What did you do in the Apiary today?

[SireeDubs]

I helped a friend go through his 4 hives, following a swarm yesterday. But of a mess really. Re queened one nasty colony,united swarm with another, and removed 30+ qcs from others. Bees chased us off his allotment and stung him liberally. Reaffirmed why I like keeping just 2 colonies. He doesn't keep notes either. I'd be lost, but he's quite chilled.

Came home to do mine, AS hive doing beautifully, while I'm trying to keep out of the other half while new queen (she emerged about 6 days ago) gets to work. Two supers on each, and numbers really increasing quickly on AS hive. May need brood and a half?

Beautiful day.

 

[Somerford]

Tidied up the apiary spare broods etc, and also checked on a swarm hived on Thursday morning (see blog) Q laying nicely, came home after a lovely afternoon out at a pub lunch and found one of my bait hives has attracted a small swarm. Happy days

 

[Tom Bick]

AS a top bar hive inspected four other hives, started to move two hives closer together so they can be combined, removed three early queen cells so as to give a bit of breathing space to get spare kit into place to AS and non of the hives are my hives but people known to me and struggling with the advanced conditions.

 

[pargyle]

AS a top bar hive inspected four other hives, started to move two hives closer together so they can be combined, removed three early queen cells so as to give a bit of breathing space to get spare kit into place to AS and non of the hives are my hives but people known to me and struggling with the advanced conditions.

From what I hear locally down here EVERYONE is struggling with the 'advanced conditions' ... swarms everywhere ... some regardless of what precautions have been taken ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Today, I shall be mostly Demarreeing

There is also a massive flow on of either hawthorn or field beans,

If it smells a bit cheesy - it'll be the hawthorn, they're going bonkers for it around here.

This morning got up early and thought, hmm maybe I should put a QX under the swarm I caught yesterday evening - maybe I should have last night - bees were busily leaving the hive, luckily back into the hedge which, fortuitously, I'd left the upturned skep on top of to catch the many stragglers from yesterday - simply a matter of taking them back to the hive, dumping them in, this time with a QX!!

Went to the association apiary supposedly for a mentor's meeting, but as only Redwood, Jeff the chairman and myself turned up we thought we'd check things over and decided that, as the strongest hive needed a third super and HM was laying on ten frames, we'd Demarree it in the hope of making some nucs up for the beginners.
Then went home and inspected another three hives, I checked the strongest with fingers crossed (this is the only one I could conceive the swarm coming from if it was one of mine - and I had great expectations of that queen! - seven supers last year) Found BIAS and the queen on the fifth frame so I swiftly demarreed her and once again that hive is a teetering tower! check both for closed QC's now in a few days, so better get my nucs and mating hives ready.
This evening all the bees from the swarm were settled in the hive, so to take any scent from the hedge I gave it a good spraying, but in the absence of air freshner I used the tin of Lynx deodorant I bough in Lesotho - the most popular fragrance out there - naturally - Africa!!

 

[Tom Bick]

From what I hear locally down here EVERYONE is struggling with the 'advanced conditions' ... swarms everywhere ... some regardless of what precautions have been taken ...

If it continues its going to be one of those years that will be talked about for a few years to come.

 

[youngyoungs]

Sweaty day in a bee suit and feeling rather more of a beginner than I thought I was.

Massive swarm near my hives on Wednesday, caught and hived. Today just as I was about to inspect, another hive swarmed, fabulous to watch. Landed on a nearby hedge and caught it. Went through all hives and nucs, lots of ripe queen cells on show, some recently opened, some with new virgins in. No wonder they swarmed.

Obviously I wasn't checking closely enough.......but I did end up providing a virgin queen to a fellow beek with a recently Q- hive.

Oh, and the bait hive seems to have caught a little swarm from somewhere (red face).

 

[Cazza]

From what I hear locally down here EVERYONE is struggling with the 'advanced conditions' ... swarms everywhere ... some regardless of what precautions have been taken ...

Funny old year isn't it?
All of my hives have been AS'd or Demareed more than three weeks ago, honey has been extracted. For me the worst is over for the time being..........

I lost one swarm from an AS'd red queen which I caught again but she buggered off before I could hive the swarm so I am responsible for one of the lost swarms in the country.

Cazza

 

[Blue Spinnaker]

Standing with a coffee watching my new nuc at work, just 12 hours after installation they are all hard at work, pollen coming in like it's going out of fashion. Hoping all my classes are as industrious this week.......

 

[maddydog]

Found and marked the q in my bait hive swarm. A big black beauty!

Now have 3 extra colonies that I need to find an out apiary for so if anyone knows of an enlightened land owner near Driffield East Yorks I‘d love to hear from them!

 

[madasafish]

If it continues its going to be one of those years that will be talked about for a few years to come.

Yes: the rain eventually stopped last Wednesday.. and then summer started.

Way way way behind others here.

 

[Pete D]

Did my basic on Saturday at the association apiary.
Sunday ran a skep making course and hived a swarm.
Today will just drive / walk past my hives on the way home, looking for a clump hanging in a bush or activity from my bait hives.
2nd extraction session this weekend.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Saturday while doing a gardening task A neighbour came round and aked if I had seen my bees. Looking ahead I saw they were attempting to swarm(the queen is clipped). I had missed a queen cell. They are swarming I said I must have missed a queen cell. Knowing that they would return I was not worried. He launched into a tirade about not being possible to use his garden, it was absolute rubbish as they were not in his garden, and that they were all over the footpath, rubbish again as they were in the air about eight foot and up to thirty feet above the ground. He carried on, about complaining to the health people and having done some research about bees and they were too close to the house. I explained they were in that position because they were too cold in the previous position and the site under the lilac tree gave them a little shade when it was hot and the bee inspector who is the government agent for bees had been happy with it. After I had put some nucs out to grab their interest and try to calm him down I went round to explain they would not settle in his garden and to offer the first take of honey from the hive, but didn't get the chance, he refused the honey and launched into another tirade. I tried to calm him down but in the end I had to leave with him still unhappy.
I returned home rested for a bit and then went through both hives removing drones and queen cells.

 

[SireeDubs]

Saturday while doing a gardening task A neighbour came round and aked if I had seen my bees. Looking ahead I saw they were attempting to swarm(the queen is clipped). I had missed a queen cell. They are swarming I said I must have missed a queen cell. Knowing that they would return I was not worried. He launched into a tirade about not being possible to use his garden, it was absolute rubbish as they were not in his garden, and that they were all over the footpath, rubbish again as they were in the air about eight foot and up to thirty feet above the ground. He carried on, about complaining to the health people and having done some research about bees and they were too close to the house. I explained they were in that position because they were too cold in the previous position and the site under the lilac tree gave them a little shade when it was hot and the bee inspector who is the government agent for bees had been happy with it. After I had put some nucs out to grab their interest and try to calm him down I went round to explain they would not settle in his garden and to offer the first take of honey from the hive, but didn't get the chance, he refused the honey and launched into another tirade. I tried to calm him down but in the end I had to leave with him still unhappy.
I returned home rested for a bit and then went through both hives removing drones and queen cells.

I have neighbours like that. I only have two colonies of rather polite bees. We're very rural, but our neighbours have objected to our chickens and ducks (6 in an acre of land) just in case they 'trespass', so I've never told them about bees! All screened and am sure they see no real sign of them. However, if they knew, I'm sure they'd complain...

Very sad that some people are like this, and I do feel for you, as I find it very disconcerting to have difficult neighbours. Hope things settle down.

 

[madasafish]

I have neighbours like that. I only have two colonies of rather polite bees. We're very rural, but our neighbours have objected to our chickens and ducks (6 in an acre of land) just in case they 'trespass', so I've never told them about bees! All screened and am sure they see no real sign of them. However, if they knew, I'm sure they'd complain...

Very sad that some people are like this, and I do feel for you, as I find it very disconcerting to have difficult neighbours. Hope things settle down.

Keep a note of dates. times and what you said..

Just in case.

Contemporaneous records can be worthwhile if difficult neighbours go to the council ... or court...

 

[Tabby15]

As posted yesterday neighbour has a swarm which is not from one of ours. Her neighbour is now convinced we are "attracting them" Er no. We don't have bait hives or empty hives out but she does have lots of derelict sheds and structures in her garden. I didn't like to suggest that these may be perfect for the swarm, especially as it was still in the tree at 10pm last night

 

[Newtobees]

Keep a note of dates. times and what you said..

Just in case.

Contemporaneous records can be worthwhile if difficult neighbours go to the council ... or court...[/QUOTE

My neighbour has complained to the enviroment health this week had a note put through my door asking me to phone them. So i did spoke to a nice chap who
asked me few questions , how many hives i have to which i replied four ,to which he said unless it stops my neighbour from going out into his garden he is quite happy and there is not much he can do . My neighbour has wrote me a note saying she dosen't like the idea of bees next door but she knows she can't do anything about them even though i live on A moden estate with houses all round me i have kept them there for three years without anyone complaining or knowing .Since i have put two hives on the shed roof and she can see them they have suddenly become a problem . As a gesture of good will i have taken three hives to my out Apiary and just left my most productive at home.

 

[Ben90]

Keep a note of dates. times and what you said..

Just in case.

Contemporaneous records can be worthwhile if difficult neighbours go to the council ... or court...[/QUOTE

My neighbour has complained to the enviroment health this week had a note put through my door asking me to phone them. So i did spoke to a nice chap who
asked me few questions , how many hives i have to which i replied four ,to which he said unless it stops my neighbour from going out into his garden he is quite happy and there is not much he can do . My neighbour has wrote me a note saying she dosen't like the idea of bees next door but she knows she can't do anything about them even though i live on A moden estate with houses all round me i have kept them there for three years without anyone complaining or knowing .Since i have put two hives on the shed roof and she can see them they have suddenly become a problem . As a gesture of good will i have taken three hives to my out Apiary and just left my most productive at home.

I'm in a similar position in that I live on a suburban estate and have bees in my garden. All of the neighbours who know about them are fine with it, but if the neighbours diagonally left to us found out about them they might not like the idea. It's getting to the point that I might have to tell them because their kids keep kicking balls over the fence and I'm worried that eventually it's bound to hit one of my hives, which might provoke the bees to attack them. Ironic that, in actual fact, the problem might arise from them infringing on our property.

 

[whoosling]

Saturday while doing a gardening task A neighbour came round and aked if I had seen my bees. Looking ahead I saw they were attempting to swarm(the queen is clipped). I had missed a queen cell. They are swarming I said I must have missed a queen cell. Knowing that they would return I was not worried. He launched into a tirade about not being possible to use his garden, it was absolute rubbish as they were not in his garden, and that they were all over the footpath, rubbish again as they were in the air about eight foot and up to thirty feet above the ground. He carried on, about complaining to the health people and having done some research about bees and they were too close to the house. I explained they were in that position because they were too cold in the previous position and the site under the lilac tree gave them a little shade when it was hot and the bee inspector who is the government agent for bees had been happy with it. After I had put some nucs out to grab their interest and try to calm him down I went round to explain they would not settle in his garden and to offer the first take of honey from the hive, but didn't get the chance, he refused the honey and launched into another tirade. I tried to calm him down but in the end I had to leave with him still unhappy.
I returned home rested for a bit and then went through both hives removing drones and queen cells.

I am so lucky with my neighbours, all of them, when a swarm went up my neighbours fir tree which none of us could reach he kept an eye on them and when they moved on, even though I was away offered to try and keep track to see where they'd got to, never did catch up with them! all the neighbours seem really interested and not at all bothered by - lucky me

 

[Goran]

Weather "normalised" ( don't know what will be normal in future..). Some flow, but affraid no or little black locust.. Made one split, due to swarming desire. Overall, as many report pretty much swarming, mine not so bad. Mostly which I know have that more in their blood gone for it. One line surprisingly maintain non swarming habit ( open mating, uncontrolled). I planned to make a lot of daughters of it this year. But have other things first unfortunatelly.