What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Jon.21]

Added a tub with 2.5kg of fondant in the fondant cosy As this colony lost a few kg since I last weighed It.

 

[Sanntos]

Added a tub with 2.5kg of fondant in the fondant cosy As this colony lost a few kg since I last weighed It.

If I were a bee, I would like to live in that hive

 

[lindsay s]

Can I please ask why stores in plastic bags?

Because the bags are airtight it stops any pollen in the frames going mouldy. By next spring any honey residue in the frames usually has a slightly fermented smell and the bees soon clean it up. Although the supers will be stored in my garage it’s as Jenkinsbrynmair said it stops robbing and keeps out pests. The strong bin bags I use cost less than 20p each.

 

[Garry R]

Because the bags are airtight it stops any pollen in the frames going mouldy. By next spring any honey residue in the frames usually has a slightly fermented smell and the bees soon clean it up. Although the supers will be stored in my garage it’s as Jenkinsbrynmair said it stops robbing and keeps out pests. The strong bin bags I use cost less than 20p each.

Get an old fridge or freezer on freecycle, wrap wet frames in newspaper and stack. Close the door, perfect seal, no mice, no wax moth and acetic acid treatment and no having to seal the frames away.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Get an old fridge or freezer on freecycle, wrap wet frames in newspaper and stack. Close the door, perfect seal, no mice, no wax moth and acetic acid treatment and no having to seal the frames away.

I don't bother with any sealing. My wet frames are simply stacked on a garden tray nine high with a plastic crown board every three boxes topped with a roof and strapped together in the garden shed. Dry pollen drops out with a sharp tap in the spring

 

[lindsay s]

Get an old fridge or freezer on freecycle, wrap wet frames in newspaper and stack. Close the door, perfect seal, no mice, no wax moth and acetic acid treatment and no having to seal the frames away.

I would still be left with a pile of empty supers to store and refill next spring. I store my wrapped supers in the roof trusses of my garage. They are labelled so I know the type and state of comb in each box and are ready to be taken straight to the hives with no mess. As I said for me it’s worth it in the long run.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Took a picture in the morning sunshine. One box with a solid floor has bees out collecting water at 5 degrees

 

[The Poot]

W

Took a picture in the morning sunshine. One box with a solid floor has bees out collecting water at 5 degrees
View attachment 29227

What a lovely site for an apiary. Really nice picture

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Took a picture in the morning sunshine. One box with a solid floor has bees out collecting water at 5 degrees

I had hives at the home apiary with bees popping in and out most of the morning - all on OMF, Bit of a PITA as I was working next to two colonies - levelling and squaring the shuttering for the new shed base

 

[Nannysbees]

Final mow of the apiary to coincide with the last pick up of our garden recycling. Not a bee in sight as it was quite chilly, usually bubbling out at the sound of the mower

 

[Swarm]

Spent the day clearing and rearranging an old container so I now have storage space for another forty boxes. All spare roofs, floors and various boards stacked ready for cleaning, looks like some TLC for the spare roofs as I noticed Abelo have had a 10% price increase on the old polys since I bought them last.
The bees were happily bringing in pollen.

 

[madasafish]

Hard frost Sunday and Monday so bees were - doing nothing.

 

[Nannysbees]

Few bees out and about while the sun was on the hives, very chilly today

 

[Newbeeneil]

Checked on 40 hives to see if the fondant was still there. Replaced the empty containers with full on about 50%

 

[victor meldrew]

Hard frost Sunday and Monday so bees were - doing nothing.

Hard frost Sunday and Monday so bees were - doing nothing.

6° lunch time . Bright sunshine, bees bringing in pollen like a spring day . Orientation flights galore .
all hives hefted . Glued to the floor

 

[madasafish]

6° lunch time . Bright sunshine, bees bringing in pollen like a spring day . Orientation flights galore .
all hives hefted . Glued to the floor

I hefted mine last week. For the first time in my recollection, bees have been collecting ivy nectar and pollen due to dry unseasonally warm weather. And all hives rammed as well.

 

[Nannysbees]

Treated with the oxalic vaporiser yesterday. God what a disaster with one of the hives, took off the insulation and the mouse guards to put the little pan into the entrance, with that they spilled out of the front we couldn't get the pan near it, there wasn't a bee before as it was cold, thought it would be the perfect time. In the end we left the insulation and the mouse guards on and held the pan underneath!!!!!!! We did see the vapour coming through the top. Not sure if it is as effective but it was better than nothing. Hopefully the next treatment will be easier.

 

[Murox]

Treated with the oxalic vaporiser yesterday. God what a disaster with one of the hives, took off the insulation and the mouse guards to put the little pan into the entrance, with that they spilled out of the front we couldn't get the pan near it, there wasn't a bee before as it was cold, thought it would be the perfect time. In the end we left the insulation and the mouse guards on and held the pan underneath!!!!!!! We did see the vapour coming through the top. Not sure if it is as effective but it was better than nothing. Hopefully the next treatment will be easier.

I 'feel' for you - had similar happen to me last year with a homemade long hive. I don't use mouse guards but they poured out of the purpose built vape pan hatch !!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Treated with the oxalic vaporiser yesterday. God what a disaster with one of the hives, took off the insulation and the mouse guards to put the little pan into the entrance, with that they spilled out of the front we couldn't get the pan near it, there wasn't a bee before as it was cold, thought it would be the perfect time. In the end we left the insulation and the mouse guards on and held the pan underneath!!!!!!! We did see the vapour coming through the top. Not sure if it is as effective but it was better than nothing. Hopefully the next treatment will be easier.

I always vape from under the OMF - I have steel trays that slide in where the inspection boards usually go and I stuff a strip of foam into the gap so all the sublimate goes up through the mesh, I never bother closing the entrance either

 

[victor meldrew]

I 'feel' for you - had similar happen to me last year with a homemade long hive. I don't use mouse guards but they poured out of the purpose built vape pan hatch !!!

I went directly from OA trickle to Gas-vap . No pan just a tube which I insert through a hole in the rear of each hive just above the open mesh floor .
hence I’ve never experienced such a problem .