What did you do in the Apiary today?

[JCD]

Having left my bees at home with strict instructions to fill their supers with lovely honey while I'm away, I am on holiday walking the Cornish Coastal path.

I've been looking for Cornish honey bees in the hedgerows, and haven't seen one in three days, despite the clover smelling wonderful, and seeing other bee friendly flowers about. Then today, I was delighted to hear 'the hum'......in fact it was a very loud lot of buzzing. it was delightful to me.....my friends just raised eyebrows, and sure enough there was a sign in the next gateway saying 'Beware Bees'.

I'm not going to name the location, but whoever the beekeeper is, he or she lives in an idyllic place!

 

[beezers]

It was so stifling hot here, I put the dogs towel on the closed floor box(damp towel). Budgie wasn't to pleased as she likes that one!

 

[Ely]

nope ... you can get them to work on a winters day... with the ...

... wait for it ...


the right insulation

plenty of kingspan and tinfoil?

 

[Polyanwood]

I opened the door on a mating nuc I made up 3 days ago.

 

[TOBY-3652]

just extracted 130 pound of honey thats 390 pound up to now

 

[Goran]

Interesting, Sweet Chestnut honey here is quite cheap as a single nectar honey but then there is a lot of it, €6 to €7 a kilo and is very popular with the French, perhaps it's best use would be in cake making or some other cookery?

My bees are frantic on it at the moment 14 hours a day but I don't extract it on it's own, I let it be part of my "all summer honey" with bramble, wild flowers and sunflower.

Chris

With that price on big smile from faces of beekeepers who has the s.chestnut honey here wouldn't come off till the next season.
Anyway sweet chestnut finished for this season ( to don't be misunderstood these large forests of it are not near me).. At my area s. chestnut is going into extinction due to some disease which is spreaded ( some trees even few hundred years old died.. - when look at those huge trees some sadness get You..).

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

nope ... you can get them to work on a winters day... with the ...

... wait for it ...


the right insulation

It's like dangling a piece of string in front of a kitten isn't it!

 

[Ely]

I reckon you're that fella I saw walking down the street the other day wearing 3 jumpers and a coat in summer.

 

[jp19sqn]

Took delivery of 9 more Buckfast virgins. Took 3 of them to one of my apiaries and made up mating Nucs for them, then checked on 3 virgins put in for mating last week and 2 were laying well with very calm attendant bees who had been tetchy at best with their original queen. Looked in on a new breeder queen which arrived from Denmark last week and she was laying like the clappers. Took the remaining virgins to a friend's apiary to get them mated near his hives of Buckfasts. Took a rest to recover the 2 kgs of lost body fluid before going over for what should have been a security check of another apiary. In the cowslip was a huge swarm. Gathered it into a box and put icing sugar on the stragglers to see which hive they went back to. The one they returned to was examined and no queen cells were present! last week's inspection had shown no signs of any either. Perhaps they were just looking for any refuge, will go through them tomorrow to get a better idea of what is going on. Looking forward to a quiet evening I went home, poured a drink and went to sit in my garden, Ooops, a scene from a horror movie as a swarm came in and took up residence in a bait hive in my garden...What a beekeeping day!!!!!!!

 

[Chris Luck]

Took delivery of 9 more Buckfast virgins. Took 3 of them to one of my apiaries and made up mating Nucs for them, then checked on 3 virgins put in for mating last week and 2 were laying well with very calm attendant bees who had been tetchy at best with their original queen. Looked in on a new breeder queen which arrived from Denmark last week and she was laying like the clappers. Took the remaining virgins to a friend's apiary to get them mated near his hives of Buckfasts. Took a rest to recover the 2 kgs of lost body fluid before going over for what should have been a security check of another apiary. In the cowslip was a huge swarm. Gathered it into a box and put icing sugar on the stragglers to see which hive they went back to. The one they returned to was examined and no queen cells were present! last week's inspection had shown no signs of any either. Perhaps they were just looking for any refuge, will go through them tomorrow to get a better idea of what is going on. Looking forward to a quiet evening I went home, poured a drink and went to sit in my garden, Ooops, a scene from a horror movie as a swarm came in and took up residence in a bait hive in my garden...What a beekeeping day!!!!!!!

Just a small exaggeration for effect?

I work in my suit in 35°C shade temperature, I'm soaked after five minutes but I don't loose any measurable weight, grams maybe.

Can you tell me why you buy Virgin Queens rather than mated Queens? I ask because I never buy bees or Queens and would have thought if you wanted Buckfast you wouldn't risk the breeding process to chance.

Chris

 

[user 6228]

It's like dangling a piece of string in front of a kitten isn't it!

Miawo

 

[Suzi Q]

Took delivery of 9 more Buckfast virgins. Took 3 of them to one of my apiaries and made up mating Nucs for them, then checked on 3 virgins put in for mating last week and 2 were laying well with very calm attendant bees who had been tetchy at best with their original queen. Looked in on a new breeder queen which arrived from Denmark last week and she was laying like the clappers. Took the remaining virgins to a friend's apiary to get them mated near his hives of Buckfasts. Took a rest to recover the 2 kgs of lost body fluid before going over for what should have been a security check of another apiary. In the cowslip was a huge swarm. Gathered it into a box and put icing sugar on the stragglers to see which hive they went back to. The one they returned to was examined and no queen cells were present! last week's inspection had shown no signs of any either. Perhaps they were just looking for any refuge, will go through them tomorrow to get a better idea of what is going on. Looking forward to a quiet evening I went home, poured a drink and went to sit in my garden, Ooops, a scene from a horror movie as a swarm came in and took up residence in a bait hive in my garden...What a beekeeping day!!!!!!!

Wow, that sounds an exciting beekeeping day. Good tip with the icing sugar.

 

[jp19sqn]

Hi Chris, filling that apiary entirely with cheaper pure Buckfast virgins who will mate to F1 standard, next year that apiary will therefore be only pure bred Buckfast Drones, then my pure island mated queens will be providing pure queens via grafting, which will have a good chance of being pure mated. I will obviously only be claiming them to be F1 but many will be pure by chance. That is the method. I am setting up that apiary for pure Buckfast drones, 20 colonies with 4 frames in each of 2 boxes per hive dedicated to drone comb. Accepting the imbalance that brings, but a nuc each side chainsawing sealed brood into each main drone colony to attempt to maintain worker/drone balance, ready with extra boxes for room. But no plan survives first contact with the enemy.....the weather.

 

[Chris Luck]

I'm a bit confused, (age perhaps), but Drones will come from a huge distance and certainly here such a thing would be impossible using free flight, there are hundreds of colonies within a 3km radius of mine......

.....I assume from your reply that you are intending to sell them?

Idle curiosity that's all, oh and the bit about loosing weight, mind you there's nothing of me really to loose weight other than bone.

Chris

 

[jp19sqn]

I believe in AVM. I watched a virgin depart for mating last Friday, she was gone less than 5 minutes and came back swelled and plugged. Drone congregation areas, fine, but that is if nearby drones let her get there. If there are thousands of drones sitting on her garden gate she won't get to the prom.

In answer to your weight thing, I weighed myself and I had lost 2kg in 2 days. Can only assume that could be dehydration.

I will be making nucs for over-Wintering and selling those in the Spring. I have already agreed to give queens free to neighbours. The local bees are somewhat defensive and a lot of local beekeepers like the idea, some of course hate it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I believe in AVM. I watched a virgin depart for mating last Friday, she was gone less than 5 minutes and came back swelled and plugged. Drone congregation areas, fine, but that is if nearby drones let her get there. If there are thousands of drones sitting on her garden gate she won't get to the prom.

In answer to your weight thing, I weighed myself and I had lost 2kg in 2 days. Can only assume that could be dehydration.

I will be making nucs for over-Wintering and selling those in the Spring. I have already agreed to give queens free to neighbours. The local bees are somewhat defensive and a lot of local beekeepers like the idea, some of course hate it.

Sounds good on paper - but seems a bit hit-and-miss to me

 

[jp19sqn]

Jenks,

There is no real alternative if you want nice bees here. A pocket of nasty bees local to me. If there was a joined up strategy for selective breeding local to me then of course I would join it but we don't sadly. Perhaps this is the start.

 

[alanf]

There is no real alternative if you want nice bees here. A pocket of nasty bees local to me.

Conventional strategies would be to buy in a few queens every season and eventually dilute the locals or send your queens in mating nucs to an area that has something closer to what you're looking for.

Controlling open mating on mainland UK is rather optimistic. There are Australian outfits that place drone colonies in a circle a mile or two from the mating nucs, but they know there is nothing else nearby. Drones drift and have a behavioural trait to range. Any drones you raise could be miles away in a few weeks. Not claiming it's not worth a go, you know what you have around. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Chris Luck]

No doubt that Buckfast are a nice cuddly bee, I prefer native or natures selection myself but I can see the attraction for some....

... I have to say I hope your dream doesn't come true regarding uniformity.

Were you in the military by any chance???

Chris

 

[jp19sqn]

Yes military, I understand the chances are that my drones will not be the sole suiters for the young ladies, but here the only option is to drench the locality in my own drones for the probabilities to improve, it is a numbers game. The guys near this apiary are interested, especially as I will give them free queens. If it doesn't work well at least we tried. Can't continue with these Al Quedaesque terrorist bees any more. It is unpleasant constantly emptying dead bees from down my boots. Record so far was 43 stings in about 2 minutes through my coat! Ruined Christmas, but it was doing OA on a large hive.