What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Cussword]

Precisely. It's winter.

Could just be better if it was cold, instead of persistent, p*ssing down.

..........No avatar for a drowned rat...

 

[bpmurray]

Just feed mine with fondant. I was as quiet & gentle as possible but I now see they're active. I suppose it might just be coincidence, but they're flying out & back, not acting as though they're reacting to a disturbance - maybe cleansing flights or perhaps there's some ivy or something else available. It's only 7C so it's not really foraging weather.

 

[nantmoel]

Looked out of the window and thought 'Is this rain ever going to stop' its been 8 weeks now without a dry day, we have had some mornings dry and a few afternoons but not a full 24hrs! Its really pissing me off now, its no fun walking the dog and having to dry him off twice a day. On the bright side I live so far up the mountain we have not been flooded.

 

[Goran]

Another sunny day, about 11C. No wind. Other hive I knew will go, dismantled. Right on time before robbing.. Heavy boxes..
Wasps still very active and entering the hives.
Bees not in full throtle but steady collecting hazel and dead nettle pollen as I can see, some attend speedwell and primrose.

 

[Polyanwood]

I trickled 6 colonies with oxalic acid syrup today. I will do some more tomorrow. Surprised they were flying even though it was grey and blustery, although not cold. Pollen going in.

 

[snelgrove]

Visited one apiary with flood water encroaching towards the hives. Not affected no way as much as other parts as we are near sea level, any other beekeepers had any hives flooded??

 

[Tim.S]

Ventured out today - all upright and intact! Hefted as well, all nice and heavy except one colony of only 3 or 4 seams which is light. Just as well that I got a load of fondant the other day although it is one of those things that I prefer to have in storage and then not use! Plenty of rich yellow pollen going in too although I have no idea where it is coming from.

 

[enrico]

Five hives, four fed with fondant as lighter than normal at this time of year. This year I have heavily insulated two of the five hives, not much difference in store useage but when the roofs were lifted to feed there was a noticeable difference in activity. The insulated hives were alert and ready, moving and flying at the disturbance. The others were quiet and clustered. Mmmmm I will be interested to see how different they are as we get into early spring, the only drawback is they are much lighter and therefore prone to being blown over, need strapping down in the lightest of winds
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Looked out of the window and thought 'Is this rain ever going to stop' its been 8 weeks now without a dry day, we have had some mornings dry and a few afternoons but not a full 24hrs! Its really pissing me off now, its no fun walking the dog and having to dry him off twice a day. On the bright side I live so far up the mountain we have not been flooded.

I used to laugh at people with a downstairs shower room for the dog.
Not any longer......I have two collies and I've resorted to some hair clipping to save me some work too.
Half my fields are on a hill and even there there is water squelching underfoot

 

[stevebrowning]

Sublimoxed 35 hives, so easy, I wish I'd bought one years ago

 

[maddydog]

Have ran a little experiment over the last seven days on one colony very light of stores. Very active, well-insulated colony and still brooding. Fed them 6l of 2:1 syrup. After a week no more than 500ml has gone, they are however taking the condensation.

 

[Cussword]

Hefted 3 hives, all felt a little light, (to my inexperienced touch).
Gave each 1.7K fondant.

 

[drex]

A touch colder today, so did my oxalic treatments. Dribbled the nucs, which are home made and would not admit the vapouriser and vaped the rest. A bit of brood in the nucs.

 

[busybee53]

15 degrees and sunny in London. All 3 hives flying well and bringing in pollen.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

A flow on here. Nearby mimosa I think. Lots of traffic some of which must be nectar (no pent-up poo demand, _MANY CARRYING_ no pollen and no need for that much water), as well as pollen poring in. At least 4/5 are brooding. REALLY need to watch mite drops to avoid serious trouble.

<ADD>Lots of traffic. Many pollen carriers, many carrying none. Cannot all be pooers or water foragers, so must be carrying nectar. And edit above<ENDADD>

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hefted the home hives, all bar three feel nailed to the stands, of the three - none were urgently short but may need a top up in a few weeks.
Luckily my bees have no internet access and haven't seen some of the more oitlandish posts on here, have decided for themselves it's winter and have shut up shop until the spring

A flow on here. Nearby mimosa I think. Lots of traffic some of which must be nectar (no pent-up poo demand, no pollen and no need for that much water), as well as pollen poring in. At least 4/5 are brooding. REALLY need to watch mite drops to avoid serious trouble.

Another one planning on extracting come the end of February I see
So is there pollen coming in or not? two contradicting statements there.

 

[oliver90owner]

JBM,

Don't know about the apparent contradictions - I assumed the poster was referring only to those bees without pollen loads? But, from the earlier suggestion that brooding was still ongoing, I would be wondering (if brooding was considerable, and open) where the larval water content might be sourced. Likely water collectors needed in abundance? Or maybe there is some nectar collected (never say 'must') for brooding? Needs some thought to connect the observations, perhaps? Or even more observations to confirm, rather than jumping to conclusions?

 

[pargyle]

A bit windy down here today but all mine were flying .. they are finding some pollen (not heavy loads and a real variety of colours) but I saw more coming back without loads than those coming back with. Saw a couple on the edge of the pond clearly collecting water. All hives bar one still heavy but even the lighter one is not what I would call light .. had a peep through the clear crown boards and there were a lot of bees on top of the bars and quite active - checked all the inspection boards (not had a chance since before Christmas) no significant signs of varroa, one or two dead mites on a couple 3 or 4 on the rest but as it's over 4 days I'm not getting excited. Clear signs of some brood cappings on all the boards but not excessive so I suspect the queens are just ticking over at present - they know what they are doing and it's still very mild so again no cause for concern.

So .. Looking good at present (although winter still has a long way to go) and we've turned the corner so I, for one, am looking forward to some real signs of spring.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

JBM,

Don't know about the apparent contradictions - I assumed the poster was referring only to those bees without pollen loads? But, from the earlier suggestion that brooding was still ongoing, I would be wondering (if brooding was considerable, and open) where the larval water content might be sourced. Likely water collectors needed in abundance? Or maybe there is some nectar collected (never say 'must') for brooding? Needs some thought to connect the observations, perhaps? Or even more observations to confirm, rather than jumping to conclusions?

Yes, lots of water needed for brood rearing I see. But they really were very active last time I could see them. I'm sure I should be worried about something, but they know best, and I am taking a mite count.

 

[Tremyfro]

Did a bit of hefting today...Pond Apiary hives were still fairly heavy and bees in and out. I didn't see them carrying pollen. Some looked like new bees though.
The hives in the Bee Yard were active too. The nuc felt a bit lighter...so may need to check how much of the fondant they have taken and renew as needed. Otherwise, all seemed well. Just need to recharge my battery ready for sublimating for varroa. I will put in the varroa boards for a few days first though.
Sunny here today. This winter is so different than last year when there was a clear cluster time. I had planned on moving the 2 colonies from Pond Apiary to the Bee Yard during their winter cluster....but no chance of that so far. I can see them staying there for a further summer at this rate!