What did you do in the Apiary today?

[nantmoel]

Moved a Carniolan queen into a modified Paynes Nuc (I cut the feeder out) to give them eight 14x12 frames, they were busting out of the 6 frames.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Some hives still brooding and losing weight so feeders back on!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Some hives still brooding and losing weight so feeders back on!

some!! just sorting mine out for winter today - all hives are brimming with bees with drone brood being turfed out of most. One hive has filled a super since the beginning of last week!!
I haven't even started feeding yet (although I don't think they will need too much) - seldom do until about this time so I wouldn't panic yet Dani.
Was up early this morning so decided to move a few hives between apiaries to rearrange for winter It was a bit damp and cold at 0645 so I thought there wouldn't be any bees out - wrong!! a few came back as I was shutting up one hive - absolutely plastered in balsam pollen.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes wishful thinking that they might be thinking of winter
Poor Stan. No respite yet from my bee twiddling
This time last year the balsam had yielded little and the appalling weather annihilated the ivy. Boxes are like summer here, up at 7 cramming pollen all day and roaring away like air cons into the night. October set fair for a little while too

 

[Tremyfro]

Bees out in force here today too. Lots of dark yellow pollen and ghost bees
Last week we combined one of the nucs with a colony which had lost its queen...again...and today shuffled the frames around to put the brood nearer the front and any stores nearer the back if the hive....this one will need feeding for winter.
Added syrup to another nuc and a national which had a young colony in it.
Blimin' wasps were a nuisance.
Removed the Flow frames....there were still a lot of bees in them last week so we resorted to putting a clearer board on...worked a treat. Had a quick look at the frames...all looked clean and very tidy.

 

[For want of a better word]

Two tubs of Apiguard doled out... another one to go.
Thankfully seems it will not be available in bulk next year.. only in the little poncy sachets!


May have to go to the dark side on varroa control!

Nos da

 

[Obee1]

Went to shuffle frames in a nuc joined to a Q-hive over at the farm. Amazed at how many eggs the queen has laid. (She is one I bred from our breeder queen). The weather was pants, really chucking it down so I was even more amazed that the bees were out in force on all 6 colonies - they were on the HB big time. All colonies at this site now have apiguard on.

Back home the great honey spinning marathon in my four frame extractor finally ended. Total harvest is over 300lbs this year. Hard to judge how many hives it came from as I started off with five after winter but did a lot of splitting to make nucs for new queens. Have ended up now with 7 full colonies and 6 nucs that are housing my queens bred from our breeder queen.

Now need to treat the one home hive and my nucs for varroa.

My OH is well fed up with bees taking up so much of my time. Must say it would be nice to get on with some other projects.

 

[pargyle]

Took the last super off yesterday ... anything from now on is theirs - all very busy still - I need to move a colony in a Paynes (modified) 7 frame nuc into a full hive ... This colony are real beggars .. overwintered in a Nuc, put them into a full hive in May - they did nothing ... lazy little beggars .. the queen seems to lay at just a rate enough to keep them going. Put them back in a Nuc and they were quite happy but never busting out of it... Now ... suddenly, three frames of brood and packed out with stores ...so ... I'm going to put them in a full size hive with some drawn frames, feed and see what they do. Very late to be tinkering like this.

One of my other colonies has gone ... the queen in there was a very sporadic layer and it has always been a weaker colony. Healthy bees but just not that many of them. I was considering squishing and combining but went in yesterday and no bees ... No stores - no signs of disease - no dead bees just an empty box - what little stores there were in there have been robbed out - I can see where the honey arc has been uncapped. So - closed it up, will treat with Certan and it's ready for a new colony next year - it happens.

 

[Fraise]

Got stung on wrist while removing queen excluder. She got down past the glove cuff & it hurt far more than any previous sting. Trouble was I could not take glove off until I had put roof on and gotten away from all the other bees.
Have never had such a bad reaction, within half an hour my feet were itching like mad. (Not sure why this should happen!). This morning my arm is swollen almost up to elbow.
I think I will leave them alone for a few days.

 

[philipm]

First feed ready for winter on all hives today, bees bringing in loads of pollen even when it started raining it didn't seem to discourage them.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

overwintered in a Nuc, put them into a full hive in May - they did nothing ... lazy little beggars .. the queen seems to lay at just a rate enough to keep them going. Put them back in a Nuc and they were quite happy but never busting out of it... Now ... suddenly, three frames of brood and packed out with stores ...so ... I'm going to put them in a full size hive with some drawn frames, feed and see what they do. Very late to be tinkering like this.

Nosema.

Or at least, worth proceeding on that basis. What worked well for me this year was during spring a weekly drench of heavily-thymolated syrup. (Thymolated for preservation purposes, to be clear). Like an OA drench (ask a friend .
After six weeks of that they swarmed (oops) so I reckon it worked.

ADD

Very late to be tinkering like this.

I agree. I'd leave them put, personally.

 

[Tremyfro]

We vaped the bees.....Having checked all the varroa boards...which were greased....I found really very few varroa. I was expecting a reasonable splattering...but...strangely few are seen.
Hmmmm....I wonder if that hygienic queen made them so ashamed of their slovenly ways ...that they have all done a summer clean through???

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

loaded up the vehicle ready for the Neath food festival tomorrow.

 

[Robbo8916]

Not much really. Bees are still fairly busy, they havd had the luxury of a long HB flow along with an abundance of JKW which is totally out of control on the common nearby, and now the ivy is flowering in the huge woodlands across the road from the apiary.

Closed the nuc entrance disc to QE setting although I suppose it should be QI seeing as she is inside! Fitted mouseguard to wooden hive and strapped both hives up. Really turning cool here now not that the bees seem to have noticed and still flying until it gets dark, even in the rain.

No drones around as far as I can see now but haven't opened either colony for over two weeks now (except for topping up feeder on wooden hive). Nuc is still barely liftable with all their stores, the wooden hive is also feeling hefty now they have stopped taking syrup. Just need to monitor stores and cross my fingers that they will get through the winter!

 

[mbc]

Not sure the qe setting is a good idea as it will knock off a significant proportion of their pollen baskets.

 

[Robbo8916]

Not sure the qe setting is a good idea as it will knock off a significant proportion of their pollen baskets.

It is more for mouse protection as the entrance hole is pretty big. It is that or fully open, maybe I should reopen it for a bit longer?

 

[Brigsy]

Went to remove my ashforh feeder and found a quite attractive shape of wild comb under the gap

 

[Brigsy]

Should also add that I found a bee stuck in the comb that I cut off just as I was about to put it in my collection pot for rendering.

Did the decent thing and peeled her out of the comb. The little bugger stung me on the finger for my troubles.

 

[Millet]

Should also add that I found a bee stuck in the comb that I cut off just as I was about to put it in my collection pot for rendering.

Did the decent thing and peeled her out of the comb. The little bugger stung me on the finger for my troubles.

You might as well have just splattered it as it will meet the same fate no doubt.

 

[Brigsy]

I was feeling magnanimous, but after that I threw it in a nearby spiders web for revenge and its fate was doomed anyway.


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