What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Swarm Control to Major Tom... was busy breaking down queen cells at half nine yesterday evening (first chance I got - so much for inspecting on warm, sunny afternoons...) on #2, everything from sealed scratch queens to charged cups. Left one unsealed cell with a releatively small larva in it but that's three strikes for this queen (bad tempered bees, bad brood pattern & swarmy) so time for her to go!

Fed 1 ltr each 1:1 syrup to #3 & #1a, both newish colonies with light stores and we're forecast dreadful weather again for at least another week.
 
I think VM has it about right , everything running late . We get most swarm calls in late April/early May then again at the start of July for a couple of weeks . This yr , who knows .
 
Checked on a bought queen I introduced a week ago, and she has been laying like mad, in fact a lot is sealed so they must have let her out rather rapidly

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2
 
jenkinsbrynmair said:
leave them to it - they know what they're doing, if they were too cold they'd be in out of the way - all my bees have been flying today (not in great a number as usual I admit) even in the heaviest of rain :)
Click to expand...

I have even finished work early to make sure they are ok the large cluster are still there which is causing problems for the returning foragers to get into the hive :eek: I think i will have to get a less stressful hobby like hang gliding or cliff climbing ;)
 
I think VM has it about right , everything running late

Might be now, but that most certainly wasn't the case in March until very early April! OSR was in bloom early, some the last week in March, for instance!
 
Inspected hive that I suspected was queenless this am and found 3 QCs under construction on the test frame I inserted Friday.
Pretty conclusive.


Fed two more hives and then it poured. Gave up..
 
It doesn't rain but it pours!

Very frustrating morning - delayed checking two hives yesterday as it started raining hard half way through my inspections. So left hive that had emerged virgin in it as I wasnt expecting her to be laying yet. Arrived today to finish inspection to find swarm issuing from said hive - B....r!

Caught swarm and left in skep whilst going to check hive. Found that they had obviously managed to draw and cap Qc on a frame that I would have sworn had no uncapped brood on it. As I check qc find one with worker resealed in it so presumably emerged virgin, one with dead queen in it - killed by emerged virgin? one with queen that escaped as I tried to remove qc and one the queen emerged from and I caught.

So now hive has possibly one or two virgin queens in it - potential for another swarm :rolleyes:

Then inspected other hive - a "normal" double brood for queen cells as I hadnt been through bottom box for a while decided I would just check all okay and no hidden surprises. I carefully stacked supers QE and the top bb whilst doing this but somehow whole stack slipped and turned over. Rescueed very cross bees which got me a few times and reassembled hive hoping that queen wasnt damaged in process - another anxious wait!

So now I have one angry hive, guard bees pinging everywhere, one swarm in skep and hive with multiple virgins. Can it get worse?

Yes - I set up new hive for swarm and ran them in great! I consider QE underneath but she is a virgin queen so didn't as she will need to get out to mate. It's now raining hard!

I leave alone for a while whilst tidying up and then take another look - no bees!

Didnt see where they went but I now have lots of bees on front of hive I havent touched today and bees fanning at entrance of the original hive - could/would swarm have returned to original hive?

Anyway I am now very wet, stung, probably lost a swarm, have a hive with probably more than one virgin in it and I've just remembered I have a virgin queen in a matchbox in my garage:eek:-is there any thing I can do with her - no room for any more nucs.
 
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RAB you are quite correct the rape was early , but it hung on for longer than normal , ie Late .
 
Combined some colonies in the hope that if the sun shines I might get a bit of honey.
 
Juststarting said:
and I've just remembered I have a virgin queen in a matchbox in my garage:eek:-is there any thing I can do with her - no room for any more nucs.
Click to expand...

Freeze her then add her to a small bottle of alcohol.

You can then use that in bait hives as a swarm lure next season (and on).
 
Nothing for me to do, but bees still working hard and I suspect I really should be putting more supers this week but for now....

27°C shade with the second species of Lime tree now in full flower with Sweet chestnut and my fields full of flowering creeping thistle which the bees work from dawn to dusk. First fields of sunflowers starting to show a few blooms.

Ahhh, happy days, the air is full of natural perfumes, glorious and sensual.

Chris
 
Checked hive that i put a test frame in and 7 queen cells so knocked them off and will unite tonight with a queen right one also checked stores in 6 hives 3 had next to nothing in hive so fed them
 
A collected swarm from 3 weeks ago has now filled the 14x12 brood box so have put on a super as she is running out of space or soon will! Up to 3 supers on the larger colonies now as there seems to be a bit of flow on. Pollen in dark green and tasty;-) So happy with my bees especially in the poly hives! They seem to explode in them there things......
 
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