What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Obee1]

I checked a large swarm today that i put in a paynes nuc on 7th June, this was a 14x12 using 6 frames of foundation, every bit of the combs have been drawn out, what busy little bees in only 4 days!

I'm hoping my newly collected swarm will draw out lots of foundation for me. Lack of drawn comb makes beeking so much harder.

 

[nantmoel]

Put together 30 brood frames, and got stung on my forehead after a return to bee keeping after almost 22 years! Feels like some hit me with a hammer! lol

 

[jonnybeegood]

I'm hoping my newly collected swarm will draw out lots of foundation for me. Lack of drawn comb makes beeking so much harder.

Yes, ive just put a super on the nuc too so hopefully they will draw those frames out too

 

[jonnybeegood]

I found this today too, last years Queen i kept in a nuc for a spare queen, as its a 14x12 nuc i wanted to experiment so i put a super frame in for food for them & this is what they built underneath, beautiful natural comb, & the queen is on the bottom if you look

 

[Tremyfro]

I'm hoping my newly collected swarm will draw out lots of foundation for me. Lack of drawn comb makes beeking so much harder.

Says she...proud owner and collector of swarm....

 

[Erichalfbee]

Popped to apiary to feed two nuc splits I had to do yesterday. Scouts taking in interest in two bait hives, one in the apiary and one in veggie plot. Got home and bees going in and out of the bait hive in the garden.......groan!
Why oh why did I put them there?

 

[einsteinagogo]

A/S today, on the double brood box colony, all went well, and it was quite a site, to watch all the foragers, leave the boxes, and return to the new brood box, with queen!

Also my order from Big T arrived, a big give away to SWMBO, because of the Big T yellow packing tape!

Question of, have you been buying more more stuff again..... ah NO!

Why would you think that...fume board and bee quick arrived!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Went with the DVLA diversification and sustainability officer to their 'other site (tucked away unmarked somewhere discreet and secure - it's where the Biometrics and ID card etc are made) to advise on their (sadly failing) beekeeping project the person originally keeping bees on the site seems to have given up on it and they are hoping I can help with either taking it over as an out apiary (a bit too far to be practical for me) or helping/mentoring a DVLA officer. lovely little corner tucked away with pond, willows and plenty of forage in the distance, now just two emty national hives on a stand, err well - one hive not closed up and a steady throng of bees entering and exiting!!. I had a bee jacket and hive tool (but no smoker) in the vehicle so I decided to have a quick shufti inside - oh dear!! bees were great, no hassle, no agression (especially considering the thundery weather) but, inside, DN1's, with old drawn comb but no spacers!! lockily there were plenty in the shut up box so now frames properly spaced, queen seen - nice big plump plump thing - a little lighter than i expected considering how dark all the workers were. BIAS on five frames - so he's now gone from a sustainability officer whose done a theory course with us but no practical yet to a one hive owner - now the learning begins!!
Then went home to check a few of my nucs - another queen mated and laying (awaiting a few more soon hopefully) and nucs now fed as hey are ot bringing that much in.

 

[Mrs Shoot]

All hives looking well.
Checked the three swarms collected last week, all laying.
Check a few Nuc's a couple had new queens now laying, a couple are still waiting for theirs.
Checked an AS we did last week. They haven't been the easiest to inspect over the last couple of weeks, but today both halves were like pussy cats. Looked in the Q- half, tore down any new QC's, but strangely enough there were a few eggs dead centre at the bottom of some of the cells, only a few, laying worker?even though there is still some open brood?
Checked the q+ half! saw the queen, lots bias, and two capped QC's right next to each other, this frame and bees have been removed to a nuc.

Helped a friends check a swarm he had caught a week ago, it was very small only covering 2 frames. We dummies his hive down to 5 frames last night with insulation in the space and added a frame of capped broad we both thought it was a cast due to it's size. But upon inspection today, found some eggs and a lovely unmarked queen walking around. Hopefully the dummying down has now made them nice and cosy and she is laying now they are warmer. This is his first hive.

 

[Arfermo]

The Woodland Trust has calculated how fast spring “moves” across the country. The average speed of the passage of spring this year was around 1.9mph, taking nearly three weeks to cover the length of the country from south to north. An average of 1.2mph was recorded using data between 1891 and 1947 so they’ve concluded that spring has “speeded” up in the past century. Dr Kate Lewthwaite is from the Woodland Trust. Now ain't that surprising!!

 

[Dishmop]

At that rate you should be able to watch it coming down the road..

 

[Goran]

I have to extract tomorrow again, honeydew from deciduous trees mainly I supose ( dark honey), eventually some of wild blackberries, trees of heaven. But I don't know how looks the honey of wild blackberries, trees of heaven..

 

[lilybetbee]

Found laying queens in both nucs and marked them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have to extract tomorrow again, honeydew from deciduous trees mainly I supose

I've noticed the Hazels are really sticky but I don't see bees on it.
No matter, in for a whole day's downpour tomorrow

 

[Dishmop]

Inspected two hives late in the afternoon when I thought it was going to get a bit cooler............Nope..Sun came out.....Luckily I had some help but it took me an hour or so to recover enough to get in the shower.....

 

[Goran]

I've noticed the Hazels are really sticky but I don't see bees on it.
No matter, in for a whole day's downpour tomorrow

Tomorrow and on Sunday 33-34celsius.. in a suit..
And on monday back to work..

 

[bpmurray]

I took the extra queen cells from a test frame in a Q- hive and put them into apideas. In the process of moving from the hive 500m or so from home, four of them hatched with one of them indulging in a quick bit of regicide while she waited to be put into a cage, so that's 3 in butler cages and the cells in roller cages.

And then I checked my 2 "healthy" hives. One of these had a load of QCs so HRH must have died, although everything was fine last week. There were larger larvae, but no eggs. I left one QC so hopefully they'll be OK.

At least stores have built up - I was beginning to think I wouldn't get any honey this year and one of the hives has actually filled a couple of frames (unsealed) in the super.

 

[einsteinagogo]

Checked the Apidea, it has been two weeks, very docile bees, I took off the inner cover, and the queen flew out! Lovely sight, other than me say s**t!

also saw a few drones, inside the apidea!

No eggs, no sealed brood, interestingly the bees have filled two frames with stores, there is still plenty of fondant left, which they do not seem to be using, and one single frame which has not been drawn, so if the queen is mated, she does not have room to lay. (maybe!).

I'll check again in a few days, I may swap a frame for another foundation strip or move frames around, the one by the entrance, is not drawn. I could add another top deck, with 5 frames and strips of foundation, but there may not be enough bees to keep warm!

I closed up, put the brick back on top, and another lovely sight, as I saw the queen return, and go back inside!

 

[oliver90owner]

What time was this? Never good to disturb boxes with queens which may be readying for a mating flight.

 

[einsteinagogo]

What time was this? Never good to disturb boxes with queens which may be readying for a mating flight.

Yes, I applied the normal rule, of avoiding inspections with virgin queens, between 10am-6pm.

7am this morning, whilst I was eating my porridge with my honey, whilst they were flying well, in this hot and humid weather. (very close and thundery).

See looks like a very large plump queen, compared to my skinny ones, in my colonies, which look really under nourished in comparison to this humdinger of a queen!

I'm wondering now, if I've got duffers in my current colonies!