What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Hivemaker.]

Well that sounds a bit bonkers.

Depends if they are a completely lost cause or not, if they are still reasonably strong in bee numbers and have a drone laying queen, they can be re-queened, even in the middle of winter.

 

[bjosephd]

Depends if they are a completely lost cause or not, if they are still reasonably strong in bee numbers and have a drone laying queen, they can be re-queened, even in the middle of winter.

GREAT! You want to come round HM and give an assessment and with one of your nice mated HM-Buckies in your back pocket?

I can pay in home made cider.

 

[madasafish]

Fed all hives pollen patties .

All appear to be doing well including the weak nuc I thought would go under!

 

[bjosephd]

Fed all hives pollen patties .

Should I be feeding pollen patties already??

 

[Millet]

Should I be feeding pollen patties already??

I have and i know folk twist on about them but i did the same last year with no ill results, all the supplement feed was eaten with no waste at all on the inspection tray and they where bursting at the seems come spring, so it must have done some good.

 

[masterBK]

MasterBK,
Regarding woodpeckers.
I had all my hives in one apiary attacked in the autumn.
A friend who is a pest controller suggested BirdFree Fire gel repellent.
I stuck one on each hive....its like a little Petri dish filled with gel.
The birds see in UV and it looks to them like a fire is sitting on each hive.
This scares them off
I havent had a single attack since.
I have left the transparent lid on the dish as the gel is stickyand i didnt want to risk the bees getting stuck.
The bees do not seem to be bothered.

This bird repellent gel seems at first to be a promising way of keeping woodpeckers away from hives. However while many diurnal birds like Pigeons, blue tits etc can perceive UV light this doesn't apply to all birds. Unfortunately Green woodpeckers can't "see" UV . For good explanatory article on UV perception in birds go to
http://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2148-13-36

 

[madasafish]

Should I be feeding pollen patties already??

I am having an experiment trying an early build up so my hives are big enough to catch the early spring nectar flows of hawthorn etc.. Two bad summers mean no honey production in summer.

and then onto Michael Palmer's patties..
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=532139&posted=1#post532139

 

[bjosephd]

Interesting. So you're putting pollen sups on already?

I've actually got 10lbs of patties arriving today. Idle extra clicking when ordering 2 bargain Lang nuc boxes from Bloke River.


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[birdsandbees]

I added pollen (albeit mostly substitute) fondant to my hives a few weeks back, they have barely touched it, I guess they still have plenty of their own stores at the moment.

 

[BMH]

Mine have been chomping there way through fondant so I have added 3kg of MP's mix to all hives to build them up for the rape.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

I'm adding patties mid February

 

[bjosephd]

I'm adding patties mid February

Cool. I might chuck a 1lb patty on top of each and see what happens.


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[Eyeman]

Tell them to get their coats on and get outside,
Plenty of pollen around over the last 2 week with Hazel in flower.

 

[BMH]

I think the arrival of pollen from natural sources is a good indicator of when stimulative feeding can begin. Its not much good on the trees if its 8c and raining. Although with those conditions the bees dont need to cluster so tightly and can work the pollen patties.

Sure, it does seem early but I am planning on moving some hives to rape around middle of March so its just under 6 weeks away.

I am prepared to feed until then with the hope that the queen goes into overdrive and the brood nest begins to increase prior to the move.

Once at the rape I am moving the hives over to double brood and hopefully using the flow to get a lot of foundationless frames drawn.

Fully understand the risk that cold weather can bring. Hopefully the poly hives and insulated roofs can mitigate that risk to a certain degree.

 

[Little John]

Once the rain had stopped ... they were all out in force this afternoon. Bit like 'The Great Plague of Boston': " Bring Out Your Dead ! ".
Plenty of pooping going on too. Good to see the girls, even though it is insanely early yet.
LJ

 

[madasafish]

9C and grey but 30 minutes sun after lunchtime saw all bees out.

Had a quick peek at polyhive through perspex crownboard to see pollen patty (which was only inserted within the past 3 days) covered in bees from one end to another.

No pollen here yet. A few snowdrops out. Period.

Even my weak nuc was flying...it may survive...crosses fingers..

 

[Swarm]

Don't you have Gorse in your are? A fairly reliable pollen source.

 

[BrianO]

Tell them to get their coats on and get outside,
Plenty of pollen around over the last 2 week with Hazel in flower.

View attachment 13978

I hear ya !

I wonder myself sometimes.... Slackers !

 

[madasafish]

Don't you have Gorse in your are? A fairly reliable pollen source.

Not much.. usually higher up the valley sides.. about 220 meters - (we are at 150 meters) So inaccessible normally at this time of year.

 

[amigadave]

Lots activity near the hive entrance in Norwich today. When the sun was out, at least.