What did you do in the Apiary today?

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but my main hive has got one massive queen cell right in the middle of the frame the original queen in there is now two years old and laying well (double brood box) but I still hope it it a superceidure (I think that is how you spell it) the cell is sealed and there is a full hive of bees si I am certain they have not swarmed
I spoke to soon got home from work went up the garden to check on the bees and noticed a swarm on my pear tree about 6ft high and the size of a small rugby ball so put a nuc box under it one sharp tap on the branch and the whole swarm dropped in the nuc box in one go :winner1st: so put it on top of an empty hive with a 1 to 1 syrup feed in now the wait to see if they bugger off tomorrow :calmdown:
 
heidiherrmann said:
Just hived another prime swarm. Very happy! It's number 11 in less than three weeks. Very fortunately, half of my village helps with swarm watching, and quite a few have become adept at handling them when I'm not around. Nice to live in a bee-loving place .... and counteract the so-called bee-decline, day by day.
Click to expand...

Just catching up reading this thread tonight.

Can I ask are the 11 swarms from your hives ?
and if so are you actually bothering inspecting them ?

To miss one or two swarming is one thing but allowing 11 to swarm and we're only in June sounds to me very much like bad management or at the very least serious mismanagement.

Without wanting to sound rude but I suspect your neighbors are either too polite to say anything or they aren't as tolerate as you think they are if its your hives that keep swarming.
 
Mike a said:
Just catching up reading this thread tonight.

Can I ask are the 11 swarms from your hives ?
and if so are you actually bothering inspecting them ?

To miss one or two swarming is one thing but allowing 11 to swarm and we're only in June sounds to me very much like bad management or at the very least serious mismanagement.

Without wanting to sound rude but I suspect your neighbors are either too polite to say anything or they aren't as tolerate as you think they are if its your hives that keep swarming.
Click to expand...

Goodness Mike - where have you been the last year or so? do you know to whom you are adressing yourself? :D
 
Wow , Busy Busy week.
Collected two swarms , Built a new brood box for the WBC and nailed up some supers and frames all before Wednesday. Keeping a close eye on frame number three in my WBC as there is a nice unsealed Queen cell which may lead me to make up a nuc and transfer the QC into for a nice split.
 
Nothing!, have to lie up for a couple of days after having a cortisone injection in the left knee. :(
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Inspected the home and Garn cottage hives this morning. My two remaining Buckfast queens 2011 aren't doing as well as I hoped - one has shaped up a little the last few weeks to six frames and the other has a super which they are just starting to fill, however both hives have quite a bit of chalk brood. I think their days are numbered. The Welsh black bees have the edge I think - The Cardiganshire hooligans are starting on their second super and the brood box has ten frames of wall to wall brood, the Pembrokeshire mob at Garn cottage are busily into their first super and she is on nine frames of brood (up from two on the fourth of May). Time to make some space in the BB I think.
Carried on painting new hive floors.
Spoke to my supplier and ordered some queens, unfortunately missed the last post tonight so they may arrive when SWMBO is at home, cue skulking at the top of the road to intercept postman! :D
 
spent a couple of hours strimming, now theres no 4ft nettles in the apiary and I can see the hives......
All I had before was a small track to the hives and I had cleared a bit in front.
 
All the jars now filled from the first extraction of the year and a very nice spring flower honey with no sign at all of rape in there. Not a lover of rape honey. Very very happy with how the bees have come through winter. They all seem very swarmy as seems to be the case with many! Will keep up the 7 day inspections for a while yet.
First of this years virgin queen marked in pink and laying very well indeed so far. Her first off spring should be out in a couple of days at the most. Beautiful and calm like her mum who lives next door but one at no6 poly strip Street.
 
Just had a visit from Andy Wattam, national bee inspector who is also my local one, reacting to a worry I had about a cluster of dead bees outside one of my hives.

What a nice chap, very helpful. Reassured me that the colony looked like it was going to be OK and the dead bees were mainly drones that probably let their groin (or bee equivalent) rule common sense such as remembering to eat or get warm.

Also spotted a virgin in each hive - I'd have been there for several months trying to see them. Top chap.
 
Did an AS last week and checked the 'swarmed' hive today with last year's queen. They are going great guns - packed with bees so put a third super on. First super almost ready for extracting - yippee!

Fingers crossed the virgin queen will be ok so I can take two hives through the winter.

FB
 
Did a reunite and took a super off to extract. Another hive wants to swarm yet again but they'll just bloody have to. Can't afford any more equipment for another a/s.
 
Ely said:
Did a reunite and took a super off to extract. Another hive wants to swarm yet again but they'll just bloody have to. Can't afford any more equipment for another a/s.
Click to expand...
I know how you feel, I started with 4 colonies this spring and now have 10, this is after setting myself a limit of 5-6.
For me its time to start drawing the line and nipping queens to reunite.
I have 2 hives who are starting to get swarm fever again and I feel like just letting them get on with it as I refuse to buy any more hives this year.
 
Added a frame of brood plus bees to a weak nuc. Used
http://www.airwick.us/instant-sprays-air-freshener.php to do the unite.

Job done in 30 seconds.. no paper or fighting (so far).

Started using Miller method for first time.. picture of frame of comb added to brood nest of my favourite queen.
 
Last edited:
In reply to shabro

I'm going away to uni soon. I havent decided what to with the hives. I'm tempted to sell them and start again after uni. This time keeping all one size box and frames for brood/ supers. That way you always have a box at hand rather than spare supers when you really need a brood and vice versa. Onw box/frame does everthing. Theres a lot to be said for it I think.
 
Just got back from a call out to a swarm that had been stranded by the rain for several days on a branch and had started to build comb with some nectar, not sure how they fitted in getting nectar with the dreadful weather we have been having.

Hived and will collect tonight.

Chris
 
Finding about 4 times usual the number of dead bees being dragged out of one of the hives... nothing obvious to note about them. The bee keepeer when she gets home will have to do the autopsy
 
Inspected two days early as they are building up nicely are filling 14x12 and a shallow and the weather is pants for the next few days.
Expected to find QCs the last two inspections but all quiet.
There are a couple of starter strip frames in both supers and three are drawn....hope I can look forward to a bit of comb honey :)
 
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