What did you do in the Apiary today?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Went to survey my new out apiary and after narrowing the site own to one area (over 30 acres here) have decided on three to four spots - on a track so I can drive right up to the hives, dry, sunny, South facing, sheltered remote but easily accessible with loads of forage within one mile radius. Also secure - two locked gates to go through and loads of men with guns meeting there regularly! room for numerous hives and I've also identified a seperate area for a possible isolation apiary. On the way back, had a call from my friend (not far from new apiary) a swarm has just moved in to the bait hive he asked me to put in his garden. Nice dark - very dark bees

 

[Lucky Bee]

Just jarred 75lbs of creamed oil seed rape honey - first time I've tried creaming honey and it has worked a treat - I'm thrilled!

 

[Cazza]

Returned from a 10 day break and am now beginning to wish I'd stayed at home.

There's a swarm in my bait hive (eggs in situ already)and bees checking out my chimney. Hopefully I have dissuaded them from occupying it. Just bunged out another bait hive but had to put it in the tree I fell out of last year when retrieving the hive. Not happy.

Now I have to go through all the bees to see if I can find the culprits.(Might not be mine.)Small problem is that I have no more kit left.

Cazza

 

[Goran]

Lime smells all over the hill. Breeding with full lungs..
Weather still "out of control", fast changes in a day.. If I have a time to watch more the cloud movements, shower curtains in a distance, approaching and vanishing, etc.. Better than a TV..
At least will get some new queens from q. rearing in such mad weather.

 

[TOBY-3652]

killed a drone laying queen and united the hive with another and moved another 5 hives to the borage that's 16 there 10 to go

 

[REDWOOD]

Picked up a cast swarm from Blackpill lido hiding under a bench and went to collect another from a golf course but was too high up a tree so left a bait box in hope

Hole in one ! the swarm up the tree has moved into my bait hive, just need to get it from there and take it down my apiary

 

[lebouche]

New swarm arrived in my bait hive. Just moved the last one down last week. This makes five lots of bees in three years. They don't seem to like the other spots. A real bee tree it seems!

 

[jd101k2000]

Went along to open up the entrance on the nucleus containing my latest swarm (from yesterday).

Realised that when you ask a bee keeper how many colonies (s)he has and they aren't sure... it's not a sign of senility just that it has been a swarmy year. I think I have nine.

 

[REDWOOD]

A better description is boxes with bees inside, you can never tell straight away with swarms

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ceared out an area for six hives at the selected spot of the new out apiary and cleared an area further down the track for another couple of hives. Stands in place and the first three colonies will be moved up tomorrow morning.
At home apiary - checked two six frame nucs ready for moving tomorrow one (where the queen started laying early last week) is jam packed with brood and stores so now in a full hive (won't be able to do it tomorrow at new apiary unfortunately.) the other will be hived early next week.
The third one to move is a full hive from a nuc made up with a mated queen three weeks ago - they will have a super tomorrow!!.
Mahoosive flow on at the moment - the Demaree'd hive which consisted of three nearly full supers and a super of foundation last week with the top BB consisting of six frames of brood and five of foundation has, since last Friday drawn all the foundation, filled all the brood frames bar two with stores as well as the fresh super! Fifth super on today.

 

[Cazza]

About to hop in the car and relocate a swarm to my out apiary. The hive is strapped into the car very firmly, no chance of escaping bees.(Famous last words?)
Cazza

 

[meidel]

About to hop in the car and relocate a swarm to my out apiary. The hive is strapped into the car very firmly, no chance of escaping bees.(Famous last words?)
Cazza

Be sure to keep your suit/jacket on, just in case

 

[beeno]

Really, pleased that my 3+ year old queen apparently has been 'superceded' successfully and laying 14 days from emergence. Good laying patter, just have to wait for it to be capped. Did pop her into bbb at the time of sighting the sealed QC as it is a strong colony and they had consumed an enormous amount of honey in a week! Same thing going on in the bbb now. Debating whether I should sit this one out or not?

 

[Cazza]

Be sure to keep your suit/jacket on, just in case

I did but all went well. Installed and settled nicely. Left them re-orientating themselves.

Cazza

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Did pop her into bbb at the time of sighting the sealed QC as it is a strong colony and they had consumed an enormous amount of honey in a week! Same thing going on in the bbb now. Debating whether I should sit this one out or not?

Eh?

 

[jd101k2000]

One of my hives decided to swarm and that encouraged another to swarm. Arrrgghh, out of kit. Fortunately, they formed balls outside the hive. Sprayed them with water, then smoked. They all went into their homes like lambs. Even the cluster that had formed about 10 yards away dissipated back into the hive.

Went through hives and in one hive I had missed one queen cell. Culled. Hope this will stop re-swarming. This leaves the virgin queen to take over. (That hive had swarmed 8 days earlier, so the new queen's timing was impeccable.)

In the other there were lots of QCs. (They were from a small swarm earlier in the year and I had assumed...) Lots just on the verge of emerging*. Released all those that were ready and destroyed the others. (Just as in the leaflet 'there are queen cells in my hive.) I think the queen had died as there were no young brood and the cells were in the middle of the frames.

*Found out why I had been using the term 'hatching' for queen cells. The leaflet uses that term consistently, rather than 'emerging'.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Eh?

I think Beeno means that when she spotted the queen cell she moved the queen being superseded into another box where she is being superseded all over again?

 

[beeno]

I think Beeno means that when she spotted the queen cell she moved the queen being superseded into another box where she is being superseded all over again?

Nearly. Double brood actually, so I moved her down into bbb (bottom brood box). Was going to move boxes around, but they saved me the trouble.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Wouldn't she just move back up?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

early morning (very ) moved two hives and two nucs up to Carreg apiary, Collected and introduced new queen for the q- hive. fell asleep in the garden