What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

Sounds more like a swarm, though I've never seen a mating flight to my knowledge.

look at 1.25
View attachment trim.363CC699-1457-4810-BD87-FBAA55286678.MOV

 

[pargyle]

Didn't do anything 'cos my bees have gone for good. Sold the lot very smartly on the NextDoor website.

Sad but I suspect you are relieved - there's only so many hours in the day and you have other priorites and enough to deal with at present ... Dani is right .. beekeeping by proxy on here when you get a chance to dip in. Your knowledge and comments will always be welcome even if you are beeless ...

 

[Sutty]

look at 1.25
View attachment 31822

Yes that's definitely a queen, great footage, thank you!

 

[OldFarm]

I had similar curiosity as I incubate chicken eggs.
Though if the bees will look after emerged queens in a super I would expect they would look after caged cells in the same way.

Yes, I think that does work, not sure how much distance you need between the brood box and the caged queens. Suspect my hives are tall enough for that yet.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Another interesting day out with the bee inspector at 5 of my apiaries. All hives fit and healthy and I must call her out more often as while we were inspecting hives we found 2 swarms had taken up residence in hives that were dead outs over the winter!
Later in the afternoon I did a run round some of my bait hives.
Bait hives inspected 5
Swarms in residence 2
Scouts at hives 2

 

[Goran]

Yesterday in talk with good fellow beek.. I realized for 2nd season no chalk brood at my bees.. These days I am in 3rd run through all colonies.. preparing for black locust ( late frost seems didn't made significant damage), started with mnucs. Made a grid of pin kill test but need to rework it.. I am " running" to keep up with all, but of course I trample here and there ( wouldn't be fun if all is nice and smooth)..
Let the liquid gold flow ( into our barrels).. I feel a lot happier as unemployed( I already had one job offer but declined for now),but working more, funny..

 

[Swarm]

I wanted to see if it was possible to produce extra queens using my existing incubators, having seen a few articles about queen incubators. The odds on getting from a queen cell to a mated queen are about 75%. If I can produce a couple of extra queens I can pop them in a cage on top of a super and the bees will take care of them for a week or two. Just a way to build in more flexibility.

Put them in Nicot cages and don't forget a little drop of honey, enough to fill one of the recesses in the snap lid as she will starve quite quickly and add a drop of water on the cage. I've held on to some for a couple of days but the sooner they are run in, the better.

 

[Somerford]

First rain for a month and a day early…more tomorrow

 

[Moobee]

First rain for a month and a day early…more tomorrow

Send some this way. The only way I can garden at the moment is with a pick axe!

 

[pargyle]

Send some this way. The only way I can garden at the moment is with a pick axe!

Pretty much the same here ... the Fareham clay is more like Fareham concrete now ... we had a little rain a day or so ago but barely enough to wet the ground let alone get to the roots. Dandelions loving it ...

 

[Brian Bush]

I stopped by an out-apiary yesterday to see if my cut out of a nest had been successful. The bees were flying strongly and carrying pollen. The real surprise was another hive that I thought I had lost in the winter had a large number of flyers going in and out. I will have to suit up and check. I don't think it is a swarm moved in but I won't know until I check the queen.

 

[Boston Bees]

I stopped by an out-apiary yesterday to see if my cut out of a nest had been successful. The bees were flying strongly and carrying pollen. The real surprise was another hive that I thought I had lost in the winter had a large number of flyers going in and out. I will have to suit up and check. I don't think it is a swarm moved in but I won't know until I check the queen.

It's May 11th and you aren't sure if a hive made it through winter?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Dandelions loving it ...

Yes we’ve had gazillions here.
Long tap root so it takes desert conditions to stop them.
Ours are largely over but they have been the best I’ve seen this year

 

[philipm]

This year things are not all flowering at once.Dandelions just going over ,Apples are in flower and Sycamore still a week or so away no sign of the Hawthorn yet.Might even get a reasonable crop of honey this year if the weather holds.

 

[JamezF]

This year things are not all flowering at once.Dandelions just going over ,Apples are in flower and Sycamore still a week or so away no sign of the Hawthorn yet.Might even get a reasonable crop of honey this year if the weather holds.

Seems many plants are quite confused this year.

Our dandelions are over and probably have been for a week, as are the eating/cooking apples which have been losing their flowers for about the same time. Cider apples are only just about opening their first few flower buds. The sycamore seems well over though I do still hear some bees working them (we have a lot of sycamore here). I've seen some opening buds on hawthorn, but it's really not happening yet and I've just noticed some elder starting to flower this morning which is ridiculously early. OSR is normally well over by now, but it's only just looking as though it might be coming to an end. Could be the last week of May before the flowers finally fade.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

This year things are not all flowering at once.Dandelions just going over ,Apples are in flower and Sycamore still a week or so away no sign of the Hawthorn yet.

You’re a few miles west…ish of me but nearer the coast. Such a small distance but such a difference.
Dandelions gone, most fruit blossom gone, sycamore and hawthorn out for10 days

 

[Nannysbees]

You’re a few miles west…ish of me but nearer the coast. Such a small distance but such a difference.
Dandelions gone, most fruit blossom gone, sycamore and hawthorn out for10 days

Hawthornv and sycamore now in abundance here, wish the wind would drop though blowing a gale!!!

 

[Goran]

Getting to the end of extraction of spring honey.. Had couple pauses due to some wise bees wanted to swarm and had to make light splits. Black locust today smelled from the hives, seems will be decent weather.. Will have to remove complete entrance block and have front side wide open.. If weather maintain to be good it will be crowded at the entrance.. I almost forgot the sound of bees on black locust forage.. hopefully will be able to refresh the memory..

 

[Moobee]

Pretty much the same here ... the Fareham clay is more like Fareham concrete now ... we had a little rain a day or so ago but barely enough to wet the ground let alone get to the roots. Dandelions loving it ...

That’s true. Bees are returning covered in yellow pollen.

 

[Brian Bush]

It's May 11th and you aren't sure if a hive made it through winter?

Mid March I could not see any sign of life when all the other hives had flyers out and were consuming quantities of fondant as stores were low.
They were on double 14x12 brood and I did not want to break down the complete hive. (Sometimes I am a Lazy b****r!!!)