What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Goran]

She’s 11. She ran away crying

Our kid unfortunately had reaction from bee sting and now avoid going near beehives. Before that he was passionate when I was explaining him about bees and their life. In a moment I thought to quit beekeeping completely. But for now we have epipen every season.. Luckily since then no bee stings.. But this season alone he had 4 wasp stings and not big reaction, maybe it changed toward bees also but I don't want to make experiments.. This also made me to be more rigid toward colonies with bad temper ( removing queens from such colonies).

 

[pargyle]

She’s 11. She ran away crying

Poor Stan .... I'll bet he got some stick afterwards ! I got into trouble this weekend for giving my 8 year old grandson my swiss army knife (not that sharp) as it was deemed dangerous .... at his age I was whittling bits of stick and cutting things up with a similar sized penknife ... Hi ho ... the world has changed !

 

[Erichalfbee]

Poor Stan .... I'll bet he got some stick afterwards ! I got into trouble this weekend for giving my 8 year old grandson my swiss army knife (not that sharp) as it was deemed dangerous .... at his age I was whittling bits of stick and cutting things up with a similar sized penknife ... Hi ho ... the world has changed !

No Mum was fine. I WhatsApp'd the young lady to apologise when I got home. The suits were carp! She was fine. Thank heavens both girls didn't go down....the older sister is a drama queen and Stan would probably have had to get an air ambulance to her. I gave him stick for opening up the only bad tempered colony we have even though it's the smallest.
Talking of suits...have you seen the price of Sheriff's? Mind blowing! I shall have a search around recommendations in various threads here.

 

[The Poot]

My granddaughter has just been bought a similar suit - how did it fail to stop yours being stung? Was she stung through the suit or was there an unguarded entry point?

 

[Erichalfbee]

My granddaughter has just been bought a similar suit - how did it fail to stop yours being stung? Was she stung through the suit or was there an unguarded entry point?

Through the suit.
On her ear and elbow

 

[pargyle]

No Mum was fine. I WhatsApp'd the young lady to apologise when I got home. The suits were carp! She was fine. Thank heavens both girls didn't go down....the older sister is a drama queen and Stan would probably have had to get an air ambulance to her. I gave him stick for opening up the only bad tempered colony we have even though it's the smallest.
Talking of suits...have you seen the price of Sheriff's? Mind blowing! I shall have a search around recommendations in various threads here.

My grandchildren have the better quality Simon the beekeeper ones - the material is quite thick - they've gone up a bit in price since I bought them on promotion but they fit well and are nicely finished - although, they have never been tested with a sting fest !!

https://www.simonthebeekeeper.co.uk...l#/41-size-children_s_s/176-veil_type-fencing

 

[The Poot]

Through the suit.
On her ear and elbow

Oh dear, that’s not good

 

[The Poot]

My grandchildren have the better quality Simon the beekeeper ones - the material is quite thick - they've gone up a bit in price since I bought them on promotion but they fit well and are nicely finished - although, they have never been tested with a sting fest !!

https://www.simonthebeekeeper.co.uk...l#/41-size-children_s_s/176-veil_type-fencing

Fortunately that’s the one my daughter bought - she mentioned that price and the extra veil.

 

[The Poot]

Poor Stan .... I'll bet he got some stick afterwards ! I got into trouble this weekend for giving my 8 year old grandson my swiss army knife (not that sharp) as it was deemed dangerous .... at his age I was whittling bits of stick and cutting things up with a similar sized penknife ... Hi ho ... the world has changed !

You should have made sure it was sharp - for a cleaner cut

 

[Kaz]

She’s 11. She ran away crying

I've done that too sometimes

 

[Goran]

I had visitor today.. It casually walked around gnawing, even when I called it, it responds with curiosity more than a fear.. Seems that it thinks that I am some domestic cousin of it.. Well..

 

[Swarm]

Arranged supers for the next honey pull next week, leaving the final supers probably until the end of the month, later than planned but not complaining after this year's crop. There was a distinctive, pungent floral scent around the hives, quite strong and unusual but no idea what that would be. Quite a few colonies working Balsam though the stuff on the farm is looking a bit bedraggled now.
Gave the nucs some spare stores frames and did a quick brood check before having a chat with the landowner who was busy pressing three tons of apples.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Transferring double mini mating nucs
Bottom photo one of my home reared local queens.
Also feeding fondant .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

popped down to Llety'r Deryn to check on the CBPV hive, they're going great guns - they requeened themselves a month ago and now on nine frames of brood and heavy with stores. I put them back on a floor and probably give them a super tomorrow as the bees down there are still piling it in.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Checked a colony that had a test frame three days ago. Popped them on top of their next door neighbour with a squirt of air freshener

 

[JamezF]

Just got back from putting the last of the clearer boards on my colonies. Unless they build comb for more in the supers I've put under the clearer boards, anything they collect from now on is theirs. All the colonies were calm which was particularly nice as I couldn't get the smoker to open when it needed more fuel, so had to do the last three without. I did get two or three "veil bumpers", but even they lost interest as soon as I walked away from the hives.

James

 

[Swarm]

Not my apiary but visited a friend's apiary to check how his bees are doing. A lovely allotment setting, very quiet and acres and acres of forage on their doorstep.
What an introduction to beekeeping this year has been, a nuc from a local supplier at the end of May and they have filled two supers, with the third half capped.
Brood pattern is lovely, BIAS, queen and three full frames of honey in the brood box, they are looking very content. Discussed varroa treatment and winter feed, these bees will do well because this poor guy is hooked already.
A great afternoon.

 

[JamezF]

I also meant to mention that hanging the smoker off the top of the car window whilst driving between apiaries works a treat. I got no smoke in the car and it was still working well on arrival. I did get some strange looks from other people using the roads though. Have they never seen a steam-powered Ford Fiesta before?

I have now managed to get the smoker open again. I was using rotten sycamore as a fuel and for some reason it had produced loads of tar that had glued the lid to the base. No idea why. It's the only thing I've used as fuel for years (because I have two large wheelie bins full of it) and I've never had the problem before. I am using a new smoker though -- the bellows on my old one split and the holes on the replacement bellows I bought don't match up very well with the smoker body. I suspect the old smoker may have been hand-made from copper before standard sizes were invented.

James

 

[Nannysbees]

Just got back from putting the last of the clearer boards on my colonies. Unless they build comb for more in the supers I've put under the clearer boards, anything they collect from now on is theirs. All the colonies were calm which was particularly nice as I couldn't get the smoker to open when it needed more fuel, so had to do the last three without. I did get two or three "veil bumpers", but even they lost interest as soon as I walked away from the hives.

James

Will you start treating after the extraction?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Will you start treating after the extraction?

My OAV starts Monday. Just extracted all my supers. A few will go back on to clean up afterwards