What did you do in the Apiary today?

[REDWOOD]

Felt better today so inspected hives after work, all doing fine and flying well, nectar starting to come back in thanks for 2 dry days and blackberry still flowering well. cut lots of nettles with scythe that was flipping hard work,Ill try a strimmer next time

 

[meidel]

Another one for ecology 'Save electricity, use the bees as shredders'
VM

another example of beekeeping to save the planet

 

[BBG]

Another one for ecology 'Save electricity, use the bees as shredders'
VM

Ha!

Meidel

Yes v quickly produce a pile of shreddings.

 

[Shabro]

Transferred tw nucs into full hives, went and checked the Mother in laws and it seems they have swarmed, so knocked all but two queen cells off. That'll teach her for moaning about me going to look at them at weekends.....

 

[biglad]

Getting stung

Whent straight from work to fill the feeder.shorts and sweatshirt got stung twice on the arm . So whent home for my veil and smoker job done Neil ..

 

[Sadders]

Got home from work and knocked up a hive stand. Finished just before it rained.

 

[FreeFall]

Quick check on the brood part of an AS in a poly nuc as queen was due out on Friday. She has emerged but I was shocked to find very lethargic bees with absolutely zero stores bar a few cells of nectar. Put in a quarter pack of fondant as I had no white sugar to make syrup and they immediately mobbed it with eager tongues out! Went to look at entrance 2 hours later and they were flying and bringing in pollen. Hoping that I didn't leave it too late - I was exercising patience and leaving them alone to sort out the QC, they had a frame and a half of good stores less than a week ago, bloody weather

Sat by hives this evening watching with a cool cider, there is a flow on (most likely bramble as they are bringing in grey pollen) and they are all headed north instead of the more usual southerly traffic. Was fascinating watching them zoom in over a 15 foot high hedge, smartly about-turn, hesitate for a second while they picked their hive and then drop in.

 

[VEG]

Made up some super frames in the distant hope I may need them lol

 

[Polyanwood]

I combined a nuc with one of the hives and I added some more supers. I know - after all that moaning about bees having to be fed, over the past couple of weeks they have gone mad. One colony got its 5th super today.

I feel a bit evangelical about the benefits of running large colonies in terms of honey crop. The one with 5 supers is a double brood of 14 x 12 and standard National.

 

[Teemore]

Not quite what I did 'today' or even yesterday for that matter but it may be of interest to some of you.
On Saturday I harvested a few few QCs from a friend's hive but didn't have a chance to do anything with them until Sunday afternoon.
I had a couple of apidea from which I had just removed mated and laying queens so thought I would use some of the harvested queen cells in them to keep them ticking over. Went to the first one and when I opened the insulated container I used to hold/transport these QCs, spotted a dead queen as soon as I opened it. I lifted out a now vacant QC followed by a second one. A second dead queen was swiftly spotted. I removed a third vacant QC and then spotted a live queen who was duly set onto a top bar of the apidea. The workers in the apidea engaged in trophallaxis with her immediately and after a moment she moved down between the frames. This scenario also illustrates how a virgin queen will kill her rivals if there are no workers bees around to keep them separate.
That apidea was closed up and I was getting ready to move to another apidea when i spotted something I have never seen before or read about.
I had placed the two dead queens on the lid of a second insulated container (plans to use them as a swarm lure 'ingredient') but when I was getting ready to move on to the other apidea, I realised that there was only one dead queen on top of the container..... The second dead queen was in the process of being airlifted away by a worker. Of note, the dead queens had been sitting a good metre away from the apidea i had just requeened.
I have never previously noticed 'undertaker' bees reacting to dead bees such a distance from the stock though perhaps this is more of an example how bees will react to the presence of another (dead) queen when they are queen right. The exercise once again reinforced how quickly the behaviour/sound etc. of a stock of bees will change when they are made queen right and it confirms to me how a dead queen might indeed be used to check if a colony is queen right....

 

[scuttlefish]

Possibly set a record for re-assembling a hive yesterday evening. I was in the middle of re-queening #2 hive and had the supers off, brood box open, and was going through the brood box making sure there was no open brood or QCs left (which there was, but that's another story...).

And then the heavens opened. Nought to biblical downpour in 5 milliseconds.

Frames back in smoke the bees down into the box oh my god there's water running out of the front of the hive! QX on supers back on tip water off crown board roof on get in out of the rain ladies! Smoke smoke smoke that's it, in you go, ow stop stinging I'm trying to help!

Aaaand relax. New queen and attendants still in travelling cage safe & warm in the car, blissfully unaware of the panic at their intended home - they only came out of the apidea yesterday afternoon so should be fine for another couple of days. We're promised dry weather this afternoon so have negotated an early release from work with my very understanding boss to try and get it done right this time.

 

[protheroe]

grafted for the third time yesterday,on checking i have finally got 8 out of 10 takes,about time too.

 

[Shabro]

Collected yet another swarm , most probably a cast, in this weather!

 

[Queens59]

Decided to transfer a frame of eggs to a Q- hive from hell - went through all my hives...and not an egg in sight. Every frame has sealed brood, no larvae and no eggs! I hate this year...

Checked the hive from hell and it is 100% Q-. The second you disturb the Brood box you are smothered with bees stinging. Counted +40 stings on the suit.

Tempted to buy a virgin to run in, just so I don't have to open it again

 

[eleanor20]

Finished putting up the wire fence to dog-proof my hives, and the weather kindly gave me a shower of rain just in time to finish the bit in front of the busiest hive, so no need to suit up!

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Came back from a week abroad to find that the (second) super I put on the day I left, has been fully drawn out and largely filled.

However, neither the first nor second super have been capped.
Is that because the temperatures have been so low?*

Put a further super on.

D

*It was 29-30C in Valencia!

 

[MuswellMetro]

Had to deal with another Drone Laying Queen...........what a year for badly mated queens

I tried to find the DLQ to no avail, so decided to do a shake out and combine with a Nuc.....but again no 14x12 brood box......

so transferred the DLQs brood to three supers and moved it 15ft away, shook all the bees in the brood box and floor onto a sheet next to the three supers

Flamed the floor and 14x12 box, then transferred the Q+ Nuc into the hive, then taped a plastic queen excluder vertically in front of the entrance (hopefully a plastic one is more difficult for scrub queen to get through)

I then shook all the Bees from DLQ frames on to the sheet just saving a few store frames for the new hive . I then went for a cup of tea at the local garden centre and I came back in an hour, found the old DLQ on the landing board and squished her... hopefully the carnage inside the hive was not too great as the DLQ foragers return

Next i need to decide how to deal with tomorrow the Hive from Hell, I've already moved them 15ft and bled off most of the foragers, quite surprised when i checked its four supers how few bees were now up in the supers so put a rhombus clearer on to take off tomorrow....so inspection may be viable tomorrow if the weather is good

 

[KitzTaz]

Installed my first nuc today, fed them and watch them dancing around inbetween rain showers, still not taking any fed down though.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Re-queened two swarmy colonies
Three hives are now six after AS but will be back to three for the winter.
Might as well be winter now.....no honey this year and neopoll on two hives. No more than two consecutive sunny days since the end of March with rain forecast till the end of the month at least.
Horrid horrid year!!!

 

[MuswellMetro]

Installed my first nuc today, fed them and watch them dancing around inbetween rain showers, still not taking any fed down though.

welcome to the forum KitzTaz

you could try and dribble a tablespoon of feed down the feed hole, so they now the feed is up there