What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Tom Bick]

Chem trails, neonics, BT toxin, varroa, UKIP or good old simple natural causes?

Chris

UKIP would put it down to imports but in reality just natural causes or just bad luck with beekeepers fingers.

 

[Chris Luck]

I don't know. Here everything,g was fine until the OSR finished and the weather turned crap and then there has been no forage until a few days ago. I've never seen such strange bee behavior and I suspect more than few colonies are Q- . Others are packed to the gunnels with bees clustered outside all day but none are really active.

It's all most odd.

Chris

 

[Goran]

Seems warm weather is starting here, we have now day temps over 30 celsius and night above 10celsius. Bees are still on wild blackberries and white clover start more to flower ( usually white clower is in full blooming in beginning of May, but as part of this mad weather..).
Some few km away is one field of common sainfoin, I am curious to see how bees ( not mine) will attend it.

Bees are still in bad mood, I don't blame them..

 

[jd101k2000]

Fantastic day today - the unite had worked on hive 2 (saw the old, marked queen with her retinue looking for places to lay). Also extracted 7kg of honey - leaving far more than that behind in case of a June gap.

Also enjoyed reading some of R.O.B. Manley's Bee Keeping in Britain... so nice to read an 'adult book'. Rather than bees do this... often bees do this, sometimes this and rarely that.
He also mentions something that I had assumed was peculiar to my queens - that they have reddish legs.

All nukes doing well... except '8'... a bit small but fed.

 

[cjhart2]

I don't know. Here everything,g was fine until the OSR finished and the weather turned crap and then there has been no forage until a few days ago. I've never seen such strange bee behavior and I suspect more than few colonies are Q- . Others are packed to the gunnels with bees clustered outside all day but none are really active.

It's all most odd.

Chris

Agreed same here 40 miles south of you , bees just sitting on the landing board . It is like they are waiting for something to happen , but not sure what it is they are waiting for .

 

[TOBY-3652]

moved 10 hives to some spring beans.. a bit late but couldn't get permission until last night

 

[Erichalfbee]

Agreed same here 40 miles south of you , bees just sitting on the landing board . It is like they are waiting for something to happen , but not sure what it is they are waiting for .

I have one colony like that too. Bramble soon

 

[cjhart2]

I have one colony like that too. Bramble soon

Or it could be they knew what was coming .
Hugh hail storm just stuck 1/2 to 1 hailstones . Just been out with a torch , Broken tiles , strip vines , shallots and onions destroyed , potatoes gone , fruit bushes no longer have fruit and a carpet of hail everywhere up to 2" thick . Will check everything else and the hives tomorrow if they are still there , they are going to be really pis**d .

 

[Chris Luck]

One of the big drawbacks here are the summer storms, I hope it isn't too bad in the light of day.

Bees clustered under a solid floor hive today, all up the shaded side as well.

Chris

 

[Rio]

Two of the hives have turned on me making inspections impossible. Requeening is an option Or I might try to cut the hive into 3 or 4 nucs as I have queens on the boil.

 

[cjhart2]

Or it could be they knew what was coming .
Hugh hail storm just stuck 1/2 to 1 hailstones . Just been out with a torch , Broken tiles , strip vines , shallots and onions destroyed , potatoes gone , fruit bushes no longer have fruit and a carpet of hail everywhere up to 2" thick . Will check everything else and the hives tomorrow if they are still there , they are going to be really pis**d .

Just checked the hives , they are out flying already , will probably feed all hives over the next week ,not many flowers left for them to feed on . couple of pics , hail stones 8 hours after they fell and what hail does to your onions .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Association apiary this morning, checked the hive which had the demarree a few weeks ago - they haven't finished drawing the brood box yet but, on frame four - perfect textbook supersedure cell! Great to show the beginners, so we closed up and left them to it - let's hope they carry on following the same textbook! (mind you, they did this last year, and she's still there! I'm wondering if it's because we re-marked her last week) Went to take the tape off the candy on the new queen introduced Friday - no need, they've done it themselves! she should be out by this evening.
Back home, took the caps off the candy on two introduced queens there (had proper plastic caps on these - 'mislaid' the other ones I had) then checked the two swarms. One is now on 7 frames BIAS, the newer one (eggs eight days ago) no sign of queen - looks like she either got damaged during the quick check last time or she just turned her toes for no apparent reason. Sealed emergency QC's on all of the two and a half frames she'd laid up. At least it looks fairly certain the cells were from very young larvae!
Have to go and get SWMBO from the airport later - she obviously has decided to come back!! (out of spite probably!!!!)

 

[madasafish]

Checked 4 x TBH and 3 x TBH nucs. Marked two queens - DayGlo Orange...(I don't like green, or white or yellow or red).Nasty nuc stung me. Otherwise used no smoke or water...Started on Langs and then it rained.. So gave up.

 

[Falesh]

We inspected the hive during the day when there were a lot of bees flying around. That wasn't an issue though as they are very well behaved, so well behaved that my nephew felt comfortable standing in the middle of them without a veil.

The hive is still expanding fast with more and more bees filling it each week. I added a super to it to make sure they have enough room and don't feel cramped to help prevent against swarming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHJVfxEGTc

 

[Goran]

Last evening saw first fireflies ( female and male). Today was enjoying watching bees on some Stachys plant, when come later and saw one assassin bug on same flower "sucking" a bee.. What else will come along this year..

 

[maddydog]

Checked two AS colonies, pleased to find Q's in both (marked them). BIAS in one and newly laid eggs in the other. Another colony that I caught as a swarm has swarmed again! Inspected 9 days ago, spotted and marked the queen. Also saw 2 uncharged play cups. Today there were 5 sealed queen cells and 3 unsealed. Checked the frames twice and didn't spot the Q so I'm guessing they've already gone. Not easy this beekeeping lark.

 

[Mellifera397]

Marked two queens and inspected four hives.

M

 

[Tom Bick]

Started queen rearing with my first ever grafts. Fingers crossed some of them take.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Watched a swarm occupy one of my bait hives late this afternoon. Presumably a cast as there was actually lots of activity around the bait hives last weekend but no takers so I guess they found somewhere better for what was probably the prime swarm. Then not a sniff all week and then 8 days later.......hello swarm.

Inspected 7 colonies, one queen looking like she's about to be superceded, one queenless after a unite, all others seem healthy, thriving and queen right.

Must remember to put inspection boards in on the next visit! Determined not to be caught out by varroa again this year.

 

[lilybetbee]

Reunited colony to nuc where queen was introduced. Fingers crossed that it works.