What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Murox]

...................... before the internet I learnt many things the hard way!
E

So very true, either that or read old out of date library books, or even the hard won occasional gleanings from an irascible fellow keeper. I regret giving all my books away when we last moved house but the costs of transport are so great these days that I choose to rely upon the world wide web. Sharing knowledge and experiences is a wonderful thing.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Ooo campbeltown....what a fantastic place to keep bees and the best distillery in the world on your doorstep .....!!

 

[madasafish]

Ooo campbeltown....what a fantastic place to keep bees and the best distillery in the world on your doorstep .....!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJMTzlYI8s

 

[Stedic]

Added last two bits of woodpecker proofing today.

Heft all hives, horrified by how much weight a couple of them have lost already. I wonder if the warm autumn caught them out. Fondant will be needed.

Mouse guard on one hive looked it it had been pulled off, or maybe push off from the inside. I wonder if I might have fitted it after the mouse moved it! After hefting the hive the bees went a bit nuts inside, lots of noise. I wonder if it moved and they attacked? Is there anything I should do? I’m not sure I want to separate the floor from the brood box before the spring.

 

[Stedic]

Added last two bits of woodpecker proofing today.

Heft all hives, horrified by how much weight a couple of them have lost already. I wonder if the warm autumn caught them out. Fondant will be needed.

Mouse guard on one hive looked it it had been pulled off, or maybe push off from the inside. I wonder if I might have fitted it after the mouse moved it! After hefting the hive the bees went a bit nuts inside, lots of noise. I wonder if it moved and they attacked? Is there anything I should do? I’m not sure I want to separate the floor from the brood box before the spring.

Thinking about it, I’ve got one of those cheap fibre optic borescopes, so I’ll fimd that and have a look inside the box. Should be fairly obvious if the bees have a guest!

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

It really wasn't a critisism, just a comment. We all had to learn and before the internet I learnt many things the hard way! I was just confused that you said you had a super on and you were feeding fondant! Is the super empty?
E

Hi Enrico - I didn't take it as criticism - I know you don't do that
Mid September the super was full - all frames - and with stores in the brood box as well, I thought leaving the super on would negate the need to feed. This was a very productive colony this year that I couldn't keep up with and it was heaving with bees. Oddly it was the most bothered by wasps though.
My check last weekend showed me many bees in the super and the centre frames had been mostly consumed. I reckon the warm weather and the numbers of bees has led to the honey being consumed early on.
Now the cold weather is here - I had snow at 6:00am today - I'm restricted to feeding fondant but I'm concerned that once tightly clustered they may not find/use it.
My other problem is that I worry about them rather a lot....

 

[Popparand]

Hi Enrico - I didn't take it as criticism - I know you don't do that

My other problem is that I worry about them rather a lot....

Don't we all?

 

[Eyeman]

Added last two bits of woodpecker proofing today.

Heft all hives, horrified by how much weight a couple of them have lost already. I wonder if the warm autumn caught them out. Fondant will be needed.

Mouse guard on one hive looked it it had been pulled off, or maybe push off from the inside. I wonder if I might have fitted it after the mouse moved it! After hefting the hive the bees went a bit nuts inside, lots of noise. I wonder if it moved and they attacked? Is there anything I should do? I’m not sure I want to separate the floor from the brood box before the spring.

I always check the insert board for any signs of mice invasion. One of mine had mouse poo on the board and after a couple of bangs on the box the mouse shot out and the mouse guard went on

 

[Murox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJMTzlYI8s

well found.
Trouble is its a bit of a green dessert around here so beekeeping is shall we say marginal. The good news is for the future a whole hillside just where I have the girls has been planted up over the last two years with native trees (not pine). Plenty of natural plants re-establishing and other melliferous stuff as well.

 

[madasafish]

well found.
Trouble is its a bit of a green dessert around here so beekeeping is shall we say marginal. The good news is for the future a whole hillside just where I have the girls has been planted up over the last two years with native trees (not pine). Plenty of natural plants re-establishing and other melliferous stuff as well.

Like the Scotland flag

 

[Murox]

Like the Scotland flag

Its in the "more" section of the e-cons on the forum.

 

[SDM]

I am always a little amazed at how easy it is to find new apiaries exactly where i want them.
Ive asked at 13 places and 12 have said yes. 2 local golf courses are the latest with one of the green keepers keen to have wild flower rough areas. Good access to both sites with one behind the green keepers sheds and the other on an annexed section of field off the course where it crosses a road. Both have significant woodland 200+ yrs old surrounding them making the courses themselves probably the least interesting of the available forage.
On appearances they should both be better than any of my other sites. And all because my usual route home from town was blocked by road works(though id been meaning to ask for a while). On an island with so many hives its a bloody miracle that nobody had asked there already.
One very happy beekeeper !

 

[Millet]

Gassed the little suckers... lets see i if the Autumn treatment done the job..???..

 

[Newbeeneil]

Spent a damp morning transferring a full van load of supers and nuc boxes into my new bee shed in my new apiary.
Hope it's dry tomorrow as I'll take another van load up there.
Hopefully with the freed up space in my old beeshed I can start building the 6 new Brood boxes, dozen supers and 200 frames!

 

[Podilia]

Hi, everyone. The last two weeks the weather was much colder for this time of year, -3 -5 at daytime and -6 -10 at night, in addition icy rain, drizzle and fog. And it will be at least until the end of this month. I hope if winter came so early, it will not last long. Constant north-east wind - nothing good comes from there.
the weather is not good for any outdoor activity. I have no desire to open hives now. it's a kind of stress for me and my bees. And there is no need. Though I have a small colony (3 frames) which has little chances but I will do nothing with it. Such an experiment of survival.

Someone believes frost on trees means a lot of honey in summer (if farmers will not "help").

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Checked varroa inspection boards after one week in place. Two give the impression of good sized clusters with only three varroa between them.

Third colony, no varroa dropped but eight severed bee heads, some abdomens, legs and wings.
I'm thinking from fights with wasps?

This colony, although heaving with bees through into late September, seemed to allow wasps in - often removing them when dead - but lacked the defensive spirit of my other two colonies. The cluster size is smaller than I would like to see.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Fitted ekes to two hives which allow a bag of Ambrosia to sit under a 50mm slab of Celotex.
Bees active again today. Saw two drones enter one hive!!

 

[simonforeman]

Made 3 ekes up ready for fondant if needed in the new year and watched the rain come down....

Oh....and also made sure straps were still tight..... it's going to get windy here tomorrow

 

[Michael Palmer]

Someone believes frost on trees means a lot of honey in summer (if farmers will not "help").

Here in Vermont, that kind of snow is called "Sugar Snow". During sugaring season, it can increase the sap run, and can re-charge the trees when the season is seemingly done.

 

[masterBK]

Milder today and bees in the garden apiary have dumped their dead out of the hives. Last few days has been really cold so I imagine the dead were left on the floor until today.