What did you do in the Apiary today?

[The Poot]

Fifteen supers off this morning. Blistering heat already at 10am. I’m looking at them stacked up on the kitchen table wishing I had a slave.

That sounds great, Dani. Were they fully capped after all your worry?

 

[Erichalfbee]

That sounds great, Dani. Were they fully capped after all your worry?

Yes. There are another 8 to come off. Funny old world. I’m the eternal pessimist

 

[Erichalfbee]

Where is he then ? Gone on a reciprocal holiday ? There's no womens football on the TV today ... altough the beach volleyball is scheduled for later in the week !

Stans not allowed anywhere near. He licks his fingers, gets honey everywhere and blows frames.
He’s made supper and is watching the cricket.

 

[Erichalfbee]

couple of hours work and you'll be done then.

Not at my speed. What do use as an u capping knife, Emyr? And does anybody make a small (20litre) SS settling tank with a SS valve?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Fifteen supers off this morning. Blistering heat already at 10am. I’m looking at them stacked up on the kitchen table wishing I had a slave.

I did the same on Tuesday. Having an easy day tomorrow, only taking off 10.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Put on some clearer boards this evening and noticed a hornet hawking around the hives. It snatched a victim and landed in the long grass so I went to witness the demise of one of my girls only to find he had a WASP!..... GO Hornet GO!

 

[Swarm]

I'm having a little time off before thinking of the next honey pull. Positively melting extracting the last supers, it seems the bees have played hide the frame this season.
What astonishing little creatures we keep.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not at my speed. What do use as an u capping knife, Emyr? And does anybody make a small (20litre) SS settling tank with a SS valve?

Just use a bog standard cheapo serrated uncapping knife.
Carl Fritz do a cracking one with optional double filter which holds 25Kg

 

[Swarm]

Are you reducing the space and not fitting empty supers back on? I keep thinking with the colonies so big and the weather set fair, reducing the space could lead to swarming. I have five supers to remove, but just can’t decide when to do it. Also thinking that if I remove them now, as there is a dearth at present, am I going to need to start feeding this early? But if I don’t remove the supers, the bees may well consume it themselves! My head is going round in indecisive circles!

Hi Poot,
I had a look to see what they had done with the super, It's full and they are capping the central frames
Colony looks like it will hit 200lbs+

 

[elainemary]

Planet NHS

Oh sorry to hear that, presume you have had a good recovery, hope so X

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh sorry to hear that, presume you have had a good recovery, hope so X

Oh yes thanks.

 

[The Poot]

Hi Poot,
I had a look to see what they had done with the super, It's full and they are capping the central frames
Colony looks like it will hit 200lbs+

That’s remarkable - excellent stuff. I still have three on the hives, so am hoping they end up capped and done.
Took one off each hive on Monday and extracted 44 lbs. The unsealed honey was 18%, the capped honey 16%
So far my overwintered colony has given 100lbs, with one super left on it.

 

[Amaranth]

Recently someone suggested using a hot air gun instead of traditional uncapping. I was thrilled with this idea, and have tried it with a hair dryer instead - works very well, and probably more readily available in most homes. Lower speed, higher heat settings. Makes the job way easier with no messy uncapping. One needs to be most careful on the periphery where unfilled cells will get distorted by over zealous blasting.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Recently someone suggested using a hot air gun instead of traditional uncapping. I was thrilled with this idea, and have tried it with a hair dryer instead - works very well, and probably more readily available in most homes. Lower speed, higher heat settings. Makes the job way easier with no messy uncapping. One needs to be most careful on the periphery where unfilled cells will get distorted by over zealous blasting.

This year I have taken to using a hot air gun as I hate having to deal with all the cappings when using a knife. As others have said it’s ok with new white cappings as the air beneath pops the top off but if the cappings have no gap below they don’t uncap as well. To get over this I give the areas of wet cappings a blast with the gun then straight away lightly rake an uncapping fork over the top which disrupts the skin that can reform.
Works a treat.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

had a call from the castle this morning - they needed more honey (goes down well with the grockles looking for souvenirs with a difference) so it was a good excuse to drive over the mountain and scope out the heather. All purpling up nicely and looking a damn sight better than a fortnight ago. It's san to see how the heather is forever retreating under the onslaught of bracken and scrub grass (all thanks to the usual mismanagement by the national park - clueless as how to manage moorland) I stood on the spot where, before I was born, my mother and grandfather (and Meg the spaniel) posed for a photograph, guns at the ready, knee deep in, and surrounded by heather as far as the eye could see - to mark the glorious twelfth.
Today it was still a fair half hour's hike before reaching any substantial heather. It's also the first time ever I've stood on the moor on the twelfth sans gun and sans spaniel.
Back at the home apiary tonight, the smell of heather honey ripening was obvious.

 

[JamezF]

Look, now you're really confusing me, posting the same thing in two separate threads...

James

 

[elainemary]

Scooped a few prizes at my local agricultural show today. 9 firsts and 4 seconds, from my 13 entries. It’s
the 3rd show I’ve entered since starting beekeeping. Dead chuffed I was awarded a first in all the wax classes - candles, wax cake and wax blocks. Plus the honey labelled as for sale and the heather class, which is close to my heart and gave me overall best in show.

Maybe I’ve done enough now, to have a go at the Great Yorkshire show next year….

 

[Nannysbees]

Scooped a few prizes at my local agricultural show today. 9 firsts and 4 seconds, from my 13 entries. It’s
the 3rd show I’ve entered since starting beekeeping. Dead chuffed I was awarded a first in all the wax classes - candles, wax cake and wax blocks. Plus the honey labelled as for sale and the heather class, which is close to my heart and gave me overall best in show.

Maybe I’ve done enough now, to have a go at the Great Yorkshire show next year….

Well done that's amazing. You must go to the great Yorkshire show, you'll smash it

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Today I've been mostly sweating
spent five minutes in a bee suit, I'd noticed I had missed supering a hive I'd requeened a month ago (original queen just ticking along, never more than four or five frames of brood and slowing down further) so I just popped the lid, put a QX on and given them a super - just in time as well by the looks of it. glanced at the thermometer on the shed and it was 37°C in the shade!! even the thermometer near the back door which gets full shade from 0900 onwards was reading 31° so spent some time in the cool kitchen bottling honey.

 

[JamezF]

Went to meet up with some people running a local community project some of which involves growing food, much of which goes to a local food kitchen type place, but they're also providing "educational opportunities" to the likes of the cubs and scouts, home educators and so on and getting adults involved in projects that are perhaps a little outside their comfort zone. They've only had the land four six months but have a small veggie plot and flower garden and a "bee hotel" and have a number of partially-completed projects such as a pizza oven, roundhouse and a wildlife pond which seems pretty good for a small number of people giving up a few hours each week. When I arrived they were making bat houses to put up around the place.

They contacted me because they're interested in having some hives on the site. They have a lot of space available with easy vehicle access and it looks quite feasible to keep bees there safely, so the next step will be to discuss it with the owners of the land and get their approval. If we're giving the go-ahead then it will be a prime site for some bait hives next spring.

James