What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Luminos]

I wasn't quick enough to edit my last post then ?
VM

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Congratulations luminos...

....on reaching 1000 posts!


One of the most pleasant and funniest members of the Forum!

Dusty

 

[victor meldrew]

Yep 1,000th post . A typical grin .
VM

 

[Luminos]

Wow, I hadn't noticed - thankyou, gennelmen

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Wow, I hadn't noticed - thankyou, gennelmen

On the down side, you've been promoted from 'Field Bee' to 'Drone' on the Forum.


Not sure you would regard that as promotion!


D

 

[Luminos]

On the down side, you've been promoted from 'Field Bee' to 'Drone' on the Forum.


Not sure you would regard that as promotion!


D

Well I shall continue to drone on then

 

[jackbee]

I am well aware it was 7 am .
my reply was to reassure you that the bees would STILL be flying at 7 pm
and being left with restricted entrance would do no harm and that there'd be plenty of evening time to remove replace of what ever you wish to do with your entrance block.

VM

i did wonder

but now I can't blooming find the other block, but they seem to be coping OK, just my bother not theirs!

 

[jackbee]

I know what I'd like to do with it
Some peeps just won't accept help , I wonder why they bother posting their concerns?
VM

no you weren't quick enough to edit, maybe you should use preview!

your stmt didn't really help - needed more explanation

I wonder why some people bother posting when they just seem to be a miserable bugger - I can understand your screen-name now

 

[johnmcc]

 

[REDWOOD]

Added more supers

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Made up some super frames ready for inspecting hives tomorrow.And have just inadvertently copied the person who was subject of an email in on said email and the previous chain (which contained some juicy info which we didn't want him to see, well yet anyway) so expecting some serious flak tomorrow - glad I'm back at sea Wednesday - might just 'forget' my laptop and mobile at home

 

[Mike a]

Helped a friend and confirmed he is now back to being queen right in both of his hives. Whilst there I got a call about a swarm.

Returned at 22:00hrs to see a large number were still out on the front of the poly nuc. Think I need a bigger hive !

So I decided to strap them down to the lid of the bin and will go back with a langstroth deep hive tomorrow after I pick up a frame of brood from one of my other langstroth hives in the hope they dont abscond during the day.

 

[Pete D]

Been a busy few days, inspections on my hives, Fri, Sat & Sun, another beeks last night. Collected a small swarm into a NUC, turned up for another that had just left when I arrived. Used my solar melter and made my first ever block of wax........ well I say I made it..........hmm just put in old wax, sun and slope did the rest, I let it cool and knocked it out of the catch tray.
In the garage tonight making super frames as looks as though I will need them after all, OSR coming to an end and expecting some to be capped in the next few days.
Weds I have to go to a beekeeper nearby who wants me to take their hives off their hands as after 3 yrs they have had enough and want their garden back. They insist I am doing them a favour and will take no money for them.
Did look through them last week and will get a couple of viable colonies out of them after a bit of uniting and maybe a queen introduction. So I am happy to help out.
Pete D

 

[YorkshireBees]

After work yesterday I went to the hives to put the extracted supers back on for cleaning or re-filling. Also wanted to check on the 2 strong hives I demaree'd as I had a sneaky suspicion that I was a bit late performing the manipulation!

Bah, one of the strongest hives swarmed yesterday, despite having knocked all QC's out the day before during the demaree! Funnily enough it was the one that I used only a queen excluder to separate the top brood box from the supers with whereas the other hive with the demaree board seemed relatively happy. Coincidence?

Anyway before I had reached that out apiary I had a call from a friend that I had left a bait hive with in the 1% chance that the swarm, that appeared to have occupied a wall cavity in their neighbors house, were enticed to move into it.

He described the polynuc as being covered by bees and a carpet of bees on the store roof where it sat.

Nipped round to check and as you can see by the photos it appears a swarm is in fact moving in.

The question now is, is it the swarm from the wall or by any chance the swarm that left my hive (less than 1mile away) yesterday???

Either way so long as they are still there tonight I will take them as I have a colony that could do with a strong swarm to boost them.

 

[nosmoking]

Yesterday, Monday May 28th. With the help of forum member 'Mike a' sorted out my 2 hives and all's well. Determined that the TBH had a Queen and was laying. Their temperament had changed in a few days as well. May now buy a smoker that I was determined I never wanted. Thanks again Mike
Will bee switching one colony to a national some time this week if all goes well.

 

[johnmcc]

From yesterday: "Early tomorrow morning I'm moving both hives"

Fatal cockiness! These are WBCs. Got out there at 4.00 am. I could barely see as the sky was overcast. Started to block the first hive's entrance but it very quickly became apparent that a) the bees hadn't gone to bed - they were all over the landing step and that b) the foam and bits of wood I had decided to use just didn't work - thousands of angry bees in the semi-dark at 4.00 am! Gave up, retreated to house, made a brew, took it back to bed with me. Two stings through the canvas of my gloves.

I've now spent a happy couple of hours knocking up some hive closures which I hope will work tonight/tomorrow morning early. We'll see. One problem was the warmth - at 4.00 in the morning the thermometer in the garden was still reading 17°. It had been up to 27° during the day, so maybe it was just too warm for what I was trying to do. I live and learn!

 

[Chris Luck]

Don't you have ventilated snap grills in the UK for shutting the bees in?

Chris

 

[witchcraft]

Looks like a small swarm has taken up residency in an old brood box (ad-hoc bait hive) in my back garden - which has forced me to buy some deep foundation and frames - just when I thought I didn't need more kit (and I now have to work out how to move them to my out apiary)...

 

[johnmcc]

"Don't you have ventilated snap grills in the UK for shutting the bees in?"

I'm still pretty new (4 years) and I've not come across these for WBC hives. Does anyone do them en Angleterre? T****** has a ventilator mouseguard for £30 something, but it says not suitable for WBC.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Inspected all three hives - the two supers on one hive filling nicely (bottom nearly full) and brood now gone from five to seven frames in a week, the next the ame but with only one super on and filling a bit slower. The out apiary hive has now drawn wax on most of the frames and the queen is going strong up to seven and maybe started laying on frame eight. Two of the new frames are wall to wall eggs pity I don't get to inspect for another nine days - would have made a lovely picture all that larvae. Supered the hive and trashed down the nettles fast growing around the hive (they did not like it!)
Went to mow the lawns at home after the inspections and got stung on the left eyelid not much swelling now but it feels a bit sore.