What did you do in the Apiary today?

[YorkshireBees]

Yesterday, I demareed 2 more colonies and removed 7 supers. Later extracted 50kg of honey.

Today I will put the supers back on for cleaning and re-filling!

 

[witchcraft]

I just got a really nice bee suit from one of the premium manufacturers as a birthday present from my wife - I'm a bit older and rather chuffed!

 

[victor meldrew]

Most of this moving stuff 3 miles is - in my view - like most beekeeping rules - folklore...

A rather quick dismissal of tried and tested logic ,in my view !
Obviously , GPS/ O/S mapping logic isn't used by the bees ! so the three mile rule is quite elastic . Depending on terrain , available forage and necessity.Bees
travel as far as makes sense regarding whether or not the distance involved is worth while in returns . simple !
This is how relocating hive works . on release , foragers emerge ,realise it is a strange place and relocate before setting off to forage , however ,once clear of the immediate area of the hive and the hive has been located within the area previously foraged by the flying bees, chances are they will stumble upon their old flight lines and follow them back to original hive position, find nothing there and are subsequently lost !!!.
Not all of the flying bees will be effected but a large proportion will , whether or not a colonies' development suffers is down to, conditions in the particular colony regarding stores brood etc.
The rule of thumb (3 miles) is a way of making sure the movement of colonies is done with the minimum disturbance to the hives involved .
Hardly a 'Myth'
VM

 

[jackbee]

i learned today that a 5 min job to switch an entrance block to a wider entrance before coming to work this morning isn't a 5 min job.

they were a lot more active at 7am after moving the block than i expected (I didn't smoke them!) so left them with open entrance until they cleared.

Then discovered entrance block didn't have a larger gap (doh!) so had to put back same way anyway.

Then remembered sat at desk an hour later that I have an unassembled floor with an entrance block with a bigger gap that I could have used (doh!)

Ah well, no damage done but a minor lesson learnt - added to list (which is growing lol)

 

[victor meldrew]

i learned today that a 5 min job to switch an entrance block to a wider entrance before coming to work this morning isn't a 5 min job.

they were a lot more active at 7am after moving the block than i expected (I didn't smoke them!) so left them with open entrance until they cleared.

Then discovered entrance block didn't have a larger gap (doh!) so had to put back same way anyway.

Then remembered sat at desk an hour later that I have an unassembled floor with an entrance block with a bigger gap that I could have used (doh!)

Ah well, no damage done but a minor lesson learnt - added to list (which is growing lol)

Bees would still be flying @ 7pm
Better to have left block out completely but rest assured no damage will have resulted from leaving with a restricted entrance!
VM

 

[oliver90owner]

None of would mine have any sort of entrance block at this time of the year, unless for a good reason.

One failing of the National design - somewhere to store the entrance block for most, or all, of the year. It is one item which needs to be kept with the hive, as a tight fit on one hive may be just too tight to go in another. BTDT.

 

[eleanor20]

i stood and watched the bees for a while, then laughed as they took a dislike to my husband (standing further away than me!). A few of them flew repeatedly at the back of his head and he sensibly retreated!

 

[jackbee]

Bees would still be flying @ 7pm
Better to have left block out completely but rest assured no damage will have resulted from leaving with a restricted entrance!
VM

7am

 

[oliver90owner]

A few of them flew repeatedly at the back of his head

Doesn't wear a hearing aid, by any chance? I do and they seem to have a dislike for one of them. Not proven, but I would not be surprised. The hearing aid does very little for me, but I have been 'set about' on several occasions, by otherwise fairly quiet bees -and always on that side.

RAB

 

[jackbee]

i stood and watched the bees for a while, then laughed as they took a dislike to my husband (standing further away than me!). A few of them flew repeatedly at the back of his head and he sensibly retreated!

Similar experience with my wife - I hived 2 swarms this week (one absconded ). Both times it was gone 10 by the time I got them home so she was holding torch so i could see as I emptied the swarms into hive. So there I was moving frames and banging a few thousdand bees out of a box and she was stood 5 yards away with a torch (in a suit, her, not the torch, that would be silly ). Guess who got stung both times - not me

 

[johnmcc]

Today I've looked at the supers in both hives. Loads of unsealed honey, almost no sealed. Another week? Early tomorrow morning I'm moving both hives to a field belonging to a friend about a mile and a half away, so I'll report back to madasafish and VM about how many return to my garden. I'll use the method of putting leafy branches leaning against the front of the hives to force reorientation (or whatever the theory is) which I used successfully to move one of the hives 30 metres last summer. I'll also stick another super on each.

I'm moving them because they made me uneasy this past 6 weeks - they seem to push the guard bees a lot further from the hives during and after the lousy weather, they started following further than before, and they stung my Wife three times and my neighbour once - so they're being banished after three peaceful years in my garden. Shame, but c'est la vie. All the garden sceptics can now say "told you so"!

 

[Queens59]

i stood and watched the bees for a while, then laughed as they took a dislike to my husband (standing further away than me!). A few of them flew repeatedly at the back of his head and he sensibly retreated!

My bees have decided my hubby is a fab target too - as have the Buckfast bees @ Buckfast Abbey; I think there must be something in his sweat they don't like...

 

[victor meldrew]

A few of them flew repeatedly at the back of his head

Doesn't wear a hearing aid, by any chance? I do and they seem to have a dislike for one of them. Not proven, but I would not be surprised. The hearing aid does very little for me, but I have been 'set about' on several occasions, by otherwise fairly quiet bees -and always on that side.

RAB

Twice been dive bombed a fair distance from hives and yes I also wear heaering aids and the Otic passages were their target
VM

 

[victor meldrew]

7am

and?
Vm

 

[jackbee]

and?
Vm

7am

just saying it was am not pm so would have been less flying. Mind you it was still a silly plan, and didn't work so won't do that again

 

[VEG]

None of would mine have any sort of entrance block at this time of the year, unless for a good reason.

One failing of the National design - somewhere to store the entrance block for most, or all, of the year. It is one item which needs to be kept with the hive, as a tight fit on one hive may be just too tight to go in another. BTDT.

Keep mine under the roof on top of the crown board, when not in use.

 

[Luminos]

Twice been dive bombed a fair distance from hives and yes I also wear heaering aids and the Otic passages were their target
VM

Be thankful it was only your otic passages...

 

[victor meldrew]

just saying it was am not pm so would have been less flying. Mind you it was still a silly plan, and didn't work so won't do that again

I am well aware it was 7 am .
my reply was to reassure you that the bees would STILL be flying at 7 pm
and being left with restricted entrance would do no harm and that there'd be plenty of evening time to remove replace of what ever you wish to do with your entrance block.

VM

 

[Luminos]

I am well aware it was 7 am .
my reply was to reassure you that the bees would STILL be flying at 7 pm
and being left with restricted entrance would do no harm and that there'd be plenty of evening time to remove replace of what ever you wish do do with your entrance block.
I know what I'd like to do with it
Some peeps just won't accept help , I wonder why they bother posting their concerns?
VM

..does it involve otic passages??

 

[victor meldrew]

I wasn't quick enough to edit my last post then ?
VM