What did you do in the Apiary today?

[JamezF]

Set up a bait hive at home today. Not occupied yet. Disappointed

More to be set up (elsewhere) over the next few days.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lots of festooning happening

Good indication of intent

 

[E&MBees]

Good indication of intent

They were festooning on wax starter strips and foundation, so hopefully they are intent on wax building.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah. I presumed you meant off the bottom. Idle bees hanging around always get my antennae up

 

[Moobee]

Not in my apiary but in the local community apiary, the last two jobs have been dealing with people wanting to get rid of their hives (and bees) one due to the beekeeper passing away and his wife detesting and fearing bees, and the other beekeepers going on a year long holiday. Both beekeepers did little or no management and both hives were on their last legs, rotten and all stuck together. One was brood and a half and two supers - all rammed, and the other double brood with the boxes slightly offset from the other.

The bigger hive’s holes were stuffed with foam, strapped in and transported to the apiary, opened up on a really warm day last week and the lovely natured bees flew around whilst we moved the best frames with eggs and brood into a new hive (of course the original hive was a completely different size to ours but the frames just fitted) and they have settled in very well. The other we did last night and resorted to using a spare roof for the floor as the original disintegrated when we tried to pick the whole hive up, foamed up the holes and wrapped it in cardboard and strapped it up and transported it, very slowly and trepidatiously to the apiary where it is now sitting waiting to be decanted into a nice new hive. Pics of both below.

People need to understand that leaving the bees to it makes it very difficult to manage later on if/when they get tired/bored of “beekeeping”! Bees can’t paint or oil the hive you give them and can’t straighten a wonky hive or put straps on in the wind!

Well done. Disgraceful behaviour though by the other beeks IMHO. You wouldn’t treat chickens or other livestock in such a casual and uncaring manner.

 

[gregior]

Did a pre-emptive split on a very strong colony with eggs in Q cells. All the workers were home and not happy about being disturbed but next week looks too cold for inspections so thought I had to get it done today. As per the Q was on the very last frame I inspected.

 

[gwt_uk]

Went for a walk with the dog and wandered by the colonies. 7 degrees, cold wind and showers. Surprising amount of activity, even from the little Nuc!

 

[StephenT]

All plans went out the window today. Hive 3 was going to double brooded but found a couple of sealed QC’s and loads of charged ones. Seemed like shed loads of bees still and so searched for the queen and found her on the 3rd run through. Phew!! Nuc’d her Etc. with the intention to recombine in a couple of weeks using the Pete Little method. Planned to Demaree hive 1 but found a couple of charged QC,s so did the same on that hive. Hive 2 is a bit behind the others so did a Demaree on that one. Also had the nuc the queen during the week on a hive we are looking after for someone in their garden. Should have taken alternative action on hives 1 and 3 last week or before but it seemed quite early in the season still. Another lesson learnt. The garden is looking quite full at the minute.

 

[Nannysbees]

Decided to put both hives on a double brood instead on brood and a half. First time in 3 years. Put the half above the qx. Both colonies full of bees and a lot of capped brood. Interesting to see how they'll progress

 

[gregior]

Cold today at 10c but felt I had to inspect a couple of my strongest hives and a good job I did too as one of them had sealed cells in. Looks cool for the next few days but a big improvement next week,could be a lot of swarms in trees.

 

[The Poot]

Cold today at 10c but felt I had to inspect a couple of my strongest hives and a good job I did too as one of them had sealed cells in. Looks cool for the next few days but a big improvement next week,could be a lot of swarms in trees.

It was cold in the breeze but hot out of it, if in the sun. But air temperature reading was 10c. Forecast is slightly better tomorrow with more sun, so hope to check them then.

 

[rolande]

Cleared up the remains of a miniplus that was trashed by the badgers overnight. As usual, not only the store combs have been eaten but the honey arc over the brood has been carefully nibbled out too -but the brood itself hasn't been touched at all. People without practical hands on experience often tell me that they're actually after the brood but after lots of attacks over several years, I've never seen that to be the case.

Hence, the rather arkane local knowledge which an old chap passed onto me a few years ago "they d' love Swiss rolls".

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Filled the water tray. Only 10degC with a cold light northerly breeze but they're looking for water. ?

 

[JamezF]

It was day five... Binky Harris got frostbite on his ears and is having them removed. He'll be wearing contact lenses from now on. Pottymouth McGregor hasn't been seen since the incident with the transgender polar bear two days after we left base camp. And Captain Carstairs is alone in his tent, crying for nanny. So it falls to me to inspect the demareed hives for queen cells to make sure nothing kicks off when we don't want it, especially as the next few days are looking fairly poor weather-wise.

All three upper brood boxes had some sort of queen cell in. Mostly play cups, but also a few charged though I couldn't see any eggs. One colony had a sealed queen cell, but given the number of bees in the box I don't think they've swarmed. I put the frame plus bees in a nuc with another frame of brood and bees, shook in another frame of bees, gave them food, filled the nuc with frames and left them to it. Under the circumstances it seemed the best thing to do. I put fresh frames back into the top brood box. Ideally they'd have gone into the bottom, but it's not really that warm and I didn't want to completely dismantle the hive. I'll move them down at the weekend with any other empty frames when it's supposed to be more pleasant.

Satisfied that I probably couldn't have done any better I set up a bait hive a short distance away and put another in a large garden nearby where I've been offered the opportunity to keep some hives.

All done, I headed back to the tent. Hopefully Nogger Harris has returned with the foraging party, otherwise we're down to Private Jones's left foot for supper and even our entire supply of Mrs Ghandi's hot sauce won't cover up the taste of Gorgonzola.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

It was day five... Binky Harris got frostbite on his ears and is having them removed. He'll be wearing contact lenses from now on. Pottymouth McGregor hasn't been seen since the incident with the transgender polar bear two days after we left base camp. And Captain Carstairs is alone in his tent, crying for nanny. So it falls to me to inspect the demareed hives for queen cells to make sure nothing kicks off when we don't want it, especially as the next few days are looking fairly poor weather-wise.

All three upper brood boxes had some sort of queen cell in. Mostly play cups, but also a few charged though I couldn't see any eggs. One colony had a sealed queen cell, but given the number of bees in the box I don't think they've swarmed. I put the frame plus bees in a nuc with another frame of brood and bees, shook in another frame of bees, gave them food, filled the nuc with frames and left them to it. Under the circumstances it seemed the best thing to do. I put fresh frames back into the top brood box. Ideally they'd have gone into the bottom, but it's not really that warm and I didn't want to completely dismantle the hive. I'll move them down at the weekend with any other empty frames when it's supposed to be more pleasant.

Satisfied that I probably couldn't have done any better I set up a bait hive a short distance away and put another in a large garden nearby where I've been offered the opportunity to keep some hives.

All done, I headed back to the tent. Hopefully Nogger Harris has returned with the foraging party, otherwise we're down to Private Jones's left foot for supper and even our entire supply of Mrs Ghandi's hot sauce won't cover up the taste of Gorgonzola.

James

You’re not growing mushrooms in that tunnel of yours?

 

[joebeewhisperer]

We are experiencing wide swings in temps (still light freeze at night), and it is a balancing act to keep minis fed, as they don't generate enough heat to put out a foraging force on days when larger hives forage. Opened a mini to remove a mated queen yesterday to discover they had zero stores. Remedied that for all the 1st round minis, but I'll be going back through the latter ones this afternoon. Blackberry is on the verge of bloom and we are surrounded by wild blackberries. This will produce a flow that sometimes turns this equation in the opposite direction, having to split minis to avoid plugging up every available space.

 

[Garry R]

You’re not growing mushrooms in that tunnel of yours?

Just Magic

 

[mhorowit]

Last week I spotted multiple queen cells (QCs) in one hive and feeling energetic, cut several uncapped, charged cells out and secured them to an empty bar. I placed it in an empty box and placed that over a queen excluder (QE), over an active hive body. In two days they were capped, so on next Saturday, we should have a birthday. I plan either today or tomorrow to separate the cells and re-glue them to their own bar(s), then place each over a QE, over an active hive. That way, when they emerge, they will emerge into their own medium box and I can mark them before introducing them into a hive. Yeah, somewhat convoluted, but it is a process I understand.

 

[joebeewhisperer]

Last week I spotted multiple queen cells (QCs) in one hive and feeling energetic, cut several uncapped, charged cells out and secured them to an empty bar. I placed it in an empty box and placed that over a queen excluder (QE), over an active hive body. In two days they were capped, so on next Saturday, we should have a birthday. I plan either today or tomorrow to separate the cells and re-glue them to their own bar(s), then place each over a QE, over an active hive. That way, when they emerge, they will emerge into their own medium box and I can mark them before introducing them into a hive. Yeah, somewhat convoluted, but it is a process I understand.

A friend of mine posted a YT video on raising queens if you don't know how to graft. He marked a box with the date he expected a bunch of QCs to emerge, then caught them one by one before they had time to "harden up and fight" It was fortuitous timing as I had a nuc full of cells. For the rest of that season I would take a populated nuc and removed the queen, and time the emergence for when I had a day off. It was a game changer.

edit: After being asked for the link I’ll post it for future reference.

 

[Swarm]

Rotated a few double broods and added some foundation frames. Nests are expanding nicely and there is a decent income, combs with beautiful arcs of pollen, nectar and capped honey. Supposedly fifteen degrees but still felt very chilly at times.