What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Swarm]

"pulling" virgins is a known technique to avoid them throwing a cast swarm. You can have as many virgins running around as you like - and they'll fight it out to the last girl standing ! - but the colony wont throw a cast swarm unless there is a sealed queen cell.

 

[Glenviewbee]

After the gales and downpours of rain yesterday, today the wind dropped a bit, but most importantly veered round to NE which means my hives are in the lee of the hedges
So, I was able to do a full inspection to discover 5 frames BIAS, a few frames with stores of nectar, capped honey and pollen, and a few drone cells.
No sign of queen cups or queen cells. The outermost 2 frames are just starting to be drawn out.
I took photos of the first few frames and on closer viewing on the PC I discovered I had the queen bang in the middle of the brood patch
I am very chuffed, hopefully I'll be able to see the queen in real time next time!
One muppet moment though - I have 1 frame with spacers on it (inherited from the nuc I got last year) and I have noticed, when viewing the photos, that on reassembling the hive I have pushed that frame too close to the next one (spacer slightly adrift) so the gap has closed down. Should I disturb the hive to sort out the spacing or just leave them be until next week's inspection?
Thanks

 

[REDWOOD]

I therefore know everything about beekeeping

OMG I wish I did

 

[nessbee]

What a bad spring

Anyone in a similar situation to me?
Went to see bees. All alive and pollen going in. However still being fed. My bees are 1000 feet above sea level saying that I live near two cherry farms, they usually have plenty of forage, by this time last year they had filled supers and swarmed etc. (then it rained all summer!)
this year they were under a foot of snow at the start of April, its still so cold about 11 degrees today despite a being sunny forecast same for rest of week. Havent done spring inspection yet due to low temps/rain/wind. We had 2 freak days of 20 degrees last week unfortunately I was otherwise engaged.
There are dandelions, the hawthorn is just starting to come, the grass is hardly growing, the cherry trees are out but doubt there will be much nectar at these temps. The growing season is at least 6 weeks behind. They are all 2012 queens I figure if there's pollen going in it must be ok I'm itching to see how they are though.

Poor bees :-( they've had a rubbish year.

My husband built me a solar wax extractor today though

 

[Swarm]

Every cloud, eh?
Can you erect some form of screen that will shelter the hives from wind? This sounds like an apiary site I just moved from, windy all the time and landowner insisted on coppicing the Willow hedge (shelter) every year before the bees had a chance to take advantage. So bad last year that I couldn't lift frames, even on calm days it was windy up there. One occasion I went to clean wild comb out of a feeding eke, carefully cut the eke free and then the wind cleared it of bees in one gust.

 

[nessbee]

The site itself is lovely they were moved in the winter to a new field where they get the first rays of morning sun and a gentle bank protecting them from the west wind but meaning they still get sun fairly late in the evening and a hedge behind them to the north.
It's just the darn cold weather! The farmer still hasn't turned his cattle out and he usually makes hay in the first week of June - no grass to do that this year!
Just crossing my fingers for the temperatures to rise for hill farmers in mid Wales and everywhere else in the country
There was a dusting of snow on the very tops of the hills this morning!
At least the swallows have returned ok.
I'm going to plant a load of bee friendly plants in my apiary help the ladies out a bit if not this year then next.
Also going to set up a bait nuc incase they are playing around in their hives.

 

[Swarm]

Just noticed your location nessbee, I heard on the radio about snow on the Beacons, are you near Brecon?
The weather is just as bad further south, I've been in the hives just twice this year. I moved my last garden hive in the winter and there has been a marked lack of bees on the plants, in fact I can't recall seeing a honeybee in the garden this year!
If you are going to set up a bait hive, a broodbox size is a better option than a nuc. Your apiary site sounds very nice, let's hope for some warmth pretty soon, these temps are depressing.

 

[Pete D]

No new brood though. Had a good look through and found the small skinny queen, gave her the squish treatment and introduced another frame with some eggs on.
Also brought another hive to the apiary and put it alongside this one in case I need to do a unite.
Still dont like killing queens but am gradually getting hardened to it.
.

Quick check today and queen cells made and loaded. Leave them alone for 3 weeks now

 

[beeno]

After the gales and downpours of rain yesterday, today the wind dropped a bit, but most importantly veered round to NE which means my hives are in the lee of the hedges
So, I was able to do a full inspection to discover 5 frames BIAS, a few frames with stores of nectar, capped honey and pollen, and a few drone cells.
No sign of queen cups or queen cells. The outermost 2 frames are just starting to be drawn out.
I took photos of the first few frames and on closer viewing on the PC I discovered I had the queen bang in the middle of the brood patch
I am very chuffed, hopefully I'll be able to see the queen in real time next time!
One muppet moment though - I have 1 frame with spacers on it (inherited from the nuc I got last year) and I have noticed, when viewing the photos, that on reassembling the hive I have pushed that frame too close to the next one (spacer slightly adrift) so the gap has closed down. Should I disturb the hive to sort out the spacing or just leave them be until next week's inspection?
Thanks

Hi Glenviewbee,
That's a good way of finding the queen! Nice looking queen. What breed are they?

 

[Glenviewbee]

Hi Glenviewbee,
That's a good way of finding the queen! Nice looking queen. What breed are they?

Hi Beeno
I got the nuc from my Mentor here in West Cornwall - in our association there is a group who are trying to revive/maintain the local Black Bee and this is a 2012 queen from that program. That's as much as I know I'm afraid!

 

[madasafish]

Third quick inspection of the year this morning 10C, sun shining, little wind so not really ideal but after the two days summer we had 2 weeks ago and the rain of the past few days and last night's frost:

4 hives incl united one OK. Requeened nuc OK.

All bees bringing in pollen. Looks like dandelion.
BIAS in all apart from nuc...

Virtually zero stores in any : still feeding..

If this weather continue much longer, this year will be a washout - rather like last.

All trees etc 5-6 weeks late. Crab apple starting to blossom .. it has normally finished by late April.

 

[galileo]

Moved 2 into the sheltered yard of old farm buildings, set against two huge fields of OSR. Boy, are they making the most of it?! Two more to move tonight and a 5th, perhaps, tomorrow morning, unless I decide to give them some apple to go at.

The plan is to move the lot back into a proper job apiary, 30 yards from where they've been. Luckily, the aformentioned OSR is exactly 3 miles away as the bee flies. A certain farmer friend of mine is in for a nice bottle of Armagnac and if any of them get to thinking of swarming on the income, a nuc to drop into one of his 3 newly assembled nationals.

 

[itma]

... I was able to do a full inspection to discover 5 frames BIAS, a few frames with stores of nectar, capped honey and pollen, and a few drone cells.
No sign of queen cups or queen cells. The outermost 2 frames are just starting to be drawn out.
I took photos of the first few frames and on closer viewing on the PC I discovered I had the queen bang in the middle of the brood patch

... have pushed that frame too close to the next one (spacer slightly adrift) so the gap has closed down. Should I disturb the hive to sort out the spacing or just leave them be until next week's inspection?

Just my 2p's worth... BUT... I would suggest opening up again.

Not so much on account of the spacer, though that does matter, but to do something about those two frames "starting to be drawn".

HMQ needs more space to lay.
She is photographed laying in just a small patch of empty cells, completely surrounded by a large expanse of capped brood.
Soon she is going to have to hunt for space to lay in.
And then they will be thinking of swarming.

Try to think ahead of the bees.

5 frames with brood, plus 2 new ones, out of 11 in the box, means that there are 4 frames pretty full of stores.
That is a lot, and potentially obstructive.

I'd think it worthwhile to move those new frames to be between the brood nest and the stores - one on each side of the brood nest. That way, they will be drawn as a priority, and HMQ can quickly get some new comb to lay in.
And if one or two brood frames have got a bigger 'honey arch' than the frame in the photo, it'd do no harm to 'bruise' some of its cappings to encourage the consumption of some of the stores that are on the point of impeding brood nest expansion.

And I'd suggest that you think of getting a super on just as soon as those new frames have been drawn out.

Stay ahead (just ahead, not too far ahead) of the bees!


/// and if you have been feeding, stop!

 

[Cazza]

Saved by the weather.
Carried out A/S p.m. Sealed qc and open qc's. Queen miraculously found. Reckon if the wather had been better she would've been gone before now.
Relief.
Cazza

 

[Beauhawk]

Just sat and watched the bees! Since installing the 'package' on Thursday last week today was the first time the sun has been out properly! So much activity and oodles of bright yellow pollen going into the hive.

No idea where they are putting it as they can't have drawn that much foundation already can they?

 

[beeno]

Just sat and watched the bees! Since installing the 'package' on Thursday last week today was the first time the sun has been out properly! So much activity and oodles of bright yellow pollen going into the hive.

No idea where they are putting it as they can't have drawn that much foundation already can they?

Hi Beauhawk,
Bees can do a lot in a week. Five frames not unusual and queen often lay on second day if they are on form. Sounds good!

 

[Glenviewbee]

Just my 2p's worth... BUT... I would suggest opening up again.

Not so much on account of the spacer, though that does matter, but to do something about those two frames "starting to be drawn".

/// and if you have been feeding, stop!

Thanks for the tips Itma
I have now put 1 of the frames in question between the brood and stores, restored the spacer position and stopped feeding....

I only moved 1 frame as it's a bit cooler here now so I could do that move without exposing the whole box too much. I am away from tomorrow early so couldn't do it then and won't be back til Monday - hopefully I have given them all something worthwhile to do over the weekend

 

[For want of a better word]

Slashed through the undergrowth to get to the 3 "hideaway" Amm colonies that happily have all survived the winter... first inspection.... BIAS... and drones loads of drones plus last years open mated queens all seen.
Last time I went to apiary was in January.... the tyre tracks from the 4WD still full of water!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just watched the bees for a while while husband mowed round the field perimeter.
It's been cold and showery but the bees were out whenever it stopped raining and the sun came out.
I spotted one collecting pollen from a plantain. Didn't know they used that.
Looking for a window to look through them as it's been 9 days since the last time.

 

[beeno]

Hi all,
Today the weather was much better than promised! Hives busy on my apple tree, which is full of blossom, bringing in nice yellow pollen. Had thought they were not going to bother with it. All about timing I guess!