What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Itchy]

Checked on a swarm house in poly nuc on Monday....they are still there.

 

[Ben90]

Found queen cells with eggs and larvae in one of my hives, took a nuc from them.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Put 2 clearer boards on last night. Checked the water content in the frames this morning - but still 23% in some frames despite passing the shake test! Clearly I am a bt weedy!

I was getting paranoid about OSR setting in the frames so wasn't waiting for them all to be capped but guess I'm ok for another week.

Well at least the bees will be pleased to see their honey returned to them ...... albeit temporarily!

 

[beeno]

Hi Jimmys Mum,
I also had my eye on some frames which were uncapped. Shall wait until we have a couple of sunny days then and test with my refractometer. Assuming that they have not eaten it by then bearing in mind the weather forecast for the coming week!

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Pulled off 70lbs of honey with plenty still to come

 

[Cazza]

Pulled off 70lbs of honey with plenty still to come

A very good feeling. I took off 40lb this morning too. Crack of dawn job!
Cazza

 

[ianorsven]

Inspected all 5 colonies. Both artificial swarms with Q and eggs. One parent colony with the single QC I left now enormous and sealed! The other parent colony had the single QC I left and 8 emergency QCs. While inspecting the frame with the QC I had left, I was thrilled to see the new virgin Q emerge from the tip!!! Removed the emergency QCs and found them to contain rather small and weak looking larvae.

Got that good feeling!!!!

 

[Tim.S]

I did nothing but gaze in wonder at just how busy they were this afternoon - almost like a cloud in front of the hives. (And no they were not swarming!)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nowt.
Just sheltered in the apiary from a thunderstorm with hailstones as big as marbles.
I bet that caused a racket inside those hives.

 

[Silex]

If you always have a nuc box with you, pop the frame she is on into it, then you know where she is and will be able to mark her at a much more leisurely pace. No need to be quick then.
Cazza

Sound advice Cazza, always have a NUC to hand at this time of year, but darned if I can find her. Where ever it is she hides, it's a good place, but I'll catch her out one of these days - it's like we're having a competition, she and I!

 

[itma]

If you always have a nuc box with you, pop the frame she is on into it, then you know where she is and will be able to mark her at a much more leisurely pace. No need to be quick then.
Cazza

I've recently taken to having an open nuc box ready. In she goes, and if I then discover swarm cells, the hard bit of the AS is already done. She is located!

 

[REDWOOD]

Strimmed about half an acre of rush and grass.

Cleaned out the association apiary training cabin.

Now I'm whacked

 

[Ben90]

Carried the nuc I made from my swarming colony up to the association apiary about a mile away - by foot. Got a good upper body workout from it.

A couple with their daughter who were walking the same way as me asked if I was carrying snakes, so I put it down and lifted the roof to show the clear coverboard, and the woman goes "Oh, it's bees!", funnily enough seemingly with relief that they weren't snakes.

 

[Goran]

I "trained" solitary bees to use wax combs.. Forgot to take a pic, but I have the problem they don't produce wax and seal the cells with mud..

So one more cunning plan goes to trash .

Here rain, rain and some more rain after rain....

 

[dancingbee]

Hi Herefordshire Honey

Noticed ages back that you had the arnia hive monitors - do you still have them?

 

[Roola]

Hi Herefordshire Honey

Noticed ages back that you had the arnia hive monitors - do you still have them?

I also have them but had a fair few problems with mine last season and not changed the batteries to get them running this season yet.

 

[pargyle]

Well ... in between showers in a patch of sunshine I managed an inspection today ... could never describe my bees as tetchy but they were clearly not happy with me digging around today ... I was pretty quick through the frames and the camera battery went flat so I was probably even quicker !! Found one charged queen cell ... not a very big one but on the bottom of a frame with a larva in it .. not drowing in royal jelly yet so may not be that serious but I think they are certainly getting ready and there was another queen cup only an inch or so away ... nothing in it as far as I could see.

I know they are both on Frame 5 (who says frame numbers are not useful ?) so I may have another look at this frame if it's fine and dry tomorrow (please ???) and if it looks like the QC is really developing then it's AS time ... really don't like it this early and with the weather forecast as it's going to be for the next week or so ..

Had to shut them up quick as the black clouds appeared and a few big raindrops ... saw all that I needed to see.. didn't see HM but she's there BIAS ... lots of drone brood, plenty of stores and enough room for HM to lay ...

Oops ... meant this to be somewhere else ... moving it now !

Just keeping my fingers crossed !!

(Sorry folks moved from another thread ...)

 

[SireeDubs]

I captured my first swarm. Very exciting and not at all like textbook examples where they hang on a convenient branch. Actually on rather tricky fence post surrounded by wire. Got them though, and enjoyed the magic that happens when you get the queen in your box! Onlookers impressed. Me, relieved. Safely hived. Ticked off in the Taskbook of life.

 

[Hachi]

united three small hives, introduced a queen into and Q- hive and completed an AS on the last hive and took down 7 sealed QC's in the process. Not mine I must add a new member of the association who hadn't inspected since beginning of April.

Thats my good deeds done for the decade me thinks........

 

[Ros2710]

I captured my first swarm!

It was on the corner of the roof of a house and owner was freaked out.
Just as I got there the bees decided to move and clustered on a fence post. I brushed the majority into a box. I then strapped the box to the fence and the bees obligingly marched into it. Its now in a nuc box in out apiary.
Now do I feed them?