What did you do in the Apiary today?

[chrisb]

Beautiful day here although a bit chilly this morning. Took a hive up to Carreg and as it was so nice decided to have a quick look in the rest of the hives up there - all coming along nicely although slower than the home hives due to the difference in altitude, even so, a few will be getting a super before long.
was on a roll so decided to check the home hives - queens going like trains, most have now been supered - happy days.
Love my new smoker, lights like a dream and never seems to falter, right down to the last scrap of fuel. Can see why the Dadant smoker is so big though - the down side of continuous copious smoke is it doesn't half go through some fuel!

What did you get the 4 x 7 or 4 x 10

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The 4X10 - it's a bit pricey but well worth it.

 

[Goran]

2 more colonies gone with frames, this afternoon..

 

[bpmurray]

Gave another litre of Ambrosia to 2 hives I'm trying to persuade to grow quickly (just put onto double brood) - the rapid feeder was completely empty with tongues sticking out under the cap to get at the very last drops, even though I had put a litre in on Saturday.

 

[Tremyfro]

Lots

You can't just put ...'lots'...you have to tell us exactly what you did...so we can praise/add to/copy/criticise/argue the toss...etc....'lots' just won't cut the mustard here!

 

[Millet]

It was just below 60f yesterday and the same today so i decided to remove the super from under the brood box, i was going to leave it there but decided against it.
The brood box weighed a hell of a lot and was full of bees, no brood was spotted but plenty of honey on the top part of the foundation in the frames, i also tipped the brood box on its side and checked the bottom of the frames which had plenty of empty cells from what i could see without pulling it to bit's, its going to be cold again soon, so i did not pull any frames out to do a proper check for brood
The super i took away was had around 5 frames of bees working away on comb building by the look of things but they was nothing in any of the cells.
I do not know if it was the right or wrong thing to do but i stuck it on top of the brood box with it having so many bees working on it.
I also changed the open mesh floor as it seemed a safer option to lift the full hive onto another stand minimizing loosing the queen, that way i could lift the brood box straight back over onto in original position quickly onto a new floor.
If this needs moving into the beginners section please do Mod's but that is what i did today.

 

[snelgrove]

You can't just put ...'lots'...you have to tell us exactly what you did...so we can praise/add to/copy/criticise/argue the toss...etc....'lots' just won't cut the mustard here!

 

[snelgrove]

It was just below 60f yesterday and the same today so i decided to remove the super from under the brood box, i was going to leave it there but decided against it.
The brood box weighed a hell of a lot and was full of bees, no brood was spotted but plenty of honey on the top part of the foundation in the frames, i also tipped the brood box on its side and checked the bottom of the frames which had plenty of empty cells from what i could see without pulling it to bit's, its going to be cold again soon, so i did not pull any frames out to do a proper check for brood
The super i took away was had around 5 frames of bees working away on comb building by the look of things but they was nothing in any of the cells.
I do not know if it was the right or wrong thing to do but i stuck it on top of the brood box with it having so many bees working on it.
I also changed the open mesh floor as it seemed a safer option to lift the full hive onto another stand minimizing loosing the queen, that way i could lift the brood box straight back over onto in original position quickly onto a new floor.
If this needs moving into the beginners section please do Mod's but that is what i did today.

You should have made sure brood was present, but by the strength of the colony I would assume every thing is fine plus reversing boxes was fine

 

[Tremyfro]

You can't just put ...'lots'...you have to tell us exactly what you did...so we can praise/add to/copy/criticise/argue the toss...etc....'lots' just won't cut the mustard here!

He's at it again....one worder poster...on another thread.....naughty.....now we are all hanging on your every word....each single one!

 

[Millet]

You should have made sure brood was present, but by the strength of the colony I would assume every thing is fine plus reversing boxes was fine

Thankyou. I was wanting to go poking about but the forecast is very unsettled but by the amount of bees in there She must be laying and by the weight of the brood box all them bees are filling it with something.

 

[snelgrove]

Thankyou. I was wanting to go poking about but the forecast is very unsettled but by the amount of bees in there She must be laying and by the weight of the brood box all them bees are filling it with something.

weather is same here , Wednesday is supposed to be best day of week, I intend to check about 20 hives, find mark and clip queen's. I would recommend at least checking for brood. just lift a central frame out for your self.

 

[Millet]

weather is same here , Wednesday is supposed to be best day of week, I intend to check about 20 hives, find mark and clip queen's. I would recommend at least checking for brood. just lift a central frame out for your self.

I'm away from the hive for a couple of days through work issues but when i get back there in around 3 day's i will look in closer, weather dependent.
Thank you again.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Lots

You can't just put ...'lots'...you have to tell us exactly what you did...so we can praise/add to/copy/criticise/argue the toss...etc....'lots' just won't cut the mustard here!

Serial poster, bringing up loads of old threads in a very short time so as to get a decent-looking post count.

High post counts don't necessarily impress on here! It's the quality, not the volume, that's important - and moderators will quickly get rid of rubbish. In more ways than one!

 

[Erichalfbee]

You can't just put ...'lots'...you have to tell us exactly what you did...so we can praise/add to/copy/criticise/argue the toss...etc....'lots' just won't cut the mustard here!

He might just be having a look-in to what he describes as a "little used beekeeping forum". He's getting a bit of a pasting on another site.

 

[gregior]

Ok been trying for 2 hours to get some pics on here but it's beyond me so i've inserted them on fbook and added a link here.

Did my 1st proper inspection of the hives today and oh boy was I just in time! Opened up the 1st colony and was met with a rammed full brood 1/2 (https://www.facebook.com/8322862601...286260122362/1226938223990495/?type=3&theater)

Split the shallow and had a look under to be greeted by plenty of Q cells,some of which were sealed

https://www.facebook.com/8322862601...286260122362/1226938527323798/?type=3&theater


Managed to find the Queen ,she was really small and running around the frames rapidly,they were obviously right on the brink of swarming either today or if not definately tommorrow.

https://www.facebook.com/8322862601...286260122362/1226938613990456/?type=3&theater

This is a fantastic queen who lays like the clappers so it's not surprising they were ready to swarm with 8 brood frames like this;

https://www.facebook.com/8322862601...286260122362/1226938837323767/?type=3&theater

A/s 'd them and am confidant both parts will be in good shape again by the time the main flow comes around.

Second hive i examined was similar with unsealed Q cells too,but the queen was still laying well and they weren't quite as strong,so i destroyed the cells and gave them a box of foundation to play with.With the weather set to turn bad again i;m hoping they will give up on the idea.

Colonies 3,4 and 5 no cells but all building up well with about 6 frames of brood in each.If anyone hasn't inspected yet,i'd get on and do it asap.

Surprised at how much nectar was coming in considering i'm nowhere near any OSR.

Plenty of stores on all colonies,but did notice a few varroa in some drone brood i uncapped.

Overall well chuffed and looking forward to a productive season!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Popped up to Carreg apiary (this time with a pile of QX's!!) and supered a few of the more advanced colonies. Bees flying like it's going out of fashion in the early afternoon sun.

 

[beeno]

Found and marked my supersedure queen a black beauty. She had laid up the drawn comb I gave her 7 days ago. Gave her another one as there is not much space to lay and she seems reluctant to go up. Less than 10 drones spotted.

 

[steve56616]

Finished building my first TBH. Now to get some of my bees into it. Think this process is going to take a bit of time but I have an idea

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sat in the sunshine to watch one of the surviving colonies and one limping along next door. I'll be having another look in tomorrow. The one in the foreground might need a super but with at least a week of cold and freezing nights.....................................
In the nest in the old Oak at the apiary, a Red kite has just started five weeks on her eggs.

 

[Millet]

Sat in the sunshine to watch one of the surviving colonies and one limping along next door. I'll be having another look in tomorrow. The one in the foreground might need a super but with at least a week of cold and freezing nights.....................................
In the nest in the old Oak at the apiary, a Red kite has just started five weeks on her eggs.

Sorry Erica but i would not allow them or any other reintroduced bird of prey species to build a nest anywhere near me, the nearly extinct grey partridge are on the up for that reason and my way of thinking.
Don't get me wrong i love wildlife in all forms but reintroducing Red Kite back in the 90's has done our native struggling wildlife no favors, and idiots feed them.
This is no way a dig at you by the way just my beliefs.