What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Polyanwood]

Grrr. Two colonies dangerously low on stores. They had cleaned out the supers already. Had to put Neopoll (I don't carry syrup around in June).

Found brood and eggs in super and in BB in one colony... so it looks like it is a slim queen who is frequently passing between the two.

 

[Silly Bee]

Called in the allotment this morning and saw a swarm had moved into an empty hive.

 

[Mike a]

Made up National and Langstroth brood chambers then made up the frames for each just before it started to rain ready to shook swarm two colonies which have been buzzing me before and after inspecting them. Both of them also becoming a problem as the guards continue to follow for over 30 meters and also attacking the owner of the land when he walks past. As they are both due to be shook swarmed this year at the same time I'll dequeen both and give each a fresh frame of eggs from two nicer colonies. Not the best time to be shook swarming but needs must as I can't afford to upset the land owner.

 

[tonybloke]

just collected a small swarm from a low front garden wall adjoining a footpath.
they're settling into the nuc box on the site, I'll collect the box (and bees) later this evening when they're al in.

 

[Swarm]

Rehomed swarm from yesterday from the poly nuc (too small) into a BB. They've started drawing comb, so I've got that to move later and just been told of another swarm in a garden at a farm so that will be another job.

 

[Juststarting]

Combined two hives using newspaper method - but lots of bees on outside of hive, so hope they have enough room overnight if the havent gone thru newspaper (i did put slits in it.)

Also in another hive clipped my first queen - didnt want to risk losing a swarm. Will now clip my other unclipped supercedure queens from last year - one in combined hive - saw her but didnt want to risk clipping and combining in same move. Other I couldn't spot but didnt search too hard - will clip her when I next see her.

 

[carbon]

Successfully collected my first swarm of the year (after four callouts this was the first one I'd made it to in time).

United an angry queenless colony with a nice homegrown nuc with the newspaper method

Didn't get stung once

All in all a good day.

 

[Mike a]

20:10hrs I got a call to ask if I could help collect a swarm for a friend in the pouring rain. Reasonable sized cluster on a fence post bordering a neighbours garden who is petrified of bees, obviously a cast swarm as the prime swarm left last week. They weren't happy at all, one bee managed to sting me on the finger tip through some old leather gloves, but ended up with about 20 stings in my suit most of which were in the top of my hat, good thing I was wearing a woolly hat underneath.

 

[psafloyd]

Put a QE on a colony I had supered last week and for some reason didn't put a QE on.

Put some more frames in a half full BB for a colony that is moving fast.

Someone from my allotment association chasing me for a colony of bees to go on their site. All their idea, but I don't want to discourage them as they ASKED ME. Their site is only a quarter of a mile away, so will have to close up, obscure the front and hope I don't get them all back in the morning.

Realised over the last two days that not much has been coming in over the past couple of weeks, so much of my harvest has gone back into bees. C'est la vie.

That said, the blackberry is bursting forth this weekend, and with this rain and a little heat we will get this week, I expect something of a flow.

 

[scuttlefish]

Carried out my first solo "queen unseen" artificial swarm - fingers crossed. On a happier note, spotted a good pattern of fresh eggs in the hived swarm I bought the other week.

 

[jackbee]

Their site is only a quarter of a mile away, so will have to close up, obscure the front and hope I don't get them all back in the morning.

That seems very close going by the 3ft/3 mile rule, i'd leave a nuc at original site unless there's other hives they can drift to when they go back.

Isn't it best to move > 3 miles for a while then to the new site - is there a site you could use temporarily

 

[pigletwillie]

As it is raining and all the bees are tucked up on the sofa watching tv, I blocked the hive entrance for 5 minutes and moved it off the stand, removed the stand and replaced it with a much more substantial version that is also much lower to the ground before replacing the hive and removing the door block. A couple of guard bees came out and promptly went back in to carry on watching the film!

If by some miracle my hives do produce lots of honey, there is no way the old frame would have stood the weight of 3 hives with multiple supers. This one will easily.

 

[Greatbigchicken]

Late last night I made my first attempt a lip balm. It was very easy and I'll definatley be making more. I put honey in, but this just seemed to seperate out, I'll try different flavours next time. I don't like the pots so I made mine in tubes.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Started levelling out the ground in the plot behind the garden where eventually some splits etc will live ( hope i don't get those fly tippers around again - rumour has it that now they're ****y trapping the cedarwood they dump with thousands of bees - what is the world coming to?) I'll have to break the news gently to SWMBO

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Started levelling out the ground in the plot behind the garden where eventually some splits etc will live ( hope i don't get those fly tippers around again - rumour has it that now they're ****y trapping the cedarwood they dump with thousands of bees - what is the world coming to?) I'll have to break the news gently to SWMBO

And you would be remiss in your duty as a pillar of the community, if you didn't look after those abandoned creatures, in case 'they' came back for them.

D

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I know - it's a burden but ho hum!

 

[Chris Luck]

Cut out from roof space successfully completed because teenage girls couldn't sleep with bees living in the roof - bless.

Presumably thought they were going to burst through in the night like Aliens and land all over them, those hormones do funny things to peoples minds.

Chris

 

[Phil_Bee]

....span off 62 pounds of honey....all with an acceptable 18-20% moisture content

Now had a total of 218 pounds (of mostly oilseed rape plus possibly hawthorne) from about 6 or 7 colonies this year. It all came in during a frantic flow during the two warm weeks, a couple of weeks ago.

..Feeling very pleased (and smug!)

 

[Shabro]

took a chance at requeening 2 hives after shaking them out across the field, fingers crossed.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Demareed 2 more hives and checked on a combined hive / swarm that seems to have worked fine.