3 supers to extract in the van and that's the lot for this year!

 

[gregior]

Had a quick peep inside mine today and as usual the Balsam is flattering to deceive,lots of ghost bees doing very heavy landings but little to show in terms of stored honey, I think balsam nectar must be like 99% water! Anyway bees in pretty good shape going into winter so all good.

 

[GuyNir]

Had a quick peep inside mine today and as usual the Balsam is flattering to deceive,lots of ghost bees doing very heavy landings but little to show in terms of stored honey, I think balsam nectar must be like 99% water! Anyway bees in pretty good shape going into winter so all good.

Same here. Seeing ghost bees coming back but not much increase in weight. Might just be sustaining them. No complaints though, as the hives are holding their weight.

 

[victor meldrew]

Had a quick peep inside mine today and as usual the Balsam is flattering to deceive,lots of ghost bees doing very heavy landings but little to show in terms of stored honey, I think balsam nectar must be like 99% water! Anyway bees in pretty good shape going into winter so all good.

I reckon there’s a couple of weeks balsam left before the Ivy kicks in .

 

[Swarm]

Relocated some hives and did a quick brood check before starting treatment, as above, no surplus from Balsam. Brood boxes are holding a good weight, they've had fat honey arcs all season and still drones entering hives bless them. I still have one queen to check and some colonies to move and then I can finish the extracting.
Funny season, without a couple of weeks in July we'd have nothing, yet in that window they managed an incredible achievement.

 

[Swarm]

Lovely surprise extracting our last 37 jars of glorious honey, that's a total of an unexpected 129 jars for this year, absolutely delighted with our girls

Stunning!
How proud do you feel now?

 

[LeaBees]

Just back from a break.
Quick check on a few supers I’ve put over empty ones for bees to take down. Satisfyingly empty.
Checked a couple of broods. Sensible bees have stopped filling the box with bees and stores are being laid down.
The plan is to put a foundation frame in the middle next week

May I ask why?

 

[Erichalfbee]

May I ask why?

Winter bees on new comb. It works a treat and in a big colony you can repeat it a week or so later

 

[LeaBees]

Winter bees on new comb. It works a treat and in a big colony you can repeat it a week or so later

So they'll still draw comb this time of year?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Winter bees on new comb. It works a treat and in a big colony you can repeat it a week or so later

Surely, winter bees are produced in August

So they'll still draw comb this time of year?

Yep - I've had newly hived from nuc colonies that haven't managed to draw out all the foundation, oce fed ready for witer draw it all out and when I open up in spring I find clean virgin comb that had never been brooded.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So they'll still draw comb this time of year?

Easily if you are feeding.

 

[Nannysbees]

Three days into the apiguard treatment. So far 26, 6, 6, 4 This time last year the two hives were in the hundreds. Will be interesting to see the final count.

 

[Murox]

2nd round of vaping and blow me the sun came out - was grey and cloudy when I stared. They are still finding a good supply of pollen and clearly some nectar too, virtually filled a new frame of foundation full since last week.