What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Millet]

Might work but you'd need something ,like a dog-sleigh team harness.

 

[coatesg]

Early jaunt up to the hives to demarree a colony that I found was busting at the seams yesterday - it's a split from May.

Also took a super off another colony - first time I've used rhombus clearers - brilliant.

Now chucking it down as forecast...

 

[Newbeeneil]

Too wet to work in the apiary now so spent the last 2.5 hours taking my
Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety for Manufacturing test.

Very informative online course, not too onerous and well worth the £24. (Most diligent and consciencious people would pass with 100% first time but the pass mark is 80% (you are also allowed to have as many tries as you need ��)
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk...level2-food-hygiene-safety-manufacturing.aspx

 

[maddydog]

Checked some of the 2 frame nucs made up mid June with itld's queens. Bursting out of their boxes so either need promoting or splitting again.

Mix of virgins and qcs into mini mating nucs, 20 in total. Another set of grafts into the starters.

Wasp war starting to turn in my favour. Some entrances reduced to 2 bee space and judicious use of high efficiency wasp traps is doing the trick.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Wasp war starting to turn in my favour. Some entrances reduced to 2 bee space and judicious use of high efficiency wasp traps is doing the trick.

I'm still waiting on my traps to arrive but I've lost the first battle. The hive that they were hounding was weakened and despite putting on the tunnel entrances the wasps just learn to go in them.

Did a split/unite on the nuc. Some bees and frames went in the neighbouring nuc to bolster it against the wasp attack; the virgin queen and bees went into an apidea.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I've been away from the apiarys all summer but have now come to South Shropshire to a lovely surprise my unites have filled brood boxes and supers with honey .
My red colony has produced 38kgs of summer honey and there's two supers of cut comb to be processed . the pink and green colony's are yet to be processed but clearer boards were put on yesterday ..
I've a few days in Shropshire but will be heading back to the mountains on the weekend for another month .
I looks like it's going to be a really good harvest this summer, thank you girls you have made my year!

 

[Millet]

Checked the Nuc made on Saturday with three frames of brood/one stores and two drawn frames..the new 2019 Queen is out and still alive and looks considerably fatter than when she was in the commercial Queen cage..the other two Nucs from two weeks ago are bursting with bees from looking through the clear crown board...if they are anything like the Queens i made nucs from last year i will have to put them into a full brood box in the not so near future..

 

[Erichalfbee]

i will have to put them into a full brood box in the not so near future..

Sounds like it
One frame of brood emerging fills three seams

 

[Millet]

Sounds like it
One frame of brood emerging fills three seams

They sure do D and these Queens lay wall to wall like no other i have seen apart from F..0.. KB Queens.. one of the nucs is on eight frames as i cut the feeder out and that is also jam packed...so all that space from emerged brood has a 99% chance to be filled with eggs from these 2019 Queens..

 

[Brian Bush]

I checked the feeders on my Nucs with the new queens yesterday. 3 of the NUCs were being plagued by wasps. I cannot find the nest and as I used young nurse bees to populate the NUCs there were no guard bees. I was really concerned and rang a colleague,
Simple solution. Move the NUCs to the stands of established hives and the hives to the place of the NUCs. The hives can cope with the wasps and returning foragers will negotiate into the NUCs increasing the number of bees and provide some older bees to guard. I did this with help from my bee buddie this afternoon. Within half an hour it seemed to be working. There were guard bees at the entrances and wasps seemed to be very wary. I also increased the number of wasp traps. Fingers crossed!

 

[Millet]

I checked the feeders on my Nucs with the new queens yesterday. 3 of the NUCs were being plagued by wasps. I cannot find the nest and as I used young nurse bees to populate the NUCs there were no guard bees. I was really concerned and rang a colleague,
Simple solution. Move the NUCs to the stands of established hives and the hives to the place of the NUCs. The hives can cope with the wasps and returning foragers will negotiate into the NUCs increasing the number of bees and provide some older bees to guard. I did this with help from my bee buddie this afternoon. Within half an hour it seemed to be working. There were guard bees at the entrances and wasps seemed to be very wary. I also increased the number of wasp traps. Fingers crossed!

Do you not have problems with newly made Nucs and strong hives in the same area..?..i seem to every time i make them..wasps are a nuisance but more so my own own bees..i think feeding syrup to these Nucs causes a feeding frenzy and the strong hives in my apiary hammer the nucs so i have to move them a good distance away..the last nuc i made up i filled the feeder compartment with fondant instead of sugar syrup and to date the new nuc has been ignored..

 

[Erichalfbee]

I checked the feeders on my Nucs with the new queens yesterday. 3 of the NUCs were being plagued by wasps.

It's a good idea to snaffle brood combs of stores when you can and pop them in the freezer. I find feeding a nuc with a frame of stores safer than syrup in a feeder

 

[Millet]

It's a good idea to snaffle brood combs of stores when you can and pop them in the freezer. I find feeding a nuc with a frame of stores safer than syrup in a feeder

Got to 100% agree with you there D..

 

[Curly green finger's]

The red colony.

Sent from my Nokia 1 using Tapatalk

 

[Tim.S]

Checked on my nucs for laying queens and got 8 out 8! Chuffed to bits as this is my first attempt at grafting and they are laying like crazy, 3 of the 6 frame nucs have 5 frames of bias. After 10 years of this beekeeping thing it still is great fun and new things to learn all the time.

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Transferred a nuc into an Abelo brood box as running out of space.
REALLY lovely bees - from a split late June.
Placed rhombus clearer under top super on my Buckfast colony for removal on Saturday.

 

[Millet]

Transferred a nuc into an Abelo brood box as running out of space.
REALLY lovely bees - from a split late June.
Placed rhombus clearer under top super on my Buckfast colony for removal on Saturday.

The bees may well be back in that super come Saturday if you leave it too long,,

 

[Ian123]

A bit a duct tape is always good insurance for any worn box edges/gaps

 

[Antipodes]

Brilliant Tim S!
I'd like to learn that skill some time.

 

[XYZ]

Ahhhhhh today wasn't my favourite inspection...

To start with, my dislike of wasps is increasing. The other day I accompanied my neighbour in applying ant powder to a wasp nest in their soil. They've been wiped out but I still have wasps sniffing around my hives. Not surprising as I'd imagine there are a few nearby nests.

In order of inspection:

Colony 3 - Big swarm colony is being renamed evil swarm colony. They were building so fast for a week or so but seem to have just slowed down now...
This is my largest colony. Single brood, QEx and shallow super. They're filling the super but I'm feeling that there isn't a great deal of forage nearby as they seem to be just ticking over, rather than increasing stores.
Everything seemed fine. BIAS, queen spotted. They were just tetchy. Maybe the two wasps sniffing about did that, but unfortunately my single layer of nitrile gloves earned me two stings in quick succession on the same hand, resulting in my mishandling a brood frame causing bees to take to air and increase their anger.
They didn't follow me the 4 metres to the back door where my wife handed me marigolds to put under my nitriles.
Still, they're doing well

Colony 1 - single brood Abelo poly. They're building. They accepted the queen I walked in to them when they were queenless and she is clearly loving life as she's laying really well.
Plenty of pollen, stores, bee bread and I spotted the queen

Colony 2 - 6 frame Maisies poly nuc. They're fine. Big heavy on the propolis, especially with the clear rubble sack crown board. BIAS and they're still with last year's queen. Stores etc are plenty.

Mini mating hive - looked sad. No stores. Seemed really dry. Bees didn't fancy flying. I assumed disease at first but I think they were just real hungry. I cut out all three frames and fixed them to a super frame with elastic bands. I put them in the super of angry colony 3 and took out the best frame of capped honey as a reward for my stings.

I tipped the rest of the mating nuc out and retired it to the garage.

The garden apiary was very busy but seems to have calmed now. I'm possibly requeening colony 3. Probably Abelo buckfast unless others can recommend decent alternatives that don't cost over £35.