What did you do in the Apiary today?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

At the home apiary but not bee related, moved in our three new rescue chickens. When I was picking them up I was told that one lot of 'rescuers' were a bit unhappy as to the state of the hens......................
They are ex 'free range' hens so don't look at all bedraggled and forlorn and these people wanted scrawny sick looking ones so they could feel good about dressing them in little cardigans and making them better
Rescue is rescue though - this lot were destined to end up in a batch of a popular premium dog food if they hadn't been rescued

 

[Millet]

I have rescued a fair few myself over the years on a free range chicken farm that we do the ratting on, the main batch of chooks have been taken away to be made into some kind of food and the ones left behind are a free for all and its hard work saving them from deranged terriers, lots of them also are stuck solid in 3ft of chicken shite inside the laying sheds, its a messy job gathering up what we can getting covered in red mite in the process, but it's well worth it once they are bathed and deloused and set free in the garden or re-homed, you would think that they would be wild with all they have gone through but quite the opposite, they turn out the steadiest and tamest of the lot.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Rescue is rescue though - this lot were destined to end up in a batch of a popular premium dog food if they hadn't been rescued

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

you would think that they would be wild with all they have gone through but quite the opposite, they turn out the steadiest and tamest of the lot.

These are fine already - easy to handle and move around and have already settled in to their new home. And they seem to have settled with the ones we had already with no issues - even the black rock who's a right b*gger seems to be getting along with them

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Hefted what had not been my lightest colony (I had fed that one) and clocked 20 kg including: floor + insert, 2×poly broods and frames, bees, glass crown board, 100mm insulating box. At an est 3.75 kg per poly box and frames I am not panicking, but that is the lightest overwinter heft I have ever had and obviously at the lower end of what is acceptable, with no more than 9kg of honey tops so I am going to make up some fondant.

 

[Fatbee]

I've had the exact same thing. With my box arrangements 20kg combined is my starting point to pose food for thought on stores. Most are still way up to 30kg mark and usually are come winter close (always plenty of ivy brood frames that I remove once colonies start building up) but one colony was around 22kg and no coincidence it's the colony that had most number of bees at OA application at start of January in most sheltered and protected apiary.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Weighed the hives.
Two are very light so fondant will go in on wednesday when the weather is better.
Frogspawn in the apiary pond

 

[Tremyfro]

Howling wind had loosened one of the ties on a hive. The roof was askew....thankfully not right off. Scuttled out in my PJs to rescue it at daylight this morning. All the others are fine so far...I wish this wind would go elsewhere!
No electric, no tea, no heating, no hot water....
OH has lit the fire....I am wrapped in furry blanket with my 2 fur babies cuddled up. Soon have to face the storm again to do evening stables...not looking forward to it at all!
Thank you firemen, electric men and generator men...looks like we will have electric tonight after all.

 

[Millet]

I have 8 bricks on top of mine and a ratchet strap so storm imagine .. can throw whatever breeze it wants at my hive, them generators sure are handy.

 

[Tremyfro]

A huge generator and a big fuel tank of deisel.....should keep us going until the transformer gets fixed!

 

[Goran]

Whole day strong wind with periods of sun. Clouds passes real fast. Even such cold weather bees were at cornel, hazels and also bring some white pollen ( is it from primroses or snowdrops, I forgot the colour of pollen of these..). In distance forest willow start to wear its yellow clothes. Also deeper in the forest some white, think maybe poplar. I was all day pruning hazels, I feel like I was properly slaped at my face..
New thing, I bought on Saturday my own first jenter kit.. If will use it, first batch of mated queens could be around 10th of May.. Maybe some sooner, maybe even later..

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Put some homemade fondant on my lightest colony. Whole process was kind of fun but MUCH too much like hard work. Liquid feed next time.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Put some homemade fondant on my lightest colony. Whole process was kind of fun but MUCH too much like hard work. Liquid feed next time.

Buy a slab of baker's fondant - no hassle there.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Buy a slab of baker's fondant - no hassle there.

I'm looking for a supplier of the bottom (bee-specific) fondant on here http://www.sugarandsyrup.com/fondants/ . Until then all the talk of additives on a couple of other threads has me spooked of what is in generic ones.

 

[madasafish]

I'm looking for a supplier of the bottom (bee-specific) fondant on here http://www.sugarandsyrup.com/fondants/ . Until then all the talk of additives on a couple of other threads has me spooked of what is in generic ones.

meanwhile the rest of the UK's bees survive on Baco fondant...

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

meanwhile the rest of the UK's bees survive on Baco fondant...

Ah there you go: sugar, water, glucose syrup. Thanks.

 

[Tremyfro]

Finally...at last....the wind and rain has ceased long enough to check the hives.
Hefted all and added fondant to 4 colonies.
Amazingly, the nuc is still alive...can't believe that as it went into the winter with hardly any bees. I shall be even more amazed if the queen is still the same one coming out of the winter.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm looking for a supplier of the bottom (bee-specific) fondant on here http://www.sugarandsyrup.com/fondants/ . Until then all the talk of additives on a couple of other threads has me spooked of what is in generic ones.

'Bee specific' fondant is just ordinary baker's fondant with a fiver or tenner added to the price to gull the gullible just find a friendly baker, ask them to get you a 12.5 kilo block of baker's fondant even at the prices down there you should get it for under twenty quid. it's just powdered sugar, syrup and water

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

'Bee specific' fondant is just ordinary baker's fondant with a fiver or tenner added to the price to gull the gullible just find a friendly baker, ask them to get you a 12.5 kilo block of baker's fondant even at the prices down there you should get it for under twenty quid. it's just powdered sugar, syrup and water

Thanks JB. You ARE addressing someone who was gullible enough to buy some Nectopol a year ago... - pure experiment mind.

So powdered sugar: they don't heat it?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So powdered sugar: they don't heat it?

apparently not - just mix the whole thing up cold and package it I'm told - a lot safer than the home made stuff