What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Nannysbees]

I’ve got a similar feeding setup to you, except everything is above the crown board rather than directly on the frames. I’d rather have done it like you have but I wasn’t sure it would be ok to put the insulation straight on to the frames….don’t they stick it down with propolis?

Edit: I’ve just had another look at your pic…looks like yours is above the crown board too…

Yes it's above the crown board with a slot cut out of the insulation

 

[Wilco]

Sulphured the stacks of frames in boxes and checked fondant levels. Some hives are roaring through the stuff.

 

[victor meldrew]

Sulphured the stacks of frames in boxes and checked fondant levels. Some hives are roaring through the stuff.

Be aware of getting your brood box clogged with stores . The Queen needs room to lay , lack of this can lead to premature swarming .

 

[robinharman]

Checked my lady farmer's site and fed two nucs and one hive of the fifteen colonies there. No losses so far.
She updated me that a lot of the OSR planted by local farmers had not taken well over winter and is looking miserable.
Collected a Facebook Marketplace bargain of four stainless steel tables (£60 the lot) and dropped off at my extraction suite. Just got to work out how to use them all as I only really wanted an extra two. Will discuss with my co-tenant.

 

[Wilco]

Be aware of getting your brood box clogged with stores . The Queen needs room to lay , lack of this can lead to premature swarming .

Thanks. Would be surprised if they did that this time of year- and many of the hives are relatively light. Lost my best colony to starvation last year so would rather err on the side of too much feed and just declutter the brood boxes in early spring inspections if it's needed.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Moved one colony to a neighbour. I have too many and gave this one away in return for a few bits and pieces.
I gave them a UFE solid floor to copy. They seem quite taken with the idea....so maybe another convert

 

[Michael Palmer]

Not much to do in the apiary today. Bees are tough...

 

[JamezF]

For a fleeting moment there I thought that was St Albans in Hertfordshire

-16°C is definitely a bit on the chilly side.

James

 

[The Poot]

(Yesterday) Lots of gardening in the apiary. Weeded the gravel, tied up climbing roses, dragged out brambles and pruned back this and that. Final thing was leaf blowing the mess onto the river bank.
I was struck how nice it was to do it without the fear of being stung. Only one bee emerged to see what was going on and we had a chat about tidiness in the apiary and she went back to tell the rest what was happening. She giggled when I described how difficult it is to do the gardening in a bee suit.

 

[Swarm]

Cold and miserable, the ideal day to move the nucs onto the new stands. They were all very heavy.

 

[Swn58]

For a fleeting moment there I thought that was St Albans in Hertfordshire

Yes....that got me a while back. For a while I thought there were bears stalking Hertfordshire!

 

[Swn58]

I visited the farm apiary yesterday. It was pretty cold and grey with not a bee in sight. I hefted the hives. They seemed pretty heavy, so gather have plenty of supplies to be getting along with.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Watched this
View attachment trim.EEBCC68B-F937-487E-89F1-9C556864A8AF.MOV

 

[Erichalfbee]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzt94hiwpk71eg9/Peregrine.m4a?dl=0

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thus afternoon they are all like this.
View attachment trim.7B5C31E5-792B-41C2-9AD2-042F21C84F98.MOV

 

[drdrday]

Same here Dani. They're all enjoying the first day of temperatures in double figures for almost two weeks.
P.S. I edited out the bit where a got buzzed very close and jumped with the camera

 

[Goran]

We had light snow but afterward minus temps and it is still present on the ground. On Sunday they predict day temp of 11C, so it should be end of it.. Bees I don't bother since is such cold.. Our honey is setting really nice, it has color of light wax and consistency with little crystals which melt instant in mouth, awesome taste.. Not much left.. but will last till next extraction.. If I am not beekeeper.. I wouldn't eat 10th part of honey I eat now.. Also with hazelnuts.. roasted hazelnuts is such addiction..

 

[Antipodes]

I combined two small colonies (each in a 144mm Langstroth), about a week ago (left queens in them, which I haven't done before and used air freshener liberally whilst combining...no newspaper at all), and checked on them today. All looking good, with the younger queen the survivor. I looked at the entrance regularly for the first few days and didn't see a single dead bee.

 

[W0otz]

Temperatures back in the low teens today, plenty of activity.


And another week without a single varroa on the board. Happy days

 

[StephenT]

Watched all hives being very busy and put some fondant on the nuc as it felt quite a lot lighter than the last time I picked it up.