What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Chris Luck]

Was on my way over to stand at the fence and have a look at the bees when I heard someone shout that they were at it again.

Huge cloud of swirly bees, settled in the hedge by the time I'd collected my stuff together and by then they were up in the air again.

Some seem to have congregated under a hive but all have dispersed apart from a few underneath. There is no obvious clump of bees under the hive (We lay on the floor and looked) so not sure where a queen is if there was one with them.

Sounds like the swarm may have gone and all you have are the residual bees that got left behind. I quite often get called out for that only to find a tennis ball size clump.

Chris

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Checked all home hives - second super on the Cardiganshire hooligans, forst super on one of the Buckis - hive brimming with bees.
Opened up the hive with the 'poorly performing' queen - she's now up to six frames (three up on last week and although there is one solitary supersedure cell on frame 2 it is empty - I've left the bees decide what to do with it. A salutary reminder when opening - i always stress to beginners about checking the QX and crown board for the queen when opening up. great chunks of brace comb on the crownboard, here I was hive tool poised to scrape the whole lot off and who was sat daintily on top but HM herself (just the flash of white paint alerted me) - picked her up and put her gently between two frames this is becoming a habit of hers - last time I opened she was walking along the top bar of the outermost brood frame.
Went down to see the Garn cottage bees (a 2 frame brood nuc acquired from pembrokeshire six weeks ago - she'a now going strong on her eighth fame and the hive is packed with stores and wall to wall BIAS so a super on that one as well - happy days!

 

[alldigging]

Sounds like the swarm may have gone and all you have are the residual bees that got left behind. I quite often get called out for that only to find a tennis ball size clump.

Chris

There is a small lump of bees under the hive. I've just took a photo. I assume it's got a queen in the middle of it.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151695973640259&set=gm.462253357195642&type=1&theater

So now what? Will she come out at some point or does she need moving - and where do I put her?

And another photo

the hive she's under has a queen excluder on the bottom 'to stop the queen escaping' as it housed a small swarm last Tuesday. (Not my hive)
But the bees looked like they'd come out of a different hive.
It was quite early - about 10am ish I think.

 

[VEG]

Added second super to a few hives today looks like most are now over their swarming fever, thankfully as I have no more kit.

 

[Cellectronic]

Went out to a bait hive to add a little lemon grass and do a little strimming. Before I put the hive back together there was a little visitor measuring it up. I watched as she left and made a beeline somewhere. Hopefully to spread the news..

 

[cjhart2]

Encouraging feral colonies from swarms seems irresponsible ... we know that these will be Varroa-infested, that they will almost certainly succumb to Varroa-transmitted disease over the winter and that they will act as a reservoir of disease - and Varroa - for local beekeepers who are trying to manage their colonies. A sort of Typhoid Mary for the bee world ...

Far better to hive them, treat them with Apiguard or OA when brood-free and encourage them to build up into a strong, healthy colony ... which will provide more pollination activity. Even better, requeen them as well ...

None of the above applies to Varroa-free areas.

I know I am not going to change your mind on this , I can only give you my experience down here in France . The studies on feral colonies in France have been scientifically documented and links are available from the forum to them , so the situation has been proved by people much cleverly than me , it is up to you if you believe them or not .
I have feral/mongrel /cross breed - what name you would like to give them - I just call them bees . Every year people on the forum tell me they would not survive the winter due to Varroa , but in Spring they are there when I return from the UK - still alive . Am I doing anything special , no , I let them get on with it they seem to know what they are doing .

 

[TOBY-3652]

As ed one colonie..... This is the queens 3 rd year... So as soon as i get the new box laying or the nuc that i take off next week laying. Its crunch crunch time

 

[cjhart2]

Cold , wet and horrible again , even got the fire going , this is not good for France in June . Looked in a super yesterday and had 3 frames of capped acacia honey , if this weather continues , I do not think I will see much of it .

 

[WelshPaul]

Put a super on today on the hive in the garden, going to have to put another one on next weekend the way it's going.

 

[Sadders]

For the fist time I saw a queen wander across a frame, pop her abdomen into a cell and plop out an egg.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

For the fist time I saw a queen wander across a frame, pop her abdomen into a cell and plop out an egg.

How rude of you to watch.


Dusty

 

[user 3509]

Just getting ready to go into garden to split a hive as it had 12 frames of brood over two brood boxes when the phone rang. It was our neighbour to tell us that or bees were swarming!!!! Luckily I found HM on the floor by the hive (she was not clipped) so we quickly put her in an empty brood box with some foundation and stores and moved her elsewhere in the garden. Within 10 minutes all the swarming bees had returned and gone into the new brood box with HM. If only they had waited an hour or so - then the neighbours would not have been panicking!!!

 

[user 3509]

Also took off 24lb of OSR honey.

 

[psafloyd]

That my friend is total crap if I may be blunt and has no basis in reality, simply a self perpetuating myth from people that repeat what they have heard from people that repeat what they have heard........and so it goes on.

Chris

Not necessarily total crap, Chris, but orthodoxy, so just a belief not yet disproved.

 

[madasafish]

Inspected a hive I had merged with a nuc 4 weeks ago as it was queenless.
13 frames of brood...
Ventured out this evening in shorts to adjust the roof of a small nuc of aggressive bees which I intend to requeen. 6 stings later...
Meme to self : requeen them first.

 

[cjhart2]

but orthodoxy,

But remember orthodoxy lead to
"1,500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat.... Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." Lowell Cunningham and Ed Solomon

 

[Mike a]

But remember orthodoxy lead to
"1,500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat.... Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." Lowell Cunningham and Ed Solomon

I think it was Tommy Lee Jones sat on a park bench talking to Will Smith in lower Manhattan whilst filming MIB who said that

 

[pargyle]

LOL. If you have them and the queen answers to the name of fluffy and climbs on your hand say hello from me!

No sign of them yet ... reckon they have found a better des res than I have to offer !! Pity ...I rather like the sound of Fluffy - she's welcome here anytime with her entire family !!

 

[pargyle]

I sat on the gate just in front of my hive and watched for half an hour as they went in and out ... really getting on with it. MY BEES ! Looks as though they are really going to town with pollen from the sycamore trees just outside of the garden ... lots of white pollen coming in and some yellow (might be the horse chestnuts which are still loaded).

 

[psafloyd]

I sat on the gate just in front of my hive and watched for half an hour as they went in and out ... really getting on with it. MY BEES ! Looks as though they are really going to town with pollen from the sycamore trees just outside of the garden ... lots of white pollen coming in and some yellow (might be the horse chestnuts which are still loaded).

Horse chestnut pollen is red. Very red.