What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Today the weather wasn't so good so made some soft set honey from the honey I extracted at the weekend.
 
Colony 2 has been my problem child since I left first inspection too late and lost a small swarm on 1 May. I took it Q- to eliminate the strain from my apiary and merged it with a nuc that I had had raise EQs from my best hive. Problem was neither the bees nor I liked that Q in a large colony and they superseded her. I thought they had got rid of her (probably swarming her out) as there was no trace. So I took the lovely fat supersedure cells and merged the colony with an incoming swarm. Together they have finally made a throbbing hive that I hope will catch the flow: finally a proper Q laid up a box in under 2 weeks and made a big dent in the next one in one week after Demareeing.

Problem is the box is haunted. Someone is laying little drabs of worker and quite a lot of drone upstairs. I can only think it is the sub-par EQ from earlier as there's no way the swarm Q is getting through the QE. Fun and games and learning by doing (a two-queen stack, hah!) but I hope I find her before she finds the swarm Q across the QE.
 
Bee Inspector

Had a visit from the Bee Inspector this afternoon. Both hives have new colonies, one swarm (caste?) arrived on it's own after I put Lemon Balm in the empty hives, and one I collected two weeks ago from in a nearby field. Hive 1(Caste?) has brood and eggs and we saw the Queen, they are over 3 frames. Hive 2 is over 6 frames but entirely stores, didn't see the Queen but the bees were very quiet so maybe she is newly mated, will wait a week and if no eggs will move a frame from Hive 1.

A very interesting afternoon and I learnt a lot, will be looking forward to the next inspection.
 
More frantic activity at bait hive yesterday....
Couldn't see where they were coming from.
Husband chatted to our neighbours who reported catching a swarm.
I have this niggling fear...........A colony I looked in two days ago had a nearly capped QC :hairpull: slap bang in the middle of an outer frame of sealed brood.
Queen laying well with nearly a whole frame of newly laid eggs at the other side of the brood nest.
They were very low on food so I fed them.....
The feeder is empty and there are still masses of bees hanging down onto the OMF
I really really hope they haven't filled their tummies and made themselves at home with my neighbours.:rolleyes:
Oh well....I'll look in tomorrow.


Bobl said:
Had a visit from the Bee Inspector this afternoon.

A very interesting afternoon and I learnt a lot, will be looking forward to the next inspection.
Click to expand...

Ha....I've seen the SBI once in eight years and that was because of an EFB outbreak.
 
Bees very busy all day today - damp drizzly weather or no, looks like they're latched on to the blackberry and willowherb.
about 2030 tonight opened up one hive, took down and ensured no more EQC's and introduced a new queen to a hive whose queen had suddenly turned her toes up last week.
 
Watching the main hive yesterday I spotted wasps around the entrance, one of them flew straight in. So I've reduced the entrance down to about 2 inches which they seem happy with.

I am waiting until the weekend to see if there are eggs in the nuc - plenty of bees flying from it and they are very well behaved. I was picking rhubarb right next to the nuc and they totally ignored me.

Off to pick up a second hand extractor off ebay this afternoon.
 
Inspected hives for first time in 3 weeks (holidays and weather). When I last looked, two of the three were without laying queen, delighted to find brood in all now. Possibly too late to generate much of a lime/summer harvest, but bodes well for winter.
 
AFB alert but no clue on the exact location

Received a notification that AFB has been found within 3km of my apiary. I thought it would be reasonable to ask exactly where but the inspector says she can't tell me.:hairpull:

Why?! - We need to know, so if we are called to a swarm in the area we can weigh up the risks of possibly infecting our kit and, our other colonies when we decide to bring them back after a week or two.

Surely with a Cast the signs will take that much longer to show themselves?

It also affects my decision making on moving my bees to the heather this autumn as it could be a hotspot.
 
Went down to pop more syrup on both colonies. And I think (touch wood) I might have got away with two mated queens. Both hives were bringing in pollen! I know it isn't a hard and fast rule that pollen means they are rearing brood but with both bringing it in I am hopeful.

This is two weeks post split and leaving them both to raise their own queens from the cells I left in. So fingers crossed they are doing ok. Another week and I can have a look. Might have to bring in some help as I am not very good at spotting queens.

I did take a video of both. Wondered why there wasn't much sign of returning bees whilst I was filming the nuc, turned out I was in the way and they were all landing on my back!!! Also think one of the girls from the other hive was trying to get in as there is a bit of fistycuffs towards the end.

I really hope this means I have succeeded (for now).
https://youtu.be/_iTCEBKhheI
 
Robbo8916 said:
Went down to pop more syrup on both colonies. And I think (touch wood) I might have got away with two mated queens. Both hives were bringing in pollen! I know it isn't a hard and fast rule that pollen means they are rearing brood but with both bringing it in I am hopeful.

This is two weeks post split and leaving them both to raise their own queens from the cells I left in. So fingers crossed they are doing ok. Another week and I can have a look. Might have to bring in some help as I am not very good at spotting queens.

I did take a video of both. Wondered why there wasn't much sign of returning bees whilst I was filming the nuc, turned out I was in the way and they were all landing on my back!!! Also think one of the girls from the other hive was trying to get in as there is a bit of fistycuffs towards the end.

I really hope this means I have succeeded (for now).
https://youtu.be/_iTCEBKhheI
Click to expand...

I can help you with some q spotting next Tuesday if that's any good for you m8.
 
Beeline said:
Received a notification that AFB has been found within 3km of my apiary. I thought it would be reasonable to ask exactly where but the inspector says she can't tell me.:hairpull:

Why?! - We need to know, so if we are called to a swarm in the area ...
Click to expand...

From
https://www.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/comments/4ktd9m/psa_afb_outbreak_in_oxford_uk/

Implications for swarm collection
Don't panic, but keep a note of exactly where any swarms you got came from in case of future problems.
Do not put swarms on to existing comb - make them digest any honey (and spores) in their stomachs​ by forcing them to make new comb​. ​Foundation and empty top bars are fine. ​The danger is that they store honey + spores ​in old comb cells.
Likewise, do not feed swarms ​immediately ​- make them use up any food they took with them.
 
I had a phone call today to go and remove a swarm, another bee keeper went there on Sunday and they told me he 'scooped' some into a white box, sealed them up and drove off! The women said the air was black with bees when he went. Gives us fellow Beeks a bad name.

 
Erichalfbee said:
More frantic activity at bait hive yesterday....
Couldn't see where they were coming from.
Husband chatted to our neighbours who reported catching a swarm.
I have this niggling fear...........A colony I looked in two days ago had a nearly capped QC :hairpull: slap bang in the middle of an outer frame of sealed brood.
Queen laying well with nearly a whole frame of newly laid eggs at the other side of the brood nest.
They were very low on food so I fed them.....
The feeder is empty and there are still masses of bees hanging down onto the OMF
I really really hope they haven't filled their tummies and made themselves at home with my neighbours.:rolleyes:
Oh well....I'll look in tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Ha ha......not mine. Queen is there and they have torn QC down. Must have been running on vapour
 
nantmoel said:
I had a phone call today to go and remove a swarm, another bee keeper went there on Sunday and they told me he 'scooped' some into a white box, sealed them up and drove off! The women said the air was black with bees when he went. Gives us fellow Beeks a bad name.

Click to expand...

Dang he left most of them there.
 
Moved a queen right hive nearer to a queenless hive ready to merge the two this week.Found a swarm had moved into one of my bait hives.
 
Woo wee.....the last two days the bees have been a humming! Fireweed out nearby. Blackberries still out. The bees are out in force morning til night! Please...Oh please let this warm spell continue!
Next weeks inspection should tell the story.
 
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