What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Following my transfer of a warre hive last week to a MB poly langstroth jumbo, I transferred an overwintered TBH nuc to a wooden langstroth jumbo...(home made ).

This was more complex as the TBH top bars are too long to fit into a langstroth top bar - so had to clamp each TBH bar to a frame stand, crop 1-2cms from 1 end - using a branch lopper and secateurs to clean it up, cable tie it to the frame and then remove any surplus depth on the comb using my trusty breadknife.

It was 13-14C and overcast with a 10mph wind so not ideal conditions.. - but the forecast is not very good so I decided to do it. Used nitrile gloves instead of bare hands as I expected bees to get rather stroppy... Covered each hive body once I had removed/replaced a frame in order to prevent brood chilling.

To my surprise I received no stings - and this from a nuc I HAD to smoke first or get stung # . Bees were quite laid back and I dropped nothing!

Bees fanning madly at entrance and all stragglers going in so I assume the queen is in - did not have the chance to look.

Took the best part of 90 minutes - 60 minutes preparation and clearing up and 30 minutes to do the transfer.

Sorry no piccies.. too busy.

# They made up for it by stinging the fleshy part of my arm when cutting the grass beforehand in a T shirt.

Inspected TBH I thought was Q- and into which I placed a test frame on Friday. No QCs.. then I saw a virgin queen... . So supercedure I guess.

Mended a dropped comb with rubber bands. (messy).
 
Last edited:
madasafish said:
Nice video : glad to see you are not afraid of stings...
Click to expand...

Ironically one of my abiding memories of my childhood was getting my foot stuck in a natural beehive in a forest and being stun 30+ times. Even at the time I didn't hold it against them though, I had, after all just wrecked their home! :p
 
Split colony 1 having found well-charged QCs. COULD NOT find HM despite a sustained and relentless onslaught on the poor things. But more sure that she is not not in the Q- side than the Q+ side so hoping for the best. It is just possible she has gone (saw what might have been a capped QC, but it was at the bottom of the drone trap and in the lowest box so I don't think so.)

Glory be this is mentally and emotionally demanding work!
 
Yesterday
Did the usual inspection on the white queen colony a bit concerned as last week she had stopped laying and I put fondant back on as it was cold at night and we have had quite a few rainy windy days. I had also pre ordered a queen. All was well and there were two and a bit frames of brood baking. Though there are still some empty frames. I decided to check on what i have been calling the pensioner hive. we could not find the queen and the bee inspector is very experienced so i had left them with honey stores and not bothered them for a couple of weeks. surprise surprise Many More bees instead of fewer and HM rushing around looking for suitable cells to lay in.
Just when you thought you knew what to do?
Today. Moved the hive I had stuffed the entrance with grass last night. Removed the super and rested it on a square compost bin lid complete with bees and crown board covered the brood box with a dark cloth I use in inspections to keep the number of bees in the air to a minimum. Lifted the floor and brood box and took it down the garden to sit in the sun near the white queen's hive with the entrance at a different angle to its neighbour. added the super and put the roof back on.
Put a nuc. box on the site of the old hive for confused pensioners to shelter in overnight. and plan to close it after dark. Will then move it to new site and open it up, to allow rejoining in the morning. Saw bees orientating from an upstairs window later in the day so all seems well. No Faffing around with 3 feet moves and extra equipment.
 
Yesterday I watched as scout bees inspected my bait hive. Today the swarm arrived. I got there as they were hiving themselves. Unlike my own bees the workers were all the same colour and the drones had black abdomens. Can someone please identify the strain? I've attached a photo.
Thanks.

View attachment 10159
 
Very noisy in my apiary today, loads of drones flying, and I happened to glance over to a nuc box with a cast swarm in it, and saw the virgin take off. Sat and watched for 40 mins, and back she came very obviously mated!
 
My birthday and the best present was that I saw my first scout bees this year on one of my bait hives. About 5 of them.
They might be from mine though as both of mine have play cups.
Wondering how to inspect next weekend when the weather is 12 degrees…but if I don't, no doubt they will swam.
 
Did 2 artificial swarms today. My bees were not happy and i had several stings.
 
My WBC sounds like an air conditioning unit this evening! Sat and listened for a while - Lovely! :)
 
Bees! Doh. Inspection 7 days post-demaree. They've been busy as the proverbial in the interim so thinking all would be well. Old brood box as expected with multiple emergency QCs. In fact now half full of uncapped nectar. New brood box: Q present and correct but almost no new brood. It was a mix of drawn comb and foundation. Foundation pretty much untouched. Baffled.
 
Added frame of eggs to potential Q- hive. Killed queen in feisty hive, sorry to have to go this far but the behaviour of her offspring was intolerable. Last weeks AS looks happy enough, as are the other hives. Interesting journey over the Pennines with my still lit smoker and a trailer load of dry logs!
 
Old brood box as expected with multiple emergency QCs

Baffled? Why? If there were loads of expected emergency cells I expect you killed the queen. That is the only scenario where they will build emergency cells?
 
emergency cells in the old brood box which went to the top of the stack. Is that a matter of terminology? they are, effectively, emergency cells aren't they? This was a pre-emptive demaree in a strong colony with an older queen. No charged queen cells when we did it. Lots of bees, lots of drones, lots of 'play cups'.

queen alive and well in the new brood box down the bottom. just seems to have gone from 5th gear to first gear. handful of eggs present yesterday -I was hoping she was going to crack on. instead it's had the opposite effect. Before we demaree-ed them she was laying like a good'un, 9 frames with brood. Varroa count is almost non-existent.

feed? They're bringing in plenty of nectar. 2 supers half capped and the old brood box now half full of nectar inside a week.

thanks, I appreciate the feedback.
 
Removed queens from 2 hives that were unacceptably pingy.
Dumped one as they were real chasers. Kept the other to start a new apidea back home (insurance).
Waited an hour then introduced 2 Buckfast 2nd generation virgins (in cages as short time lapse) to those hives.
 
Emergency cells are just that - emergency. The word kind of gives away the meaning.

Seems as though your bees might have been in swarm mode already? So not so pre-emptive as reactionary? They may be slimming down the queen for flight - not thought about that possibility? Capped supers are no indication unless all capped - we can't tell whether the rest is full and not capped or empty? Seems that they may have needed another one or two supers, but that is a guess on the information supplied.

Yes, terminology is important. As a wondervet you must realise that totally inaccurate signs and/or symptoms lead to misdiagnosis. Can't tell what you mean if you use the wrong description. Emergency, swarm and supercedure cells are typically different; super space is more important than how many cells are capped; nectar needs far more space than honey; etc, etc.
 
Still couldn't find the Q in hive 1 despite splitting the colony between 2 brood boxes and putting a QX between them last week. I knew she wasn't in the top box as there were lying-down eggs in the bottom one. Unfortunately there was also a sealed QC in there which I must have missed at the last inspection 6 days ago. Went through the box 4 times but wonder if she might have gone over the weekend.
In the end I decided to brush the bees off the frame with the sealed QC and put it into the top box. The top box also has about 4 frames with sealed brood and a couple of frames of stores, and I put it above the Snelgrove board.
 
Added a super to each hive and cursed the rain - inspections are overdue on all six but if the weather forecast is right it'll be the weekend before I can get into the brood boxes without the bees all being washed out the front door.

I'm preparing for there being multiple QCs in all the hives when I do get to inspect :(
 
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