What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Beefriendly]

Three hours is too long in a bee suit in this weather...had to do my essential work commando style as just dripping in a suit. Lost one of three queens I was introducing....she just flew off onto my shirt and as I attempted to pick her up she flew off again....
Mybe she found her way back, but I doubt it.
I've introduced many queens over the years but never had one fly off as the cage was opened before...

 

[For want of a better word]

30 Amm colonies... no sign of starvation... bloody hot...Rose Bay and sweet Bryony and foxgloves and a few others in flower I have forgotten the names of... bees all over the brambles... and found 9 Keilers with nice new black queens in...
Happy days in Happy valley !!

An improvement on last week with two days following the SBI around looking for signs of EFB that a clown from Devon brought across the Tamar!... and the next feeding everything yellow and stripie!!!

Yeghes da

 

[wightbees]

It was very hot here also, veil was covered in drip of sweat! I think I could of went through them with out a suit but I just don't trust bees.. had a break after couple hours, warm water tasted great lol. Then back to it, they very busy and with the weather looking good for the next 7 days plus I have high hopes this year

 

[bjosephd]

I wandered through my mating apiary last night and saw the front of one of my mating nucs covered in bees.

Having seen this before, I investigated further....sure enough, there were two queens (47 & 58) right next to each other on the same comb. No fighting - just getting on with their own business inspecting cells.

I caught 47 and put her back in her own nuc and brushed the bees from the outside of nuc 58 back into 47. I suspect that she got lost on a mating flight and, no doubt, I'll see eggs in 47 very soon.

How far apart, orientation etc, are your mating nucs?

With my gradually more hives/nucs, and attempts to get virgins mated now and then, I wonder about such things as I worry a young queen for example might return from a mating flight and find her way into a big strong hive and meet a frosty reception at passport control!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What a difference a week makes

Last night had to check a few hives in preparation for moving to their new location in a celebrity's smallholding can't say too much but please calm down when you gain the upper hand and work out the clues
A week ago there were worries of colonies at starvation point so I thought a good opportunity to take those now light hives down there.............not! two have filled two supers in a week and others not far behind so a frantic two hours spent sorting everything out and preparing two for their late night/early morning move.
Queens mating nicely and on my way back from the new apiary this morning noticed the Himalayan Balsam at the Gelli apiary is now in full bloom.

 

[beesbeesbees]

I fed a bunch of nucleuses with some weak syrup.

 

[Millet]

Three hours is too long in a bee suit in this weather...had to do my essential work commando style as just dripping in a suit. Lost one of three queens I was introducing....she just flew off onto my shirt and as I attempted to pick her up she flew off again....
Mybe she found her way back, but I doubt it.
I've introduced many queens over the years but never had one fly off as the cage was opened before...

That's a bit of a bummer, was it one of the Queens you have been waiting for, for about 60yrs ?,i hope not.

 

[Beefriendly]

Fortunately they have yet to arrive....

 

[B+.]

How far apart, orientation etc, are your mating nucs?

With my gradually more hives/nucs, and attempts to get virgins mated now and then, I wonder about such things as I worry a young queen for example might return from a mating flight and find her way into a big strong hive and meet a frosty reception at passport control!

They're in all different directions.
In truth, they should probably be further apart. My heart sinks at all the grass cutting between them though

 

[Millet]

Fortunately they have yet to arrive....

Good and bad i suppose.

 

[gregior]

Inspected all 7 of mine today-wow! Huge bramble flow on,my strongest has completely filled 2 supers this week.All queens laying very well and no signs of swarming very happy bunny here.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Have just finished a second bear fence in the last week. Bruins are coming down from the hills to forage on what they can find. Rubbish cans , bird feeders, and bees. Bear hit a mating nuc wintering apiary at the end of May. We changed the energizer from my battery operated device to one the farmer uses for cattle. Wasn't much of a hike...5 miles or so...and he was into a production apiary. Built a fence, but wondering where Mr. Bruin will show up next. Then we had to build a fence at a New York apiary. My employee has an apiary near mine, and lost the whole bunch. Yesterday, I had him build the fence. A prophylactic treatment!

 

[madasafish]

Yesterday requeened a lady's VERY aggressive hive by moving the hive to one side, using and empty broodbox in its place and finding the queen on the fourth frame. Queen introduction cage on some empty brood and come back Friday.

Braved this am's heat to inspect my last two very stroppy colones- after I had rebuilt my smoker (the air pipe from the bellows had fallen off.)
. Only two stings so quite peaceable.

 

[Erichalfbee]

How on earth did I miss queen cells two days ago!!!!!! Getting sloppy in shaking frames.
One colony swarming as we got to the apiary to check another
Strange thing though they all came back. We check for the queen through one brood box and three supers....nothing, finding her eventually on the floor in front of the hive...nothing apparently wrong with her so I don't know why she didn't go with them.
Anyway safely back in the box with a QX over the entrance and the brood moved away.
Another colony has masses of bees fanning at the back of the hive and quite a few hanging under the OMF
Had a virgin emerge 11 days ago so I would have thought she had mated well already.
Hell........going away tomorrow so I will leave them to it.
I don't want her anyway so the bees drawing comb underneath will make it easy for me to find her.
God.....who'd keep bees!

 

[justsmith]

opened 3 hives today found swarm cells in 2 of them, both spit good job i found a new site i can move them to next week. The annoying thing was one of the queens is new from this year and only just having a nice number of bees in the hive.

I guess they will be a lot of swarms next week.

 

[Glenviewbee]

Checked on a hive that had an inch sq test portion of eggs on Friday - VQ should've emerged around 17/5 but no brood up to that point so thought she was queenless and before I united it with another queenright colony I wanted to make sure they were Q-
So, of course, today I find frames of eggs and larvae up to 5 days old.
What is it about adding eggs that gets the new Queen going?

 

[Tonyatcwfarm]

Brought 1 colony to a field of beans
Not sure the colony is strong enough to benefit fully but we will find out in a few weeks
Plan a demaree on 2 colonies tomorrow to try hold them

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Checked the Garn cottage apiary today - seven days since the last inspection which was due to the SBI doing a contiguous check - the day before I'd inspected and none of the colonies had stores, one actually in the throes of starvation (super strong colony with over a super of stores cleared in a week) today I thought would be a quick scoot to make sure all OK, check on three newly mated queens, maybe super one and back home in time for tea,medals and prosecco - not! we have a mahoosive flow on at the moment, one colony has filled two supers and most of the brood (luckily queenie has only been laying a few days), the 'starving' colony, even with a depleted workforce has done the same - madam has laid five frames in a week and there is no room at all for stores,both supers and any vacant brood space chocker, another has filled two supers, drawn out and almost filled a third, one nuc has barely room for the new queen to lay and the other has laid up all four and a half frames and the rest is stores.
Luckily I keep a store of supers down there in the old workshop - all double supered again and just managed to get home in time to instruct SWMBO how to light the barbecue

 

[Goodwood]

I thought last week had saved the season
However
From 30degs to 16degs overnight, now with rain.
Forecast now showing 15-16 degs until end of
June. Hope they dont eat it all.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Three of the 7 garden hives are going through an AS this past week, two Pagdens and one Wally Shaw II. I've obviously messed up somewhere though as the activity around the bait hives hasn't abated. Very frustrating. Unless of course the scouts are coming from another village beekeeper!

There's been a huge flow from Limes and brambles in both apiaries the last week or two....Only have 4 spare supers left now, most hives currently have 5-6 on. Might have to bite the bullet and do some extracting once some frames are capped, my least favourite part of beekeeping.