What did you do in the Apiary today?

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And that's exactly what happened, blocked the entrance with a towel while sublimating. Removing the towel I was stung right on the tip of my index finger.

I said,,,, "Oh Dear"

:cuss:
Word of warning here. Careful how you handle that towel after using it to block oxalic fumes. If you handle it with bare hands then touch your face or mouth you will be ingesting oxalic. It does not taste good - and burns your skin!
 
Changed the floors on my hives to the underfloor mk2.

Good to see all hives busy, not so good that I saw evidence of CVBP at the entrance of one hive. All hives heavy and ivy in flower so feeders removed for another year.
 
Acquired two new out Apiaries, first now has hive stands second one needs clearing
 
lovely weather today, 19 degrees C!

and two honey bees, visited me in the house, before I went to the Apiary, SWMBO commented, "they are telling you, you need to go to the apiary!"

lots of pollen going in, lots of activity.

Bees were lovely and calm, best all year!

So, tidy up in the apiary, prep for winter. mouse guards on, insulation on, feeders on, treatment done, swapped supers underneath.

brought all supers back to house for extraction, and honey is leaking out of my warming cab! Umm!

and fed ambrosia, approx 1.5 containers (approx 18.75kg) per colony.

check tomorrow, if they've taken it down.
 
The ivy going well here, but not as intense as last year!
Just finished moving 5 queen less nucs and moving a nasty hive from a friends garden. Neighbours getting stung for no reason!! Also moved some good nuc colonies to other apiaries, spreading them around prior to winter. I am covering myself if i get any stolen this coming winter.
 
Just waiting for my son to return my phone, no doubt battery drained, and I am going to start a thread on my cathedral adventures with Dusty yesterday. A very hot, stick, crazy day in the centre of Manchester taking the honey from 4 hives, with the logistical problems of not being able to carry a super down a medieval spiral staircase. Much fun, playing hide and seek from the bees ( they won lol )
 
All my entrance blocks are turned round to mouse guard configuration now that we are getting cold nights; 5˚ last night ....brrrrrrrrrrr!!
 
Went to see a new beekepers hive today. A beautiful afternoon. She has had a tricky year with nasty bees due to lack of stores....which eventually requeened. Talked about hefting....looked through the colony to see how much was in the hive to compare with the heft. There was a small patch of brood...quite a few bees. Good honey arcs. They were bringing in ivy....a whiff past the nose told us that. There was lots of ivy in the area. So the decision made ...was to heft each week to see if they brought in enough nectar...then top up with feed if necessary. During this time to treat for varroa...as not yet done. Lovely to talk to another beekeeper and share experiences. Hoping tomorrow is also a nice day so I can feed mine and we can do a reciprocal visit.
 
Yesterday was inspecting hives for winter, some marked to get extra honey. Some already got surplus from ones which have plenty. Some will get honey/water in feeder.. Today as sunny, warm day continuance of this last inspection before winter.. They propolised all the hive so hard..
 
Feeding today...top ups for all the new colonies from this year. Both mature colonies now very heavy...so won't need feeding.
I was really pleased to see that the 2 nucs that I combined are doing well. There were bees on every seam today.....I could see that they have made lots of cross comb between the frames....so it will be interesting in the spring when they come to be moved into a full size hive....if they make it through the winter.
 
Fed my caerphilly hives yesterday. They were fed on Wednesday -4 litres each -and had taken down the lot so topped back up to 4L in each feeder. Treated for varroa (2nd vaping). Stood on the mountainside in the secluded apiary in full bee suit all on my ownsome when a bloke appeared from nowhere asking if this was a public right of way..... Erm I think it's the bee inspectors land and how the heck did he get through the locked gate. Told him the bees may attack so he scuttled off pretty smart.

Need to feed my hive in a garden a mile away from home and do their third vaping. Been to lidl to buy another 30 bags of sugar. That makes 100 bags in all

Home hives all vaped and dusted need to check food levels in them too.
6 hives on 3 different sites. Takes so much time. How do people with 40 hives manage!
 
Fed my caerphilly hives yesterday. They were fed on Wednesday -4 litres each -and had taken down the lot so topped back up to 4L in each feeder. Treated for varroa (2nd vaping). Stood on the mountainside in the secluded apiary in full bee suit all on my ownsome when a bloke appeared from nowhere asking if this was a public right of way..... Erm I think it's the bee inspectors land and how the heck did he get through the locked gate. Told him the bees may attack so he scuttled off pretty smart.

Need to feed my hive in a garden a mile away from home and do their third vaping. Been to lidl to buy another 30 bags of sugar. That makes 100 bags in all

Home hives all vaped and dusted need to check food levels in them too.
6 hives on 3 different sites. Takes so much time. How do people with 40 hives manage!

With difficulty sometimes:hairpull::hairpull: at my peak I had 120 hives in 12 sites I used to be so relieved when the swarming season was over
 
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Finished my last JBM style floor. Will be fitting when I do the last sublimation, (of 3) on Tuesday.
 
Was going to add the inner insulation in the hives this weekend. But neighbour spent pretty much all weekend on the roof of his new shed he built just the other side of the fence near the beehives. So didn't want to open up the hives with him so close.

Went in quickly at 6pm once neightbour had gone in, to top up syrup, but no inspection or suchlike. Will have to wait for next weekend to try again.
 

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