What did you do in the Apiary today?

[WelshPaul]

Just spent three hours, scooping bees into my hands off the fence, then holding my hands next to the entrance till they went in, 90% in the hive or foraging now I hope.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.666951,-3.017429

 

[MuswellMetro]

i removed cleared supers from hives in one apiary and then put on Apiguard varroa treatment and api ekes, sampled bees from entrance and will test for Nosema

I then put Rhombus clearing boards on the hives in the other apairy and found i still needed another clearing board so had to resort to porter escapes on that one

 

[WelshPaul]

Just got home and checked on them, inside of the hive is gently buzzing and there is a tennis ball size cluster of bees on the fence and the same on the side of the hive, a lot less than last night so hopefully a good thing.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.666951,-3.017429

 

[VEG]

why not pick them up and put them with the others then?

 

[WelshPaul]

Was a wee bit tipsy, and didnt want to start doing stuff, whilst under the influence, lots of wasps around this morning, so I put out some traps.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Extracted magnificent 5 lbs or so of honey - never mind always next year. Applied 1st lot of apilife var. Came on here to see pros and cons of feeding at same time (they can probably do with it so I think I will anyway). Killed lots of wasps, woo-hoo!

 

[VEG]

put the empty supers on top of the ones I allready extracted they have started filling them again

 

[MrB]

took another 28lbs of bee vomit

 

[Headnavigator]

Finished renovating an old Ashforth and a Miller feeder that I bought at our auction a few months ago. Turned the Miller feeder into a bottom-space with the addition of some battening, filled it up with thymolised syrup and presented it to my DLW hive to see what they make of it. Lots of interest, they don't seem to mind the thymol smell at all. They must think it's Christmas, a frame of eggs and brood Friday, now this today. Hope they realise it's 'Last Chance Alley' and there's no turning back now, this is s**t or bust.
The other colony can have the Ashforth and the rest of the syrup in 24 hrs when the paint has had the chance to cure.

 

[busybee53]

One of the tutors on my course has contacted us to say she always treats for varoa and feeds at the same time,even though others say not to. She's been a beek (and trainer) for years and is/was on friendly terms with those who wrote the books (mentioning no names) so that's good enough for me.

 

[sheena]

Today I spent a short time inspecting my hives. Didn't steal any honey as I'm waiting for more containers to arrive. Then I spent a long long time getting harrassed by a pile of angry bees. Not sure why they were so tee-ed off! Apiary is behind house so I have to shake them off before going back into garden otherwise risk unhappy neighbours and family.
Why would they be so upset today? The smoker was working well, I took no honey, I chatted to them... I wandered around the field. I sat down calmly while getting biffed by my bee buddies, I hoped for some rain...I tried fighting back ( i like them too much to want to hurt any of them but it was getting silly ) in vain. Ah well, hopefully they'll be in a better mood next week when I do steal their honey

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm keeping an eye on a nuc which had a new queen introduced on the 10th. The entrance is reduced to about 3cm and there are lots of guard bees at the entrance and on the landing board.. Not really many wasps in the whole apiary but one managed to get into this little box but two minutes later it was removed by two bees flying to drop it like a bomb some distance away
The other three colonies have apilife on them and a lot of bees hanging around on the front of the hives.....no wasps getting past these.

 

[WelshPaul]

Sat and watched the hive for a bit to relax after getting home from work, noticed bees throwing a larvae out so they must be having a clean out. Noticed wasps around and one or two getting in so reduced the entrance to one bee space.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.666951,-3.017429

 

[madasafish]

Added thymol mix treated strings to all TBHs.. incl. those being fed. (as last year).

Bees relaxed, sunny, bringing in pollen and nectar from HB..


Treated warres yesterday: mite drop today 20 and 1...

 

[grahambee]

I treated one hive today with Apigard. The other three I treated with hive clean as they still have honey to be taken off.
The one hive that I was a little worried about with wasps are killing them.

 

[rae]

We went through a neighbours colony - he is giving up and asked us to take them over. I always wondered why he drove away from the site fully suited up. Now I know! A more vicious hive than I have ever encountered. We started to open them up, then quickly closed them as our protection was inadequate. 2 bee suits later, all joints taped, we were ready to go.

Candidates for re-queening early next season I think.

 

[Legs]

I felted a hive roof yesterday evening. Will plonk it on one of my Langstroths when the adhesive has had long enough to firm up.

 

[tonybloke]

extracted 80 + lbs of honey yesterday, the 1st 'outing' of the new, drill-driven 8 frame radial toy. superb piece of kit!!

 

[kermit]

Knocked up a vortex escape and a new crown board. Useful use of some spare plwood I had and ready for when we take off the supers.

Dave

 

[Nose Ma]

I sat and watched for an hour or so.

They are bringing back a huge amount of grey/green pollen. Brambles maybe?

Also, I have a few wasps, but they seem to be confused by the OMF. They fly to the hive, then buzz about under it (it has an alighting board) and eventually get bored and buzz off.

I wonder if it's because the smell is stronger from there, rather than the entrance (it has an entrance block in).

NM