What did you do in the Apiary today?

[dpearce4]

nothing in the apiary but started to make my fondant for popping ontop of the 6 hives that need it tomorrow when I do my OA.

 

[bellsbees]

Count dead varroa on inspection boards, after oxalic acid treatment. I can report huge numbers of dead varroa. My poor bees were smothered in the blood sucking mites.

 

[VEG]

Count dead varroa on inspection boards, after oxalic acid treatment. I can report huge numbers of dead varroa. My poor bees were smothered in the blood sucking mites.

Did you count the natural drop before doing the oxalic?

 

[Headnavigator]

Whoah, Ladies, it's not Spring yet!
Mahonia covered with bees so I thought I'd better have a look at the hives.

 

[yellowrage 53]

HAPPY NEW YEAR .THIS IS MY 1ST POST AS ONLY HAD BEES FOR 8 WEEKS!!!!! moved them on a cold day 1st thing in the morning after 2 weeks 1st nice day and thay was out and about .8 weeks on and today did oa on both hives bees looked happy and so was i

 

[victor meldrew]

OA'd hives and slapped a kilo of fondant on each!
One colony covered our Margaret in bees ( not aggressively merely parking up )
One colony very small, this Queen has struggled all year , I don't expect it to make it through Spring .
Weather sunny +9c , the bees that took to the air scuttled inside quickly enough
Could have done with it being a little duller and cooler but next batch of weather is forecast wet and windy, gale force even , still better over with than hanging on for ideal conditions !
VM
PS fondant ,flat pancake, direct on frame tops over clusters ! Just in case someone asks


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[Erichalfbee]

Whoah, Ladies, it's not Spring yet!
Mahonia covered with bees so I thought I'd better have a look at the hives.

Might be an idea to take that glass away
Might mean life or death to bees struggling to get back after a poo in the cold

 

[dpearce4]

Did my OA today, discovered that the hives I fed early in September have not faired as well as the other site, I assume it was because I fed them to early and they filled up the brood area with stores and didn't have enough space for winter brood rearing.

The other site all bar 1 colony over 7 seams and some 10 seams the one that was small was still stronger now than when last inspected back at the beginning of October. 5 hives out of 20 needed fondant. I will start to think about making pollen patties up at the beginning of Feb to get them building strongly for the OSR in April and splitting after.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Might be an idea to take that glass away
Might mean life or death to bees struggling to get back after a poo in the cold

be more concerned with colliding with it on the way out - in a hurry, clenching tight and desperate to dump my guts1
Wahey,who put that there, whoops, nurse!

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

OA'd my two home hives and the cathedral colony that was ailing, and I'm overwintering at home in a polynuc.

One of my own hives has a super full of uncapped 2:1 sugar solution - but they're resolutely clustered in the BB below. It means they're heating that spaced but I don't want to deprive them of stores.

The second looks fine though the crown board has a thin layer of grey/green mould. There is an insulated super above. I would have changed the crown board, but my spares are in a stack of sealed supers.

The cathedral colony has 3, perhaps 4 seams of bees, which seem ok.
Don't know if there is a queen as I had to use MAQS rather late in the season (they had DWV). They might yet make it through.


Dusty.

 

[enrico]

I tapped!?? All well!!!

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Strong but not universal flying today in my corner of Heat Island. Water-gathering I think; certainly plenty of it about. If they have one mite, they do not have a hundred. So happy.

 

[Cazza]

I tapped!?? All well!!!

Cheeky!
Cazza

 

[victor meldrew]

I tapped!?? All well!!!

OTT, peeps will begin to think you're tapped
VM


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[Erichalfbee]

One of my own hives has a super full of uncapped 2:1 sugar solution - but they're resolutely clustered in the BB below. It means they're heating that spaced but I don't want to deprive them of stores.



Dusty.

Could it be worth taking that away and putting some rolled out fondant on the top bars in a shallow eke?

 

[enrico]

Cheeky!
Cazza

Couldn't resist it....I didn't really!
Could do with some sunshine. I think they have forgotten what their wings are for!
Happy new year cazza

 

[beeno]

HAPPY NEW YEAR .THIS IS MY 1ST POST AS ONLY HAD BEES FOR 8 WEEKS!!!!! moved them on a cold day 1st thing in the morning after 2 weeks 1st nice day and thay was out and about .8 weeks on and today did oa on both hives bees looked happy and so was i

Happy New Year to you too. How exciting is all that! Good luck for the season.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Could it be worth taking that away and putting some rolled out fondant on the top bars in a shallow eke?

Thanks, ericA. I'd wondered about that.
You are wise.

Dusty

 

[itma]

+10C, sunshine not actually on any of the hives when I looked, however all bar one hive were out in force.
The world is still very wet, and there's more rain to come, starting tonight.

 

[Headnavigator]

Might be an idea to take that glass away
Might mean life or death to bees struggling to get back after a poo in the cold

be more concerned with colliding with it on the way out - in a hurry, clenching tight and desperate to dump my guts1
Wahey,who put that there, whoops, nurse!

Fear not, they've been used to the glass ever since a late robbing attack on them, and if you look carefully you'll see there's a bee-space gap at the top, where the glass is propped away from the front of the hive. Returning bees tend to head for the hive just above the top of the glass and drop down this gap to the entrance. Departing bees come out and fly off from the sides. Seems to work for them, and did last winter too.