What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

Added another super to the colony on the potting shed and put "matchstick substitutes" between it and the box below. It's scorching hot and they were making a bit of noise. Much better and fewer bees outside when it went on

 

[JamezF]

put "matchstick substitutes" between it and the box below.

Heretic!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Heretic!

But the bees were happier and it's only temporary

 

[JamezF]

But the bees were happier and it's only temporary

Yes, and I have no problem with it As I posted in another thread, it's how the bees are coping that we should be considering. In some situations they may find the current temperatures just mean they don't have to work so hard to keep the inside of the hive at a temperature and humidity that's good for them. On top of a roof however, they might find the heat pushes them a bit further than they'd really like.

James

 

[pargyle]

Put another super on all of them ... was getting a bit late in the afternoon/evening so it was a lot cooler - bees well behaved - they all needed another super ... packing it in everywhere, brace comb above the frames, below the frames, fat comb in the frames. Mixed up the new foundationless frames with the capped frames in the supers below - very sticky and messy swapping the frames around. Gloves split and one little darling got herself trapped in the flap of nitrile and accidentally (I'm sure she didn't mean to !) stung me on the back of my hand - right on the vein - itching like mad tonight but no swelling.

Took stock of the kit I have left and not in use ... two supers, three full hives, five poly Nucs with some nuc supers, two timber nucs, about a hundred brood frame and 30 super frames, 6 clearer boards ... is it enough ? Could do with some spare clear crownboards .....

 

[Antipodes]

Put another super on all of them ... was getting a bit late in the afternoon/evening so it was a lot cooler - bees well behaved - they all needed another super ... packing it in everywhere, brace comb above the frames, below the frames, fat comb in the frames. Mixed up the new foundationless frames with the capped frames in the supers below - very sticky and messy swapping the frames around. Gloves split and one little darling got herself trapped in the flap of nitrile and accidentally (I'm sure she didn't mean to !) stung me on the back of my hand - right on the vein - itching like mad tonight but no swelling.

Took stock of the kit I have left and not in use ... two supers, three full hives, five poly Nucs with some nuc supers, two timber nucs, about a hundred brood frame and 30 super frames, 6 clearer boards ... is it enough ? Could do with some spare clear crownboards .....

It sounds like a fantastic honey season (generally) in the UK.

 

[JamezF]

Could do with some spare clear crownboards .....

If only you knew where you could get some....

James

 

[pargyle]

It sounds like a fantastic honey season (generally) in the UK.

I think it depends where you are in the UK ... we have a lot of differences in climate in the UK ... Northerm Maritime Temperate zone and a small island on the tip of continental Europe means that we get local influence from the heat coming up from Africa and the mediterranean, arctic weather coming down from the north, there's not much between our small island and North America except for the atlantic ocean, we are bathed in some coastal areas by the Gulf Stream and there's a constant battle between the Azores high and the Polar lows .... it all gives rise to some interesting micro climates across the whole of the UK. Some areas are great for bees ...some not so great ... and then you have local forage to contend with ,,,,,

 

[elainemary]

Dismantled the unite between my aggressive colony and a Nuc I’d raised from my queen rearing. Queen accepted and laying, phew. This colony and the one next door has been a major headache this year but both quiet as lambs now. Brought them home and took them down our field / wood away from people, whilst I sorted. Hubbie had to tend his apple trees in a beesuit for several weeks and wasn’t happy.
Missed a queen cell in the first aggressive one, so had to wait to find the virgin, she didn’t mate and the bees decided to kill her anyway. Despite having no new brood (aside from a test frame) still full of defensive bees 7 weeks on, but now queenright and lovely, no following. Dispatched the nasty queen in the hive next door too and added a queen cell from my nicest hive and they’re nice to handle and calm too now. Big learning to take action sooner if this ever happens again and always have a spare queen or two.

 

[DaveG23]

Was planning on a quick check at the home apiary, went through the nucs, all ok and as expected.

The splits promoted to hives have been going great and are working on a super.

Was just about to inspect a hive when I noticed a queen struggling in the long grass. She was struggling to fly but appeared healthy. Where did she come from?

The hive she was closest to had a new queen that has just started to lay, I had seen her as a virgin and thought she was a bit small and maybe had a damaged wing but left things as they were and found eggs last week. when I Inspected that hive yesterday there was no more eggs than last week, no queen and 1 developing queen cell at least 4 or 5 days old.

Will a hive evict a queen they have decided to replace?

I ended up putting HM in a mini plus that had no queen.

 

[pargyle]

Was planning on a quick check at the home apiary, went through the nucs, all ok and as expected.

The splits promoted to hives have been going great and are working on a super.

Was just about to inspect a hive when I noticed a queen struggling in the long grass. She was struggling to fly but appeared healthy. Where did she come from?

The hive she was closest to had a new queen that has just started to lay, I had seen her as a virgin and thought she was a bit small and maybe had a damaged wing but left things as they were and found eggs last week. when I Inspected that hive yesterday there was no more eggs than last week, no queen and 1 developing queen cell at least 4 or 5 days old.

Will a hive evict a queen they have decided to replace?

I ended up putting HM in a mini plus that had no queen.

Was she on her own in the grass or with bees around her ? They will usually kill a substandard queen once they have a new one ... and then chuck out the corpse .. it's not usual to see an eviction. Perhaps she was getting harrassed and decided it was time to leave before they finished the job ... the other possibility is that she's a freshly emerged virgin that has DWV - what's the varroa situation in the hive - or is she from another hive ? Who knows, they are bees - all you can do is react.

It certainly sounds like they have decided to supercede ... leave them alone now for a couple of weeks to allow the new queen to emerge and get mated .... then check the situation again.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Honey - check
Wax products - check
Frames of honey - check
Display cases- check!
Royal Welsh here we come!

 

[pargyle]

Honey - check
Wax products - check
Frames of honey - check
Display cases- check!
Royal Welsh here we come!


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Good luck ... hope it doesn't all melt on the way there ! We are expecting some certificates ...

 

[blackcloud]

I condensed a paper unification and pondered how smug I'd feel right now if I had had the time to build a solar wax extractor.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Honey - check
Wax products - check
Frames of honey - check
Display cases- check!
Royal Welsh here we come!


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Good luck. I’m there tomorrow so will have a nosey.

 

[Murox]

Honey - check
Wax products - check
Frames of honey - check
Display cases- check!
Royal Welsh here we come!


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[E&MBees]

Melted!
Added extra supers to those that needed them.
Discovered the queen I had introduced via press in cage to a q- colony has been killed. Nice looking qc where she had laid though. If the weather holds the virgin should mate ok.

 

[nettle]

It sounds like a fantastic honey season (generally) in the UK.

Not in north Scotland it's not! (well, at least not for me!). I had to feed my strongest hive last weekend, they were close to starving. They were looking better today, finally starting to draw comb in the super I gave them weeks ago.

The split I did a few weeks ago finally has eggs, and hopefully from a queen this time - they looked nice and centered in the bottom of the cells. Fingers crossed!

 

[Murox]

Not in north Scotland it's not! (well, at least not for me!). I had to feed my strongest hive last weekend, they were close to starving. They were looking better today, finally starting to draw comb in the super I gave them weeks ago.

The split I did a few weeks ago finally has eggs, and hopefully from a queen this time - they looked nice and centered in the bottom of the cells. Fingers crossed!

Yep its rubbish here as well, too damn cold wet and windy. I too have been feeding one or two as well. Don't expect much honey this year, unless there is a minor miracle and this slightly warmer spell lasts long enough to create a major flow that the weary troops can capitalise upon.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Good luck. I’m there tomorrow so will have a nosey.

not there until Tuesday so have to hold my excitement in check until then, to be honest, most people competing don't feel much enthusiasm this year, many not even bothering to stage a full range of entries. Just realised after coming home that I've cocked up the labelling on one entry