What did you do in the Apiary today?

[alldigging]

I went and looked at the bees (Looking only today) and noted that although it was 16'C only my hive was busy coming in and out. Still white pollen so I assume the balsam is still doing it's thing along the canal.

I have since discovered that my neighbour put a feeder on hers this morning and I assume they've decided it's warmer to stay in than brave the weather.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Fed all my bees thymolated ambrosia syrup and insulated the roof with 2" slabs of kingspan

Also had to go at 7:00 to the university roof site and lock them in for today as the builders are snagging the new sedum roof area. They say they need to fertilise the sedum but all the bits on sedum roofs I have read say it does not need feeding with fertiliser

So we will have to see what they did when I go back tonight to release the bees

Lots of suicide bees in some feeder assume as they are so hungry

 

[region2]

Fertiliser for Bauder XF301 sedum blankets​

Bauder Sedum Blankets are grown in a very shallow growing medium that contains very
little nutrient, so the annual application of fertiliser is crucial to ensure that the plants
remain healthy. Fertiliser should be applied during March/April. It is important to carry
out this task during this time, because it helps to prepare the plants for extreme weather
conditions and flowering and also because it allows the different species to gain all their
nutrients without competing against each other.
A good organic fertiliser called Fertigrün can be obtained direct from Bauder in 25kg bags
(each bag sufficient for covering 312.5m). This should be applied at the rate of
80gm/m². Small areas (up to 30m²) can be applied using a hand held spreader or strewn
by hand from a bucket. Fertilising larger roofs should be done using a trolley applicator,
which can be purchased direct from Bauder. Apply fertiliser at the given rate written on
bag.
Fertiliser pellets settling on damp leaves may have a detrimental effect i.e. burning the
leaves. It is therefore recommended that the fertiliser is lightly ‘watered in’ immediately​

after application. Dung based organic fertilisers should be avoided.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Checked my colonies last night, nice to see 2 frames full of eggs/brood since taking off varoae treatment off. Concerned though as they didnt seem much more space to lay so tried to get 1 side brood frame on each hive by juggling frames. I'm half tempted to add a new brood frame with a fresh sheet of foundation on both hive's to see what they do, least it would give some more room. Will be a guessing game which stores frame to rob though as not all capped yet and end frames are really heavy so dont want to rob those!

 

[oldsalthouse]

Varroa

Just started my second treatment of Thymovar and have had some interesting results over the last three weeks (1st part of treatment);

Hive 1: 48 mites,
Hive 2: 62 mites,
Hive 3: 55 mites,
Hive 4: 72 mites,
Hive 5: 300+ mites,
Hive 6: 300+ mites,
Hive 7: 44 mites,
Hive 8: 72 mites,
Hive 8: 200+ mites,
Hive 9: 52 mites,
Hive 10: 63 mites.

Looks like its been working ok and the temperature down here has been fine, just in some of the hives the mite numbers have been low.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Checked my colonies last night, nice to see 2 frames full of eggs/brood since taking off varoae treatment off. Concerned though as they didnt seem much more space to lay so tried to get 1 side brood frame on each hive by juggling frames. I'm half tempted to add a new brood frame with a fresh sheet of foundation on both hive's to see what they do, least it would give some more room. Will be a guessing game which stores frame to rob though as not all capped yet and end frames are really heavy so dont want to rob those!

What would people recommend give it a go - the hive's a well insulated as it's poly. I could give them a few weeks and if nothing return the missing frames to them...

 

[dickndoris]

Fed em all AGAIN!! They are taking in that there food like it's free or something;-)
Panty pads and kitchen roll all now impregnated with HM's recipe ready for the first round tomorrow. It will be interesting to see the drop as there are non over 2 weeks from half of the colonies and a max count of 10 in 1 week form the other half. A lot of fat looking bees which can only be good in my mind. I do seem to be joining them though;-)

 

[Ely]

Not sure if anyone reads this thread anymore....


I went up into the Apiary and the hives sounded like jet engines. Loads of activity. Could this soley be an Ivy flow or is it worth putting a super on if anything else is in bloom?

 

[MuswellMetro]

Not sure if anyone reads this thread anymore....

I went up into the Apiary and the hives sounded like jet engines. Loads of activity. Could this soley be an Ivy flow or is it worth putting a super on if anything else is in bloom?

I do, but agree you get a better response if post is on main forum

What would people recommend give it a go - the hive's a well insulated as it's poly. I could give them a few weeks and if nothing return the missing frames to them...

i doubt they will draw it out, this time of year.

 

[Greatbigchicken]

Watched garden hive bring in huge amounts of pollen. next door's ivy is one big buzzing mass.

 

[Sadders]

Still no brood and bee numbers are beginning to drop although the thymol came off today so I am hopeful.

Hive is very light so I put a few pints of syrup on. Didn't want to put more so as not t fill the brood chamber with the stuff.

 

[VEG]

Finally put the apiguard on the bees were not too happy with it lol

 

[dpearce4]

SBI inspected today. all clear except 2 with small amount of chalk brood. YAH.

fed 6 of the hives, need to feed 4 more and a few with enough that they dont need any, even better. No robbing while i was filling the feeders, the bees were very busy bringing in nectar from somewhere. Mind you i think i will still need to feed at least 200kg in total, ouch.

 

[dickbowyer]

Api Life Var off at last after a month, inspected all and found most queens off lay, and found some hives very light on stores. Spent the rest of the day making up 25 kg worth of 2:1 syrup with HM thymol mixture, and fed 10 hives and 2 nucs all this evening. Back to B**kers tomorrow

 

[Lofty]

The best laid plans ..

I’m not overly proud of this post but I hope someone else may learn from it ..

I had the best of intentions last evening to retrieve my 14x12 hive and super from the New Forest before the weather broke. All went well with the entrance being secured and super removed with only a couple of bees managing to come out to investigate.

The first failure on my part was not realising quite how heavy a 14x12 fully loaded with honey was even with no supers on. I nearly crippled myself getting it into the back of the car – I should have left it for another day when I had help.

The second problem was that I had failed to secure the floor to the brood body with the metal triangles I had bought for the purpose, I had just relied on a few good straps. Bad move - and the consequence of this? Just leaving the Forest and having disrobed and with the sun going down a good bump managed to dislodge the base and body. I heard a distinct roar and a glance in the rear-view mirror showed a car full of bees.

So what to do? Parked up, opened all the windows and doors, grabbed my kit and scooted some 50m away and somehow got all my kit on without being stung although I was covered in bees. I eventually got the hive out of the car, moved the car up the road to clear and then removed the straps and rebuilt the hive ensuring everything was blocked and there were no gaps.
I got it all back in the car with only a few handfuls of bees present somehow and made a slow dignified escape down the road with bees drifting out of the windows.

The only good point about this sorry tale is that all went well when I got to the apiary and I had no further issues.

So what have I learnt? Never let bravado overcome common sense and ensure that all preparations are complete before executing a plan – this includes physically locking the hives together as per the design intent; it’s no excuse that this was a last minute dash to the heather with a mediocre colony to help with winter stores.

And the irony of this is? I am a professional in the health & safety world who lectures on preparedness ... I hang my head in shame and just hope someone else will be spared this terror – it really could have been dangerous.

Mark

 

[nosmoking]

QUOTE: "And the irony of this is? I am a professional in the health & safety world who lectures on preparedness ... I hang my head in shame and just hope someone else will be spared this terror – it really could have been dangerous".

That took some balls to admit your profession Mark but, I'm pleased it turned out okay in the end. Just off to check the electrics whilst standing in running water! I'll bee ok

 

[victor meldrew]

Slick recovery
Whenever I make a mistake it usually escalates in the haste to rectify
VM

 

[alanf]

The electrician's house will be the one with wires jammed into the socket with matches.

 

[victor meldrew]

The electrician's house will be the one with wires jammed into the socket with matches.

I hope he's a paid up member of the BBKA ?
VM

 

[Poly Hive]

What type of straps were you using please as with two spansets I have moved more timber hives than I want to count and countless polys with one.

PH