What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Tim.S]

60% take on my last grafts which I was happier with as I seem to be steadily getting better. 100% might be a little way off though! I thought that was that as far as grafting was concerned but the weather for mating has been awful so I am going to have a go at 20 more next week and I will try them at one of my out apiaries for a change. Practise makes perfect so I am told!

 

[Niv]

Sold my first jar of honey! My young beekeeper son was very excited

Well done!!

 

[drdrday]

Sold my first jar of honey! My young beekeeper son was very excited

Well done! A great feeling isn't it. I've actually made more on honey this year than I've spent on the bees. I'm sure that'll change next year

 

[Horseradish]

Nadired that super to try and get the queen up and then set up a bait hive for an autumn swarm.

 

[For want of a better word]

Managed... despie yet another swarm collection... to get to the 25 OSB Rose hives in the Cornish Native Black bee apiary... haven't lifted a lid on them for over a month due to having to check my bees local to the EFB swarm incident!

No queen excluders to worry about and all had queens laying away with 3 boxes high.. and most 4... removed 4 boxes filled with beautifully capped honey.. still in the back of the Defender.
Split one colony down to 3 OSB nucs and a full "shook swarm" what ever that is!

One of eight nucs queenless ,so will be putting a mated queen in there tomorrow.

Back killing me.. Hot tub and a G&T beckons!

An the great thing is that I have not seen or had to talk to another soul all day ( except for SWMBO & the Kids that is)
Forget about the Chinese Pox ( Covid 19) take up keeping bees!

Happy days
Chons da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

had the new SBI around today, the RBI had told him to ask me to take him around a few of my apiaries as a gentle 'in' to his job. I promised Frank I wouldn't give him too hard a time
Had a good long chat, he enjoyed a day inspecting gentle prolific bees (seems to be a change to a lot around his area - even his own bees!) He'd been backpacking in Lesotho so we had a good chat about that - he didn't realise there was a decent population of wild bees there! Marked up a few new queens, prepared a nuc or two for selling on, with a nice surprise of finding out one nuc I'd thought had failed and had a laying worker, has now got a laying queen with a lovely brood pattern. Discussed Demarree, underfloor entrances Beekeeping dinosaurs and their 'ventilation' and late season supersedure (oh how we laughed at some of the off the wall beliefs out there!!)
My penance was, I then had to log in to do some 'official work' as I'd disappeared (with permission) for most of the day.
He just messaged me now to thank me saying he'd learnt a lot, inviting me to come and see his vineyard and offering to give me a hand when things get really busy
Today was a good day

 

[Angularity]

Checked two nucs I made up seven days ago one from good stock to replace the queens in a couple of dodgy colonies, the other to replace the queen for a colony with a failing queen I couldn’t find.

The first one has half a dozen queen cells, with larvae in a bed of royal jelly. The other had four capped queen cells. At least that explains why I couldn’t find her a week ago.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Sold my first jar of honey! My young beekeeper son was very excited

Well done to you!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Sold my first jar of honey! My young beekeeper son was very excited

The excitement continues for ages, my wife and I still smile every time my phone "pings" to say the honey camera has been activated. We then wait for the letterbox to slam after the money has been deposited and watch the footage to discuss if they were regulars or walkers........ oh such simple pleasure

 

[Curly green finger's]

And there off!

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[G4WIL]

I could try! Or sell it to local wholefoods shop..

Sell it at the door . You’ll soon sell up with people begging for more !


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[beeno]

Sell it at the door . You’ll soon sell up with people begging for more !


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My door selling is phenomenal this year. Don't get to put my sign out much because of all the pre-ordering. Everyone is a covid hoarder it would seem with orders for 6-10 jars!

 

[G4WIL]

My door selling is phenomenal this year. Don't get to put my sign out much because of all the pre-ordering. Everyone is a covid hoarder it would seem with orders for 6-10 jars!

Yep people quickly realise it’s a finite commodity and try to ensure their supply .
One lady brings her empty jars back all washed and labelled “ Claire’s “
She makes sure her honey is guaranteed !


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[Michael Palmer]

Do you get Fireweed in your area?
Two years ago we had months of no rain and that gave us a good crop that year.

No, only a small patch down the road. I've heard it's a very light honey. Right now it's Sweet Clover and Lime. Tasted lime the other day when we were making nucs. I've seen this flow save the crop. Fingers crossed

 

[Michael Palmer]

320 nucs! You are not small time are you! Your shortfall is about treble what I intend to have total ha-ha

Something really exciting about the nuc making.

Eight days after setup, I check to see if the queen is laying, and if she is, add a second nuc box of comb/foundation mix. If she wasn't accepted, I remove the emergency cell and give another caged queen. So far I've checked about 250. Only one queen rejected...and that queen cage was marked "check queen". I shouldn't have used her.

Usual rejection % over the years has been 3-5%. The best I've ever done previously was last year. Five queens rejected from the 350 we made. Pretty satisfied with the results and thinking the queens we are raising are loved by the bees.

 

[Curly green finger's]

The excitement continues for ages, my wife and I still smile every time my phone "pings" to say the honey camera has been activated. We then wait for the letterbox to slam after the money has been deposited and watch the footage to discuss if they were regulars or walkers........ oh such simple pleasure

This makes it worth it for me.. And being proud of my bees and hobby I love. I could talk for hours about Bees.

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[Swn58]

Went to my farm apiary today. First time for three weeks, due to inclement weather and plague restrictions. Last time i was there I expected to be harvesting, but it was a tad too early. Plenty of honey, but not all capped. Decided to leave it for a while, as it is a new area for me to be operating in. Best to be sure? This time, greeted by the usual frenetic activity seen on the other two sites. I had only gone down with some extra hive-benches and to do a light inspection. Despite the previous few weeks weather, I found out that all the supers were now totally stacked with mainly sealed honey. I already have jars and labels ready, but maybe not enough. I think that things are about to get even more busy!
I then dropped in to my allotments, where I also have hives, to water some greenhouse plants. What a mistake to make! A large swarm had landed in someones plot. As I practice very strict hive-population control there, I was pretty certain they were not mine. I dropped the swarm into a nuc box, with a few bare frames, where they appeared to settle. A check of my hives confirmed that they were not likely to be mine. However, my half an hour 'drop in' had by then run into over two hours!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I could talk for hours about Bees.

A few of us can
Even through the glazed expressions of our victims

 

[G4WIL]

A few of us can

Even through the glazed expressions of our victims

You sound like a couple of bee bores to me ! Lol .


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[Monbees]

Stung

Got stung by dead bee when cleaning out extractor.