What did you do in the Apiary today?

[enrico]

Well, all my bees are packed up and ready for their move to Somerset. Setting off at six in the morning before it gets too hot. Here's hoping!
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Good luck enrico
It will be a doddle

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

At least a bad harvest is quicker to extract. Less than half of last year: no-one is getting rich on my bee-keeping this year.

 

[victor meldrew]

Watched all the hives being really busy. There is balsam less than half a mile away but not a single white bee. Everything else is finished. Where ARE they going?

I'm surrounded by balsam , my bees are extremely busy but surprisingly very few have the give away stripe .
Rosebay willow herb is in full flower ( late ) , golden rod is also in full flower ,usually when rose bay is past its best !
I reckon, with so much late blooming this year, the balsam is largely being ignored .
I'll wager that when the season advances, the balsam will be exploited . Balsam nectar is thin with low sugar content and will be sought when better quality nectar sources come to an end .


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[Erichalfbee]

Yes, I guess it will be all theirs this year. Supers probably off next week.

 

[pargyle]

Yes, I guess it will be all theirs this year. Supers probably off next week.

Yes, I'm about the same down here on the Costa del Fareham, they make it, eat it, make some more, eat it again ... there's a few supers I will be taking off next week but it's going to be a pretty average crop.

The season has been really odd, flowers blooming late and sometimes all together, the bramble down here was over and done with in next to no time and it rained virtually all the time it was in bloom. The spring tree blossom was similarly affected - generally late and rained off - there was not much **** locally and the field beans got ploughed back in.

The only consolation is that I usually get a big enough September flow for them to stock up for winter - some of it ivy but balanced by goodness knows what else. The joy of being an urban beekeeper !!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I suppose we are well north of the jet stream again. It's warm but overcast and windy today. Stan's been for a run and says the balsam is heaving with bumblebees. My supers have had a capped arc at the top for weeks. the bees are leaving the middle of each frame uncapped. One week there is honey there the next it's empty. Perhaps we need a nationwide super organisation to muster the bees.

 

[nantmoel]

Put 20 cells into a cell starter this morning, I made the cell starter yesterday using a frame of honey and a frame of pollen and added loads of nurse bees from a whole super. I'm going to move them into a Q+ colony to finish, does anyone else do this?

 

[Obee1]

I'm surrounded by balsam , my bees are extremely busy but surprisingly very few have the give away stripe .
Rosebay willow herb is in full flower ( late ) , golden rod is also in full flower ,usually when rose bay is past its best !
I reckon, with so much late blooming this year, the balsam is largely being ignored .
I'll wager that when the season advances, the balsam will be exploited . Balsam nectar is thin with low sugar content and will be sought when better quality nectar sources come to an end .


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I'm finding loads of balsam near my hives, bees all busy going somewhere, but hardly any ghost bees to be seen. Weird.

Had a peek in at the nuc with QC from the breeder queen. Two capped. One still not capped but bees busily darting in and out of it. Can't see into it properly as its a 14/12 frame and can't hold it horizontal for long enough to get a good look in there. This frame was removed from the queen on 28 July. Assume this unsealed QC is not viable.

In the kitchen - had family stay this weekend who were most impressed by being served fresh cut comb honey with croissants. Yum yum. Better still They gave me the keys to their house in Falmouth so I can stay there August bank hol whilst they are away. Woo hoo! I thought I'd have to sleep in my van whilst I chaperoned the teenagers on their camping trip. Well chuffed.

 

[madasafish]

Put 20 cells into a cell starter this morning, I made the cell starter yesterday using a frame of honey and a frame of pollen and added loads of nurse bees from a whole super. I'm going to move them into a Q+ colony to finish, does anyone else do this?

Yes
It has been a disaster for me: the method works but appalling weather and being unwilling to feed a hive with honey in supers - meant my last batch were all torn down during the bad weather and lack of foraging.

Next year I will use a 5 frame Q- nuc with new emerging brood added weekly to keep them up to strength. And will keep feeding..

edit: Poly Hive does see...http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7767

 

[bpmurray]

The bees look like they've decided that their 3-year-old queen has to go - two sealed cells today. I'm pretty certain that it's supercedure and I've been waiting for it to happen, but is it OK to keep both cells, or is there a danger of a swarm?

 

[Plenty of honey]

Final round of grafts in last night and starting making nucs up tomorrow. May do another round of grafts next week. The forecast is excellent so drones should be around in numbers for a while yet. anyway, keen to try out my new little incubator. Small but perfect but formed Need to remove the upper tray and find another without egg holders in LOL! but its just perfect. holds a very constant 92f just fine.
All bees generally grumpy as their is just nothing around. Not really looking forward to making nucs, but it must be done this week if they have any chance of getting through the winter!!.

No Heather moors here! feeding nucs will be a must.


http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=13455&stc=1&d=1470590007

 

[MuswellMetro]

i took off 14 supers from an apiary with 5 hives and extracted 280lbs of honey, and have just put the supers back on the five hives to clean........cold beer to follow shortly, next week i plan to do my other hives

 

[madasafish]

The bees look like they've decided that their 3-year-old queen has to go - two sealed cells today. I'm pretty certain that it's supercedure and I've been waiting for it to happen, but is it OK to keep both cells, or is there a danger of a swarm?

First to emerge will kill the other.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

The bees look like they've decided that their 3-year-old queen has to go - two sealed cells today. I'm pretty certain that it's supercedure and I've been waiting for it to happen, but is it OK to keep both cells, or is there a danger of a swarm?

Same thing happened three weeks ago, to my queen in her fourth year.
She started to slow up laying and the colony threw up two queen cells one week, then two more the next week.
I decided the bees knew what they were doing and left them alone.

Result: I saw a new queen 8 days ago and both queens were still there yesterday. Clearly they're waiting till the new queen has proved herself before offing the old queen.

No signs of swarming at all. That's not what they were about.

Dusty.

 

[Erichalfbee]

2 supersedure cells in one of the LASI boxes...................sigh.

 

[REDWOOD]

Masses of ghost bees entering the hives today, after inspecting I can't believe how full the brood boxes are with bees, the only thing I can put it down to is less air miles over the last few weeks and bees living a lot longer. supers filling nicely and still some heather and wild flowers to come.

 

[REDWOOD]

2 supersedure cells in one of the LASI boxes...................sigh.

Hopefully some of the Hygienic traits will be with the new queens

 

[Erichalfbee]

We shall see.......
I look forward to next year...
I'm always looking forward to next year...
Till I run out of years, I guess

 

[beeno]

Noticed a big pile of dead bees outside one of my strong hives. Phew, only drones, but a dustpan full!