What did you do in the Apiary today?

[BobH1]

The good colony has capped drone brood so hopefully they will be out and flying by the time the new queen emerges in 16 days and she can then get mated.

Hopefully your new queen will mate with someone other than her brothers!

 

[Otleybee]

Hopefully your new queen will mate with someone other than her brothers!

Good point. Would that be a big problem? There are at least 11 other beekeepers in Otley and hopefully some of their drones will be out and about too. I have no idea how she goes off on her mating flight and the other drones then find her.

The alternatives I considered were to obtain a queen from somewhere else or unite with the strong colony. I dont have a source of local queens and thought I would try this route to keep the colony going. I dont know if I have done the right thing hence the fingers crossed.

 

[victor meldrew]

Hopefully your new queen will mate with someone other than her brothers!

Drones are only really sexually mature 6 weeks after hatching ??

John Wilkinson

 

[Otleybee]

That would mean that this new queen has very little chance of mating then. Should I just unite the colonies?

 

[Haughton Honey]

Unite the two colonies and then in a month's time buy in a new Queen and split......perhaps?

 

[alexander]

I bought some linseed oil and painted my hive, and made up frames and foundation that I got flat packed. Feel very proud of myself. Cant wait to get my first bees now!

 

[Norton]

Today we put cells in to the 80 nucs we made up yesterday.

 

[tonybloke]

yesterday, helped put together a load of beehive bits for a beekeeping project, helped jen look through her 12 colonies, and met the worst tempered bees ever!!

 

[simonf]

made some bait hives

 

[nelletap]

Two stands finished; new base (a 3ft by about 2 ft slab). Two bait hives (ever the optimist) positioned. Bee friendly plants watered, tended. Bees water supply topped up and lots of aaaahhhh just look at them, carrying those heavy loads of yellow and orange pollen....
Tricia

 

[oliver90owner]

margob99,

They will surely build wild comb below the short frames in preference to drawing the foundation. You would have been well advised to have placed a block of anything unchewable by the bees in that 'space'. You will be losing a lot of fresh comb when you come to replace those frames at a later date.

Somewhere around the place I might find a couple of polystyrene blocks covered in duct tape which have been used previously. A cut-down cardboard box was used as my first block, a long time ago as I had experienced oodles of wild comb after about my second year.

Regards, RAB

 

[Heather]

At Apiary- installed 3 new colonies from a retired bee keeper. All lovely.

 

[buffalow]

buffalow,

mess about with the bees

You seem to be wanting to something more like 'messing the bees about'

I am sure many beeks will want to be messing with their only colony, or two.

With 14 colonies, you should know the score.

RAB

Hi RAB

Me personly , I will do what needs doing with my bees when I feel the need to and the time is right from experience, however I ask the question as many newer members with little experience when is the time?
you cannot gain experience or learn anything from an answer like "NO" so all I was asking is some idea for many users, as to when?? "do nowt" is not helpfull..
As an indication I will be checking all my hives and cleaning around 2nd week in April, if weather permitting
Regards Mark

 

[margob99]

oliver90owner:

That is a really useful idea, thank you RAB (wish I'd had it before I transferred those dang frames across )

PS: what sort of substance qualifies as "bee-chew-resistant", I wonder!

PPS: won't they build drone comb down there though? Useful for varroa checks, perhaps?

 

[oliver90owner]

won't they build drone comb down there though?

Probably not initially. Usually just an extended nest.

Regards, RAB

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Lovely and sunny in not so darkest Lincs today so First Inspection of the Year, hurrah!

Both boxes full of bees, lots of brood, stores. Even saw Her Maj in my brood and a half WBC so QE re-deployed.

One of the colonies particlarly bad tempered. Wonder if they've heard I'm planning on a (near) bloodless coup later on in the year.

 

[simonf]

Had a go at making a brood box from scratch and it turned out ok

 

[MJBee]

Persisting down all day so it was a workshop (well garage actually) day. Changed a National brood box to 14 x 12 and finished off another 3 supers - now I need more wood ho hum.

 

[Lois]

Yesterday I set up my new empty hive next to my older one, in the next pig sty, the girls seem happy bringing in pollen when its hot and I stay away when its cold!

Funny though, I had to go to work with my empty new beehive and had to leave it out of my car so I could use it for work and many honey bees from the apiary next door came to have a look and a sniff and a nose in! I showed the hive to my students and colleagues and they were well impressed, I am a God to them! Not.

I can't wait to do and AS and have 2 colonies. Mmmmm honey.

 

[RoofTops]

oliver90owner:


PS: what sort of substance qualifies as "bee-chew-resistant", I wonder!

PPS: won't they build drone comb down there though? Useful for varroa checks, perhaps?

PS: Hessian sacking is often used to fill gaps outside frames but if you have a dummy board there should not be a problem providing you put a frame of foundation on the outside of the current frames inside the dummy board and add another later when needed -and so on. If you don't have a dummy board just use a frame of foundation.

PPS: Yes, probably but you can cut it out if you wish. Just keep an eye on things with regular inspections and you will be able to stop them building comb in unwelcome places.