What did you do in the Apiary today?

[maddydog]

Swapped the doomed colony (handful of bees but a laying queen plus two frames from another colony) into a 14x12 box. Truly amazing how they can build up from nothing to 8 frames of bees & 5 of bias in no time at all.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Checked the bees this morning at 8.15, the suns on the hives & bees are out & about everywhere, a few days in a row like this would be nice.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Combined 2 hives & sadly had to dispose of my first queen. :-(

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sat and watched the bees in the sunshine.
Had a quick look at notes re artificial swarms the last two years, two done on both May 15th....Inspection due on Friday.....yes, May 15th.

Combined 2 hives & sadly had to dispose of my first queen. :-(

I always advertise them at my BKA and somebody always takes them.

 

[beecology]

AS on a double brood, found queen and re-marked her - bees in good mood (not a single sting), OSR flow on today.

Ordered yet more equipment (bankruptcy looms)

 

[Obee1]

Sat and watched the bees in the sunshine.
Had a quick look at notes re artificial swarms the last two years, two done on both May 15th....Inspection due on Friday.....yes, May 15th.




I always advertise them at my BKA and somebody always takes them.

Yes. I'm queenless I think! Can't source a british queen at the moment.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Yes. I'm queenless I think! Can't source a british queen at the moment.

Well you can have mine, might be frozen solid by now though as she went in the freezer :-(

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes. I'm queenless I think! Can't source a british queen at the moment.

Well, I might have one in a week or so after uniting an AS.
I could post her.

 

[user 6228]

Watched the beekeeper hive wrestling

 

[thefram4]

Thanks for the advice. I will hopefully be able to look in on Wednesday. I will let you know what I find.

Ok so today I opened up the hive that swarmed and found 13 QCs, 12 were sealed and 1 of which I couldn't see into that wasn't sealed. Still a lot bees despite the swarm. Decided to take three frames of BIAS including 2 QCs into a Nuc with a frame of stores. Shook in some extra bees. As for the hive, I knocked off all bar 2 QCs and replaced the taken frames with foundation on the outsides of the box. I know I have effectively set back my original hive, but the chances were it would swarm again and again anyway.

 

[bigfathairybiker]

Put back together what was left of my hive after a Badger attack.

Mark

 

[jonnybeegood]

Badger attack? Did you see it do it ? What happened to your bees?

 

[bigfathairybiker]

Badger attack? Did you see it do it ? What happened to your bees?

See here:-

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33488&page=3

Mark

 

[jonnybeegood]

See here:-

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33488&page=3

Mark

Ah, your guessing it was a badger, could it have been vandals or livestock knocked it over? Maybe vandals, then an oppurtunist badger cleaning up? Either way i hope your bees are ok & you can sort it tomorrow.

 

[Obee1]

Well you can have mine, might be frozen solid by now though as she went in the freezer :-(

That's kind of you. I have a microwave so could defrost her slowly

couldn't bring yourself to squish her?

 

[Obee1]

Well, I might have one in a week or so after uniting an AS.
I could post her.

Thanks erica. I may be take you up on that offer. Pm me when/if you have one.

��

 

[jonnybeegood]

That's kind of you. I have a microwave so could defrost her slowly

couldn't bring yourself to squish her?

No, i caught her in a marking cage the plunger type & had a good look at her & couldnt bring myself to squish her. I wish i had planned it better & gsve her to someone but i couldnt guarantee she was a good layer so thats that. :-(

 

[Bosleeu]

Stood in the rain watching the hives, and the forecast is pretty depressing......

 

[Erichalfbee]

Rain
Rain
More Rain
Tomorrow should be better in time for routine inspection. I'm anticipating ASing at least one colony so rigged up some temporary stands for that.

 

[Haywards]

I have 2 colonies and checked one hive on Monday after 7 days only to find what I thought were 4 supersedure cells with unsealed "swimming" larvae on one frame in half brood. Closed up and decided to do a full inspection next day but this was an awful day of hail, cold wind and rain. Opened up yesterday and went through the frames twice finding no Q, no eggs and all brood cells sealed. No doubt HM has gone. What I now think are emergency Q cells were all sealed but not as big as a swarm Q cell. Brood frames are now filling with stores in spite of the poor weather. I thought about buying a queen but not sure what to buy. So rather than "panic buy" I have decided to leave them to it, expecting the Qs to emerge in 8 days then leave for another 15 days before inspecting.
Question: Is waiting for emergency Qs risky or should I source a new Q? How long is a queen less colony viable before action is essential?
But it gets worse. Opened my other hive to find sealed Q cells on bottom of half brood frames - eight days after last inspection. Did not find HM but she is clipped and there were new eggs and a lot of bees. I immediately did an AS in the mode of Wally Shaw's method of Snelgrove 11 (modified).
And that's that. I have to wait 10 days to deal with the AS - so frustrating in my first full year.