What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Just been out to take some photos. Had only gone outside to open the greenhouse window but I could hear bees in the air.

Same hive as yesterday doing a big mock swarm swirl and then sitting on the hive again.
 
I thought I was going to have a night off the "bees", and have a quiet night in with SHMBO, it was a late night last night hiving swarms!

Got home from work, quick check at the Apiary No.2 and one bee, either became agressive, or it paniced and got stuck on my fleece jacket/t-shirt and stung, and then pulled away, and was pinging me with no stinger! Either I got in it's flight path, need to make a mental note of this!

On the way home neighbour spotted me, and told me I had a job waiting at home, a large swarm in the hedge, not my bees, surely, deny everything, they've already swarmed on the 24th April, 9th, 10th and 12th May!

and was it a large swarm, prime or cast it was large, too many bees did not fit in my swarm box, I had to improvise and use another box, it was very late on, and not all the bees went into second box, so I've left over night, and have most of them, took to Apiary No.2, there were so many bees, had to add a super.

So I started this year with 1 colony, then added two nucs, put into nationals, and now I have FIVE nationals full of bees!

Must unite these.....back two three.

So again, another late night, and finish at 10pm!


Andy, next time husband complains about me and bees I will show him some of your posts. Seriously chin up you'll look back in five years time and laugh.
 
@Erichalfbee Thanks for the encouragement!

I was up at 4.00am, before the bees were up, to collect the remainder of the bees from yesterday evenings swarm, I shoke off the bees into swarm box, and carried the additional cardboard box and headed up to Apiary No.2 (time to look for another Backup Apiary).

First Collected Swarm from possible H2 still present.

Second Mega Swarm, still present, lots of bees hanging outside, I added supers to contain these additional bees, from two full boxes!

I also found many bees in the roof space, so improvised, and found some wood, and created an angle landing board, emptied the roof and bees onto and they started to walk up and go into the hive.....slowly.....causing a traffic jam.
 
Nice big prime swarm just went into one of my (slightly baited - don't tell the neighbours) old brood boxes. Hugely impressive when it arrived filling two gardens. An evening of frame making for me then and an early start to get them out to my out-apiary :)
 
The honey I extracted yesterday was really strong smelling too. Slightly cheesy. Is that dandilion. Thick like treacle too
 
A swarm has now gone in a building at work! Unfortunately, it looks like this may have to be destroyed. It's gone into the roof space of a Grade 2 Listed building, between false ceiling, and enclosed ceiling space, and the only access is from outside, on a cherry picker, many feet up in the air, on a sloped bank! No access from inside the building, so all the tiles and some roof would need to be removed! Looks like I'm in a hot spot! The Bait Hive in the office, keeps getting visited, with bees through the open window, got into the office this AM, and found a bee, inside the window!
 
A swarm arrived in my bait hive yesterday. In excess of my needs so I offered it to my beekeeping association members and had two replies so first come first served. This morning another swarm came in and clustered about chest height in my hedge. Second person to ask is now also proud owner of bees :)
I saw both come in. One from East and one from South. Neither from my hives I'm pleased to say.
Couldn't get bees here for love nor money last year.
 
Been really busy away from home all day and not home till late all week.......
so

what did I do in the 'home' apiary today.....................

I wandered around aimlessly for a couple of minutes at 6am this morning, then stood looking at the 16 hives / nucs from one end of the row and smiled to myself as the bees were up and out already from all the hives, they like me were bathed in the early morning sunshine as another busy day was about to kick off. :sunning:
I will probably do the same tonight around 7pm, fingers crossed the hives will contain more bees tonight than they did this morning.

Now tomorrow will be a different day............its open up time for those that require it :spy:
 
Those lids from pattersons I was writing about yesterday have just arrived. Ordered yesterday plus I chose free delivery. Quick service!
 
Just finished hiving another swarm that bearded on exactly the same branch as the one that arrived two days earlier. That's three swarms (one of which came from one of my hives) in less than two weeks… There are no more boxes!
 
Swarm

After being in a swarm on Thursday I have been back this morning to find my favourite queen is in the box I put her in yesterday , so pleased.
 
Checked through 4 hives.
Removed 'queen play cups' from 3.
Number 4 had queen cells primed with royal jelly. Hope that I have knocked down all potential queen cells. Hive 2 has a poor brood pattern and will need re-queened but that's a job for tomorrow!
Nectar is flowing in to all hives. Long may it continue.
Sin é... Go dtí an chéad uair eile....
 

Thanks both. Overall for now OK, what directly affects me is the road to my bees damaged some but can cope with that. Still raining. This afternoon was short period of no rain and wind stopped for a moment and some bees went out and walking on the grass as lost. There were some flooding approx. 500m from my home but there are pretty obstacles to reach me, so not direct threat, few smaller bridges also went off on our local river. There are far worse situations not near me. Unfortunatelly heard also some apiaries were gone by the water.
Also in nearby Bosnia heard on some mountains 80cm of snow right now.. Somewhat on Sunday it shoud calm down and next week temps to go up to 27celsius.. Madness.
 
What did I do?.....Farmers market day so selling honey.
Husband, on the other hand....
We AS'd a colony yesterday and had the wrong box so we ended up with two MB supers on top of a wooden 14 x 12. I said it would do for now. I popped back last night to check and apart from a goodly cluster of bees under the floor all seemed well.
Husband thought he might do me a favour by sweeping them off this morning. He tilted the hive and guess what.......the supers fell off and broke, he caught the brood box.

Surrounded by a storm of bees and frames all over the grass.....
He dashed to the house got another two supers and repaired the damage....and, wait for it, dived into the brood box to make sure queen was still there ( He said they had largely drawn two frames since two O'clock yesterday!!)
Poor poor man....he's not the beekeeper but he's a hero.
 
Cutting the lawn on Wednesday night and got stung on my right eye lid ouch but no problem or so I thought
It started swelling by Thursday morning I looked like the elephant man so I took myself of to the walk in surgery the doctor wanted me to go to hospital on an intravenous antibiotic drip but as I am scared of needles I refused so he put me om flucloxacillin tablets 1000mg 4 times a day Thursday night it had got worse so we went to the queen Elizabeth hospital where the consultant wanted to keep me in , No chance as I had to go to work today but I had to return to see him this afternoon which I did,The swelling is starting to go down but all the fluid seems to be collecting in my neck and hanging like a balloon filled with water,I have to go back to the hospital again on Saturday evening after work so he can see how I am
How easy things can happen I have never had any reaction to stings apart from a little swelling and redness in the past
The doctor thinks the bee that stung me must have had some nasty bacteria on it which caused the reaction I had
The strange thing is while all this is going on I have caught a large swarm in my bait hive and I can't wait to open them up and have a look lol
 
Ouch, hope you're better soon Stephen.

A quiet day today. Added more supers to 3 hives, checked yet again (OCD) for queen cells in my best Buckfast colony, ordered my honey labels, kept fingers and toes crossed for 4 virgins currently needing to get mated, although no sign of any mating type excitement in the apiary today. The only excitement came when the dopey labrador wandered into the bee flight path yet again. You think she'd learn!
 

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