What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Arfermo]

Nuthin again. Still my pj's at 17:14 in fact. What the hel, I am not here to impress anybody - just to enjoy myself.

 

[Goran]

Finished OA trickle today.. 2 colonies less.. Avg 5-6 seams the rest.. Still not finished nutcracking.. Everyday catching with eye the pile of frames and boxes needing to get finished.. Not the mention bigger pile for repair.. Fondants will have start to make at least one batch next week.. Not enough time for all.. Ufff...

 

[Somerford]

Well, a productive afternoon all told...cleaned out the back of the truck, found a full super of honey in their under the general clutter !

Made up around 100 frames then painted a load of poly nucs

KR

S

 

[madasafish]

Admired the frost on the lawn.

 

[understanding_bees]

I quite like the old expression which talks about learning something new every day. Today has been a day in which I really did learn something new, about a plant which I have long regarded as a weed.

I imagine that many members of this forum have seen the website “HoneyBeeSuite”, by Rusty Burlew. In her latest entry she has mentioned plantains, which are very similar to the weeds I have just mentioned. It has been interesting for me to see this name “plantain” applied to a flat-leafed weed, because I know that there are varieties of fruit called plantains which are very like bananas.

Whatever the correct name might be for the weeds which are growing in the nature-strip lawn alongside the footpath in front of my home, I found that the bees which were visiting these plants today had pollen on their legs. Other bees were in the vicinity, visiting clover flowers in the lawn, but these were not collecting pollen. I know that these observations do not involve major discoveries, but it was interesting to observe bees which were collecting different resources in the same patch of ground.

 

[bigadg]

Had a play around with the new flir today

 

[Erichalfbee]

Had a play around with the new flir today

Try under the mesh.
View attachment trim.DE728EBF-331A-4D7C-ABE8-9C95BF1590FE.MOV

 

[bigadg]

Try under the mesh.
View attachment 29561

Will try that next time. Only had the flir today so will be playing a lot I'm sure

 

[Nannysbees]

Will try that next time. Only had the flir today so will be playing a lot I'm sure

Was it expensive?

 

[Nannysbees]

Not a bee in sight today, very very chilly

 

[bigadg]

Was it expensive?

£300 but I like gadgets

 

[Moobee]

I quite like the old expression which talks about learning something new every day. Today has been a day in which I really did learn something new, about a plant which I have long regarded as a weed.

I imagine that many members of this forum have seen the website “HoneyBeeSuite”, by Rusty Burlew. In her latest entry she has mentioned plantains, which are very similar to the weeds I have just mentioned. It has been interesting for me to see this name “plantain” applied to a flat-leafed weed, because I know that there are varieties of fruit called plantains which are very like bananas.

Whatever the correct name might be for the weeds which are growing in the nature-strip lawn alongside the footpath in front of my home, I found that the bees which were visiting these plants today had pollen on their legs. Other bees were in the vicinity, visiting clover flowers in the lawn, but these were not collecting pollen. I know that these observations do not involve major discoveries, but it was interesting to observe bees which were collecting different resources in the same patch of ground.

Plantain came up in my pollen analysis last season. I was equally surprised!

 

[Moobee]

Had a play around with the new flir today

Wow! I’ve been toying with the idea of buying one of these. Until I saw the price…..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Plantain came up in my pollen analysis last season. I was equally surprised!

Always get plantain popping up in the front and back lawns and often see bees on them.
When we were kids we called the poppers - we used to pick them with as long a stalk as possible, then loop the stalk round so that we could trap the head in another little loop of the stalk, hold that firmly just below the head then pull the long piece of stalk which would then 'fire' off the flower head like a little missile

 

[Swarm]

Plantain came up in my pollen analysis last season. I was equally surprised!

Very good pollen source for such a simple plant, I grew quite a few in the wildflower area this year.

 

[bigadg]

Wow! I’ve been toying with the idea of buying one of these. Until I saw the price…..

There is cheaper but you get what you pay for

 

[Goran]

Had a play around with the new flir today

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/media/cluster-position.3087/

 

[Swn58]

Checked the farm bees last week. They were fairly active and appeared to still have a good amount of stores, but I added a kilo of fondant to all of the hives nonetheless. The allotment bees had been a little neglected and I knew that one had not been fed when the others had been. As usual, they were beginning to worry me. What if they were starving? On Sunday we went over to do a quick hive-check. It was colder but there were still a few flyers. I counted myself very lucky to have donned a bee-jacket as I fed the potentially starving bees. The roof came off and I moved the crownboard, just a little to have a look at them and place the fondant. Wham! Before I knew it I had dozens of angry residents beating against my hood. They seemed very healthy indeed!
It has become a tradition to give out honey to each and every allotment holder on that site at Christmas. It took longer than the hive inspection. It's a sort of 'hearts and minds' exercise, that I have done for many years now, to keep everyone on board!

 

[Goran]

Try under the mesh.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/media/winter-cappings.3088/
My cheap " flir"..

 

[Erichalfbee]

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/media/winter-cappings.3088/
My cheap " flir"..

Like bigadg I like gadgets