What did you do in the Apiary today?

[sunhivebee]

Just catching up reading this thread tonight.

Can I ask are the 11 swarms from your hives ?
and if so are you actually bothering inspecting them ?

To miss one or two swarming is one thing but allowing 11 to swarm and we're only in June sounds to me very much like bad management or at the very least serious mismanagement.

Without wanting to sound rude but I suspect your neighbors are either too polite to say anything or they aren't as tolerate as you think they are if its your hives that keep swarming.

With respect, I believe I know my neighbours better than you do. As my swarms usually stay within the bounds of the property, my bee-loving neighbours have to be invited, if I remember to call them. Which isn't always the case, as you may imagine. One gets a bit busy when the bees are swarming.

I have no ideas how you live with your bees, but if your colonies never get to swarm, now that's not brilliant management in my eyes. However, I generally refrain from attesting serious mismanagement to others and I recommend the same to you.

As colony losses in my apiaries have been consistently either very low or non-existent over more than ten years of treatment-free beekeeping, I would have to be quite ignorant to conclude that there is much to learn from your address to me.

And yes, with the exception of one swarm, they are all mine. One arrived from elsewhere, resulting in the curious situation that there is a red marked queen in one of my apiaries now. I hope to tell you whether she is still around in five years time.

 

[pargyle]

Yes it's cumfrey ... if you want a really good general fertiliser then pick some of the leaves and put them in a bucket of water for about a week (a lid on the top will help as it will pong) - drain the liquid off the bucket and dilute with water to the colour of weak tea. Absolutely brilliant used on tomato plants but it's a great general plant food.

A word of warning ... Cumfrey spreads like the very devil .. the root system will grow outwards at a phenomenal rate. So, if you don't want your garden covered in the stuff you had best dig it up and contain individual plants in containers buried in the soil. You will never get rid of it altogether without dousing it with chemicals.

The bees however (mainly bumbles) LOVE IT !!

 

[galileo]

Can anyone please tell me what kind of plant/weed it is?

As others have said, it's Comfrey. There's a white flowering variety out in the wild too. One of the country names for it is "knitbone" because the mucilaginous root makes a wonderful hot compress for broken bones and skin ailments. It's the only known source of a compound called Allantoin.

I don't very often get the chance to dig out my herbalist remembery, so forgive the TMI

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Just (actually yesterday, forgot to hit "Reply") had a visit from Andy Wattam, national bee inspector who is also my local one, reacting to a worry I had about a cluster of dead bees outside one of my hives.

What a nice chap, very helpful. Reassured me that the colony looked like it was going to be OK and the dead bees were mainly drones that probably let their groin (or bee equivalent) rule common sense such as remembering to eat or get warm.

Also spotted a virgin in each hive - I'd have been there for several months trying to see them. Top chap.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Bit miffed now what todo. Already extracted 3 supers few weeks back. Field next to my bee's (or behind them 10 metres) is OSR that has died off now. However, less than 250-400m down the road there's a massive OSR field still in flower.

The dlimera I have is whether to extract the 6 supers (one of which is full langstroth brood box). Most of is has started to get more than 3/4 capped.

The issue is i've put my last but one super on this morning to the one hive and plan on finishing the frames/foundation in the other super tonight to go on in the morning on the other hive. I dont really want to extract then do a third extraction a week later but its looking highly likely due to the vast quantities of the stuff my bees are bringing in.

Who thought having too much coming in would be an issue.

 

[rosco]

Yes, comfrey

Thanks PBee and Luminos. I have a large section of my garden that I have left to go wild for the last few years and when the weather is right the bees love it! Never knew what plants they were until now though. Cheers

Whoops, thanks to the others who replied too. Harder to notice on my smartphone! It has been in the garden all the while I have rented the property and although I only got started in beekeeping this year I have always tried to provide bee forage where possible. Hopefully any future tenants dont spray it!


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[alldigging]

A word of warning ... Cumfrey spreads like the very devil .. the root system will grow outwards at a phenomenal rate. So, if you don't want your garden covered in the stuff you had best dig it up and contain individual plants in containers buried in the soil. You will never get rid of it altogether without dousing it with chemicals.

The bees however (mainly bumbles) LOVE IT !!

It looks more like the bocking 14 comfrey which only spreads when you chop up roots. The normal seeding stuff is a darker purple.
I have both on my allotment.

 

[alldigging]

Watched them put a swarm in a hive.

 

[pargyle]

It looks more like the bocking 14 comfrey which only spreads when you chop up roots. The normal seeding stuff is a darker purple.
I have both on my allotment.

Yep ... Just looked a bit closer at the photo and I think you are right ... the flowers on the 'spreading' comfrey are a bit more furry as well. So, a little less of a problem with the spreading. Great plant though ...for all sorts of reasons.

 

[Elaine]

Listened to a noisy queen in the hive that swarmed on Monday.....

 

[Mike a]

With respect, I believe I know my neighbours better than you do. As my swarms usually stay within the bounds of the property, my bee-loving neighbours have to be invited, if I remember to call them. Which isn't always the case, as you may imagine. One gets a bit busy when the bees are swarming.

I have no ideas how you live with your bees, but if your colonies never get to swarm, now that's not brilliant management in my eyes. However, I generally refrain from attesting serious mismanagement to others and I recommend the same to you.

As colony losses in my apiaries have been consistently either very low or non-existent over more than ten years of treatment-free beekeeping, I would have to be quite ignorant to conclude that there is much to learn from your address to me.

And yes, with the exception of one swarm, they are all mine. One arrived from elsewhere, resulting in the curious situation that there is a red marked queen in one of my apiaries now. I hope to tell you whether she is still around in five years time.

I'm not interested in starting another debate in the rights and wrongs and differences in our respective methods of bee keeping as that has been covered to the nth degree already.

Anyway, I only have your word to back up your claims which no disrespect to you but I find it difficult to believe "anyone" who is arrogant enough to claim they are varroa free and or never/very rarely suffer losses when not treating their bees since trying it with two colonies myself which dwindled to almost nothing and would of failed if I hadn't stepped in to help them. I just think its funny how "these people" never want to share their miracle bees or detailed methods to back up their claims for the good of beekeeping in general.

PS. I don't live with my bees.... now that would just be silly really.!!

 

[victor meldrew]

I'm not interested in starting another debate in the rights and wrongs and differences in our respective methods of bee keeping as that has been covered to the nth degree already.

Anyway, I only have your word to back up your claims which no disrespect to you but I find it difficult to believe "anyone" who is arrogant enough to claim they are varroa free and or never/very rarely suffer losses when not treating their bees since trying it with two colonies myself which dwindled to almost nothing and would of failed if I hadn't stepped in to help them. I just think its funny how "these people" never want to share their miracle bees or detailed methods to back up their claims for the good of beekeeping in general.

PS. I don't live with my bees.... now that would just be silly really.!!

Funny little sun hives are to accommodate the myriad casts issuing from these neglected colonies !
She must either live on an island or her neighbours are a result of the care in the community policy?
VM


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[clv101]

Surely we can show Heidi a little more respect here can't we? There's certainly more than one way to keep bees, just as there's more than one way to grow veg and keep chickens. It would be a pretty dull place if we all did exactly the same things, but it would also be a more pleasant environment with a little more respect shown.

 

[victor meldrew]

The RSPCA is redundant then ?
VM



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[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm not interested in starting another debate in the rights and wrongs and differences in our respective methods of bee keeping as that has been covered to the nth degree already.

Anyway, I only have your word to back up your claims which no disrespect to you but I find it difficult to believe "anyone" who is arrogant enough to claim they are varroa free and or never/very rarely suffer losses when not treating their bees since trying it with two colonies myself which dwindled to almost nothing and would of failed if I hadn't stepped in to help them. I just think its funny how "these people" never want to share their miracle bees or detailed methods to back up their claims for the good of beekeeping in general.

PS. I don't live with my bees.... now that would just be silly really.!!

I know I'm a little thick, and numbers aren't my forte (apart from important things like interpolating tides and working out how much beer money I need for a fortinght away). But if the mortality rates (as claimed) are virtually non - existent and let's say an average of two swarms per 'hive', starting let's say with two 'hives' ten years ago Heidi must have more colonies than ITTLD. Even only harvesting an eggcup full of honey from each hive must give quite a surplus.
Just popping out to the hallway to get my hat so I can take it off to her

 

[Erichalfbee]

That's why I asked if she united her colonies, thereby reducing their number.

 

[dickndoris]

half of a swarm that flew into the apiary this morning

Half of the swarm that flew into the apiary this morning. The smaller half! Could hardly hold it out for the self portrait. Covered at least 9 frames of 14x12. I would have been worried had it been one of mine as its a bit of a whopper. Even though they were 30feet up the tree and brought down in two, they were very well mannered. Even when they where jerked into the poly hive. Always worried about swarms flying in. You just never know.

 

[Ivan999Wright]

Moved the bees from the nuc to the brood box. First time for me and seemed to go to plan!

 

[alldigging]

Inspected as hve. No eggs. So researching a reunite.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Inspected as hve. No eggs. So researching a reunite.

How long ago was the A/S ?