What did you do in the Apiary today?

[For want of a better word]

20 grafts for Cornish Native Amm well on there way today. cells drawing don wonderfully and a nice pool of jelly around them...
and 10 queen cells hatched out in the little incubator!!

Yeghes da

 

[pargyle]

Spent a couple of hours this evening on my hands and knees weeding amongst a lovely smell of ripening honey and listening to that wonderful generator hum ... bees not in the least bit interested in me. Had a peek through the clear crownboards at the supers on the hives and I could see CAPPED HONEY ... yeh ... a spring crop might just be on its way - last year they had to eat most of it in that awful weather we had in June so I'm keeping my fingers crossed !

Need to put some more super frames together .. had all winter to do it but as usual left it until the last minute. Might have to buy a few more supers as well .... in one side out the other (Honey money that is ...)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Put half a dozen sealed QC's on their frames from the Demarrees into nucs before the rain came, was hoping to harvest a few spare cells for the Kielers as well but the beggars had done a wonderful job of amalgamating all the QC's into one amophorous mass so left well alone. Hopefully I can check a few more Demarrees tomorrow as well as getting up to Carreg to set up some more.
8 am this morning was glorious and as I walked up the path to the henhouse there was a loud and insistent buzzing but when I got near the apiary, just the normal sound level 'Oh dear' thought I (or something similar) 'sounds like a swarm' I walked back down the garden to where the noise was loudest but couldn't see a swarm hanging up in the apple trees then realised - said trees were in full blossom and absolutely alive with foraging bees. Let's see what the apples will be like this year.

 

[bontbee]

For the second day running, got soaked to the skin...bees were oblivious, bless 'em.

 

[Rio]

Carried out my first Snelgrove on Saturday past, so this evening I closed top door at the back of the hive and opened the bottom back door to bleed flying bees. I watched a few flying bees return - very reluctant to use the new entrance. Also opened the top side entrance. I'll take a quick look inside over the weekend, weather permitting.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Carried out my first Snelgrove on Saturday past, so this evening I closed top door at the back of the hive and opened the bottom back door to bleed flying bees. I watched a few flying bees return - very reluctant to use the new entrance. Also opened the top side entrance. I'll take a quick look inside over the weekend, weather permitting.

If my bees are any guide you'll have a nice line of bees walking from the old top entrance to the new.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Robbo8916]

Had planned an inspection today, 8 days after the last one but it is 13c, dry but overcast. I'm not sure whether its too cold to open up.

There were zero queens cells or cups of any size or shape last week when I checked. More wanted to check on how they are getting on with the super. Think I might just have a little look rather than pull the brood box apart.

Or shall I just bite the bullet and do it? Today is the only day I can get down for the next week or so.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Similar weather here. I've just done mine. I fully expected to AS one but didn't have to. Just do it.

 

[Robbo8916]

Similar weather here. I've just done mine. I fully expected to AS one but didn't have to. Just do it.

Thanks. It is starting to brighten up now so may be ok. At least it isn't raining for once this week.

 

[Robbo8916]

Down here now just waiting for clouds to pass. Really light cream pollen coming in by the bucketload - Hawthorn?

 

[victor meldrew]

Here you go

Thought of every day .
I won't replace her . Can't replace her , still raw after 3 years .
I feel for you !

 

[Tremyfro]

The heavenly smell of ripe honey

Sadly...not mine.
Helping out a beekeeper friend harvest her first honey...a really special moment to share.
She arrived with a super....some frames more full than others. About 16 lbs. we were able to talk about all the different ways of harvesting and extracting and seeding the honey.
Handle turning was helped along with cups of tea.
She had rung me previously asking about how to know when to harvest the OSR honey...so I passed on the information from the forum about the shake test.
We tested the honey after extraction with the refractometer and it was 17.5%. So the shake test was spot on....only the top third of the frames were capped.
Both of us were a bit sticky but very happy beekeepers!
I suspect this might be as close as I will get this year to harvesting honey��

 

[Robbo8916]

Did my full inspection, albeit fairly brief with the impending rain. Saw eggs, larvae and capped brood both worker and drone, mainly worker. Saw her majesty proudly pottering around right in the middle of the brood nest. Swapped the end frames round (i.e moved them in by one space each to get the outer faces of them drawn out). Edit toadd: these were frames of stores, one face of which was only capped honey.

Bees were in the super just drawing out a few frames.

And took a short video at the entrance before i got pinged (hardly surprising since I had just taken their home apart)

Looks like they are on the Hawthorne?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUrTvsW_5mQ

 

[Robbo8916]

Couple of pics of the foragers returning with what I am assuming is Hawthorne pollen as that is what is in bloom locally. Also any ideas what the little meeting is thats going on? There were about 11 bees on this plank, its about 6ft away from the hive. They were moving around fine, just seemed to be plotting something:

 

[thenovice]

Couple of pics of the foragers returning with what I am assuming is Hawthorne pollen as that is what is in bloom locally. Also any ideas what the little meeting is thats going on? There were about 11 bees on this plank, its about 6ft away from the hive. They were moving around fine, just seemed to be plotting something:

Beautiful pics! Just something that caught my eye though. there seems to be trails of feaces on the front of your hive. Nosema from this winter?

Probably my imagination...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Can't see any signs of nosema - just marks on the woodgrain I think.
Quick buzz around the home apiary today checking demarrees and one slower hive which is picking up nicely and now on its second super - this queen still manages to elude me though . then up to Carreg to set up a few more Demarrees, bees more than a bit tetchy up here and noticeably colder as it happens.

 

[Robbo8916]

Beautiful pics! Just something that caught my eye though. there seems to be trails of feaces on the front of your hive. Nosema from this winter?

Probably my imagination...

It isn't from my hive. Where it was placed before moving to me it was under the flight paths of many other hives, so everyone who pooped, pooped on my hive.

Thanks, I thought the pics were a bit naff lol

 

[Robbo8916]

Forgot about this pic earlier. My host made herself a small seating area by the bird bath, not a second goes by there aren't a few bees there:

(She put a bit of wood in there just incase anyone falls in, she is very thoughtful)

 

[Millet]

Here you go

Sorry to hear that Erica I have lost loads over the years and it never gets any easier, keep your chin up.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thank you Millet. He was special. He propped me up when I had nobody else.