What did you do in the Apiary today?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You never can tell with bees............

Wasn't there a post here yesterdaywith someone being surprised at a new nuc swarming after only five weeks?

Picked up a load of good strong nucs for the association and members a few weeks ago. Hived the assiciation ones, loads of stores, so let them get on with it. Got to the association apiary this morning to find that one of the member's nuc had swarmed with them last week. Checked ours - one building up slowly, one BIAS on six to seven frames and one.......swarmed!
Back home at my apiary, it was time to sort out the Demarree'd hive. They had been reluctant to raise QC's in this one but when I checked last Monday there was two nice open ones (albeit on one frame) so today it was split the box, bit of surgery on one of the sealed cells and Bob's your auntie..............
Ah QC's empty - no, not miscalculation. they had decided to change their minds! cells not completed, no sign of cap being nibbled off - weird!

 

[REDWOOD]

Extracted some honey that was as dark as pitch and tastes like conkers, I wonder where that lot came from.

 

[Jimmy]

Mixed day so far.
10:45 saw a large swarm fly across the garden, ignoring both bait hives.
Onto the village street fair where my donated 1lb jar was on sale for £1.50!!! Almost bought it back in a fit of pique.
Events then improved with the offer of a large collected swarm only for spirits to be dampened on arrival at my apiary by finding that Friday's shook swarm had absconded.

 

[Erichalfbee]

An acquired taste
Not much around here and I spot only the odd red cell.

 

[madasafish]

Emptied a nuc of the remaining bees of last week's Q- swarm - onto the grass. They did not appreciate it.....

Collected another swarm from a fellow Apiary member who had no room for them (it was 10 feet up a small damson tree) - they are going into my empty nuc...

 

[Dishmop]

I felt all energetic today and put some frames together. Then had a sleep.

 

[beeboybee]

combined - two small swarms that i had watched until eggs in both - did newspaper method but not fussed at this stage which queen wins!

had a close look at another hive that i suspect is laying worker/DLQ will keep an eye on it for another few days. really messy brood pattern and a couple of multiple eggs in cells - this was a cast swarm so timing wise the queen should just be getting started...

Blue hive - plenty of space - but still finding Queen (nice fat dark) inspecting every three days to cut out Q cells - going to look at doing a AS but with out moving queen ( morris board or Snelgrove?)

 

[Erichalfbee]

I hope your two cast queens don't battle each other to death or permanent injury, then.
I would have united one with your DLQ, having first removed her and kept the other in a small nuc as insurance against mishap in your AS.........all that queen cell removing!

 

[Falesh]

The bees were their usual laid back selves, so much so I didn't need to use any smoke at all. We saw the bees building up comb and doing wiggle dances but we didn't manage to spot the Queen. I'm not too worried because I saw eggs and young larvae and I didn't spot any queen cells so I think we just missed here. I'll take another look in a few days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xFf9svjsec

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

combined - two small swarms that i had watched until eggs in both - did newspaper method but not fussed at this stage which queen wins!

In that case then why bother withthe newspaper? just shake them all into one hive and watch them scrap it out - same diference!

Blue hive - plenty of space - but still finding Queen (nice fat dark) inspecting every three days to cut out Q cells - going to look at doing a AS but with out moving queen ( morris board or Snelgrove?)

Confused - why just keep on cutting QC's out - just A/S and be done with. They'll go regardless if your not careful

 

[Hachi]

Have had a running situation with the farmer on whose land I have my out apiary:

Yesterday at 11am "I'll be spraying at noon it has pesticide in it but its bee friendly I'm told"

"Your what???? You've got to be kidding"

"Nope"

"Hang on a minute you'll destroy all my bees can we talk about it?"

Conversation had the outcome was I'll shut them in at last light he will spray at 9am today.

I rocks up at 9am no activity so sent a text message

"Too much dew, will do it at 11.30"

Whilst I was contemplating my options along comes the farmer so we had another chat. I explained why this was a bad idea.

We eventually agreed he would do it at last light tonight......................

Think I need to start looking for another out apiary.

 

[beeboybee]

In that case then why bother withthe newspaper? just shake them all into one hive and watch them scrap it out - same diference!



Confused - why just keep on cutting QC's out - just A/S and be done with. They'll go regardless if your not careful

yep, could have just shook into the one hive but, went with newspaper to slow the chaos down,

tomorrow i will AS now i have a spare Nuc box thanks to the Swarm unite!
never enough kit...... watching the hive that i plan to AS closely = something is not right, Q+ eggs etc but just got a feeling something is not right.

 

[YorkshireBees]

A spot of one handed beekeeping!

Seems I tried to brush a bee from the inside of my boot too vigorously yesterday and now have what's called 'Mallet finger' on my left ring finger.

Basically I snapped the tendon which lets you straighten out the last section of your finger.

Anyway after having put the hive back together and driven home I spent a short time (3hrs) in A+E to get a splint.

Cue today, and me wondering how to inspect the other apiary one-handed.
So wearing only a nitrile glove on the left as my normal gloves will not fit over the splint, I proceeded to beekeep very gently!

No stings so I must have done ok.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Have had a running situation with the farmer on whose land I have my out apiary:

Yesterday at 11am "I'll be spraying at noon it has pesticide in it but its bee friendly I'm told"

"Your what???? You've got to be kidding"

"Nope"

"Hang on a minute you'll destroy all my bees can we talk about it?"

Conversation had the outcome was I'll shut them in at last light he will spray at 9am today.

I rocks up at 9am no activity so sent a text message

"Too much dew, will do it at 11.30"

Whilst I was contemplating my options along comes the farmer so we had another chat. I explained why this was a bad idea.

We eventually agreed he would do it at last light tonight......................

Think I need to start looking for another out apiary.

Well negotiated, maybe time to start looking for someone with organic status to let you have a bit of land to pollinate their crops.

 

[Heather]

Have had a running situation with the farmer on whose land I have my out apiary:

Yesterday at 11am "I'll be spraying at noon it has pesticide in it but its bee friendly I'm told"

"Your what???? You've got to be kidding"

"Nope"

"Hang on a minute you'll destroy all my bees can we talk about it?"

Conversation had the outcome was I'll shut them in at last light he will spray at 9am today.

I rocks up at 9am no activity so sent a text message

"Too much dew, will do it at 11.30"

Whilst I was contemplating my options along comes the farmer so we had another chat. I explained why this was a bad idea.

We eventually agreed he would do it at last light tonight......................

Think I need to start looking for another out apiary.

I think he was being very reasonable. At least he contacted you and having your bees closed in for that time length wasn't bad. He was trying to be accommodating for you. Some farmers never contact, even if a request went out. Mine phoned me at 5 am to say, 'sorry such short notice.. spraying 8am'.
Work together and don't get too huffy.
Maybe he needs to use a product to protect his own product... sad but true.. he has a living to make too. Need to go out in the wilds of moorland to get free of any such product. Gardeners use too. A long haul to be free of such products.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Thursday I made the mistake of Putting feed on a hive without donning my jacket. Silly me. They were out like rockets and at my head. I wont do that again.
Sunday helped at the Association Apiary. Having taken all my cutting implements except the long reach saw and lopper discovered that we had got to the woodchip heaving and spreading stage. We formed a tight team of two females filling barrows from a large heap and three males barrowing while another (sex unknown because we never met) spread with a rake. We were finished within an hour and a half. Apiary looking pristeen and ready for the usual inspections.
That's what I call team work.
Collected some stuff ordered through the association
Then to spoil it all I forgot my jacket which I had loaned to a newbee when I got over excited about getting my jars and new stainless steel hive tool.
Doh.

 

[ugcheleuce]

Yesterday I split my one queenless colony into two boxes (each with a frame with some queencells on it) and moved the boxes to the club apiary 14 km away. Awww, they're so cute when they peek out their little heads and then reorient themselves to the new location. I'm planning on taking them back to my apiary in two/three weeks.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Not really in the Apiary, but

At my place of work, I was advised there was a swarm of bees, in the mountain ash tree, noticed on Friday, Bait Box with lure, was left out over weekend, swarm in a sorry state, wet and be-draggled....did not go into box.

I asked the Facilities Gardner’s, if they had step ladders and branch loppers, and I spoke to Facilities “Gardens” Supervisor, and they assisted me, by climbing the steps lopping the branch, and I caught them in the box! (with a cheer and applause!)

I didn't have all my normal gear in the car, it had been removed, because I'd been using the car as a taxi, as my folks we visiting...Only had smock and gloves, so taped up my gloves and trousers.

and I got stung through my sock!!!!

 

[user 3509]

Had my BBKA basic assessment this afternoon.

 

[Tabby15]

Finally managed to find and mark the elusive queen from the swarm I caught (from one of my hives - wasn't able to mark her before she swarmed either). Well I say me, I managed to spot and get her in the clip. Hubbie ran her into the marking cage. Success.