What did you do in the Apiary today?

[maddydog]

Inspected a colony today with a likely failed supersedure. Original marked q nowhere to be seen and no sign of a replacement. Bees very fiesty. Placed a frame of eggs from a strong hive next door. Will inspect in a few days and see what‘s what.

 

[lebouche]

Moved a bait hive down form a tree last night. Inspected new 2 week old arrivals as well. They were very angry and chased me around the outside of the house, back garden and front. V aggressive girls.
Put a bait hive back up.
Looked in my biggest hive, all going well there.
Got stung a couple of times.

 

[Mrs Shoot]

Took a hive with laying workers about 100 meters across the field and tipped them all out. Removed all frames with drone brood on and replaced with new frames. Placed a frame of open brood and eggs in the reassembled hive and put back in original position. The front of the hive was soon covered in bees as they quede to get back in. Inspected some more hives. About an hour after tipping the hive out went back to the spot where they were tipped and found a good cupped handful of bees still clustered there. Hopefully these will contain the laying workers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Woken this morning at 6am!
RAF Seaking dangling in the air two fields away. It was there for half an hour.
Wandered up to the apiary to get a closer look. Bees out already
Perhaps they were out for a look too?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Woken this morning at 6am!

Hate it when the retired mob boast about their lie-ins

 

[beeno]

Wouldn't she just move back up?

Got a board between them now, so technically two hives which will be reunited in due course.

 

[Bosleeu]

Discovered my one mini-hive's mating must have gone wrong as it looks like laying workers! D'oh!

Checked on some grafted larvae I placed on Thursday - four out of six accepted and floating in royal gel, so hopefully I can requeen the mini-hive with one of them once I shaken it out some distance away.

 

[Cazza]

Woken this morning at 6am!
RAF Seaking dangling in the air two fields away. It was there for half an hour.
Wandered up to the apiary to get a closer look. Bees out already
Perhaps they were out for a look too?

I was up at 4.30 a.m. on Saturday moving a swarm. I can report that only the swarm was up (only just.) The rest of the apiary was quiet until about 6.30 a.m.
Cazza

 

[drex]

Recently bought T's mini cup kit system, and installed in hive a few days ago to acquire hive smell. Today put the queen into the egg laying box using the glass catcher tube to put her in. Undid my veil to gently blow her in. All went well. Using this in conjunction with home made cloake board. Closed up, really pleased with self.
Moved onto next hive which was feisty. Five minutes later have several bees inside veil. Yes had forgotten to do it up. Ran into bushes to get rid of followers and rapidly removed suit, in a panic. Only 3 stings to head and one to nose. Then realised I was no longer wearing my glasses. Took me two hours to find them in undergrowth. Lesson learnt

 

[Bosleeu]

Recently bought T's mini cup kit system, and installed in hive a few days ago to acquire hive smell. Today put the queen into the egg laying box using the glass catcher tube to put her in. Undid my veil to gently blow her in. All went well. Using this in conjunction with home made cloake board. Closed up, really pleased with self.
Moved onto next hive which was feisty. Five minutes later have several bees inside veil. Yes had forgotten to do it up. Ran into bushes to get rid of followers and rapidly removed suit, in a panic. Only 3 stings to head and one to nose. Then realised I was no longer wearing my glasses. Took me two hours to find them in undergrowth. Lesson learnt

That is why they say honey is made from the tears of beekeepers.

 

[beehive1234]

Thank you drex that was priceless.
So far 5 swarms in garden and bait box.
Note to self. Buy in the sales not in the Summer.
Long may it last.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Learnt patience, NOT being in the apiary, where I desperately needed to be (QCs 8 days after sealing etc). Instead climbing walls stuck in hospital over the weekend. Just made it out before the QCs emerged...

 

[Swarm]

Hived up Khaleesi and her nuc and added supers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hate it when the retired mob boast about their lie-ins

Hey....it's sunday.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Massive flow on today....

So cut hedge around apiary in bee suit, no problems with bees, and petrol hedger, but when I raked up with a manual rake, the bees came out to investigate! Odd they did not seem to like the rake!!!

As I was dressed up in bee suit, quickly lit smoker (and I decided to use a new smoker, I had in the cupboard, WOW what a surprise this new smoker makes, works like magic, lit first time, and loads of smoke!)

Quickly checked top super 7 frames capped and filled, 1 just being drawn so re-arranged, and dropped another wet super on top, previously extracted, but put frames in a newly made super, with 10 metal castellations).

 

[Goran]

Today I remembered Asterix and Obelix ( I was thinking that sky will fall on me).. Whole day were low cloud masses passing above my head ( for a moments I was surrounded with). In a distance I could see sun light. Sun came for a moment at the end of day. Whole day was pretty dark, and I was in searching for queens in the hives.. It was very interesting.. Replaced most of planned for now queens, three more are playing poker till tomorrow.

 

[BrianO]

Hived up my latest Nuc into a lovely cedar hive and fed them 2 litres of syrup to hopefully get them kick started into drawing out the new foundation frames

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Had a quick check at Garn Cottage to see how the swarm I caught at Brynmair and hived down there a fortnight ago is doing. Lucky I did - brood box was chock a block with brood and stores - nothing due to emerge for another five six days either! Lucky I had a spare super down there

 

[Itchy]

Carried out a very messy cut out in a soffit. Put what I removed in a nuc, and blow me, found the queen! Result!

 

[einsteinagogo]

Supered up again four hives, and at the weekend, I'll check one colony, which I'm suspicious, has filled the brood box with stores, and therefore there is reduced laying space. (might need to remove some frames). Also time to think about uniting.