What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Curly green finger's]

The other two jars are similar to some of the honey i have taken this year. The first one from spring is all gone. I kept it to myself.
I chickened out and put the super on the bottom. It will give them room and they can clean the frames out.
I’ll try to take them off in a month when the nest is smaller.
ivy is a week away yet.

I've put mine above I've been brave.
My mate seems to think the summer honey is mainly clover from that hive it's not supprising considering there's miles and miles of fields of it growing wild.
There's also more Heather up here than I thought, it's just ashame no one burns the gorse on this side of the hill.

Does Stan like honey? you greedy guts, you didn't even share how selfish of you

 

[Tim.S]

Received the last bit of my Thornes order today - bit of a mistake on their part but very promptly resolved by Gill. Excellent service that is much appreciated and ensures my future custom.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've put mine above I've been brave.
My mate seems to think the summer honey is mainly clover from that hive it's not supprising considering there's miles and miles of fields of it growing wild.
There's also more Heather up here than I thought, it's just ashame no one burns the gorse on this side of the hill.

Does Stan like honey? you greedy guts, you didn't even share how selfish of you

He eats much more of other stuff I don’t
If I ask him an opinion on honey all he says is, “yep, that’s honey!”

 

[DaveG23]

miserable old day here, had a walk up to the nuc's, the noise from the x 2 I combined yesterday was incredible. Must be the noise of them eating through the newspaper.

 

[beeno]

Have been a bit busy ,... it was not a swarm - it was robbers ! There were so many in the box that I couldn't get rid of them ... they have stripped the comb that was full of last years capped honey and they are cleaning up any scraps around the edges. I've left them to their treat this afternoon and once they have all gone home tonight I'll go down and seal it up ... they were quite docile but, as you can imayine, trying to get them clear of the box was a non- starter.

Had a quick look through the crownboards on the other hives ... had to delay the White queen's nuc to full box as the hive I wanted to use is the one being robbed !! Best laid plans and all that.

I saw a lot of very bright orange pollen going in to all the colonies and also some grey pollen - the orange could be some early ivy - the stuff in my garden is still a couple of weeks away still ~ it's odd how different strains of ivy come into flower at different times. The grey could be autumn raspberry. Nice to see they are still collecting pollen - good sign that they are brood rearing.

We have a badger regularly visiting out garden (new toy a few weeks ago - trail cam) and I caught it on the camera behind my workshop which is right next to the apiary .... some signs of it digging for worms in front of the hives - just hope it doesn't decide that honey is on the menu.

Do bear in mind that if the robbers got into your stack so will the wax moth once they left!

 

[pargyle]

Do bear in mind that if the robbers got into your stack so will the wax moth once they left!

You are right .... they were already in there with the bees ! I killed a few when I opened it up and again when I closed it down (lesser wax moth) no grubs. The frames have all been sprayed with Dipel so I'm hopeful they will not get infested ... good warning for everyone though.

 

[beeno]

Took 8 more supers off today,not all full but a decent harvest,a couple of my queens don't seem to know what time of year it is,16+ frames of brood (including drone) in one of them!

Saw a few flowers on my apple tree!

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Removed two cleaned up supers, added the clearer to the final hive. Vaped all four.

 

[E&MBees]

Discovered a lot of bees under the omf today. With guidance from Swarm decided they were under shooting the entrance. Temporary barriers put in place until I’m able to do a permanent solution. Bees gathered up and returned home, not before three got into my glove and expressed their displeasure! Managed to knock off the tunnel entrance in the process. Went to repair it this evening by torch light. Big mistake! Bees don’t like torches. Will try again early tomorrow morning instead. Next vape due on Thursday, let’s hope they have forgiven me by then.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Discovered a lot of bees under the omf today. With guidance from Swarm decided they were under shooting the entrance. Temporary barriers put in place until I’m able to do a permanent solution. Bees gathered up and returned home, not before three got into my glove and expressed their displeasure! Managed to knock off the tunnel entrance in the process. Went to repair it this evening by torch light. Big mistake! Bees don’t like torches. Will try again early tomorrow morning instead. Next vape due on Thursday, let’s hope they have forgiven me by then.

I have a head torch that shines red, that doesn't bother them.

 

[GuyNir]

I have a head torch that shines red, that doesn't bother them.

Yes, use red light (which the bees can’t see).

 

[E&MBees]

Yes, use red light (which the bees can’t see).

Thanks for the suggestion. Will try that. I was balancing my phone on top of the hive, not very successful.

 

[Curly green finger's]

That made you jump

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Removed final cleaned up super. Fed all four - two with their own honey, two with fondant.
Checked varroa trays after 24 hours.
Two heavy fall >500
One >200
One <40
The two with the lowest fall both were naughty in the Summer and had brood breaks...

 

[Angry_Mob]

Finished third round of treatment, plan to check the boards and see what the drop is the next few days and decide whether to go for a fourth.

Also received some queens from British Honey Producers this morning, wasn't expecting them so quickly so didn't have time this evening to hive them.

 

[Moobee]

Returned super of wet frames to hive, tidy harvest of 22lbs of lovely dark brown honey. Also replenished wasp traps as they're still being a nuisance.
Not planning to treat just yet as bees still foraging - being so close to the coast there are a lot of things still flowering and my mentor (who is also on the coast) said that we are usually a few weeks behind the rest of the county as the sea keeps the air temp warmer.

 

[Niv]

Received the last bit of my Thornes order today - bit of a mistake on their part but very promptly resolved by Gill. Excellent service that is much appreciated and ensures my future custom.

I haven't had any of mine yet. Was yours a big order by any chance?

 

[Swn58]

Went down to the farm apiary yesterday to retrieve the last of the honey. The first five hives were quiet and let me check them out. All was fine with nothing worth taking. The next three were heaving with bees and a lot of full supers. The first one was fine.....a bit of smoke under the roof, followed by the removal of around ten kilos of full frames. The next one was a bit fractious, but controllable. In took easily another ten kilos. This, baring in mind that the first harvest was massive in July.
All well then, until I get to hive nine. Suffice to say that there is already a bit of a history! One of nuclei I set up in May, it far surpassed the others in growth. The first 'harvest' of this hive had to be abandoned in July, due to the sheer viciousness of them. Ever since, going anywhere near them leads to instant attack, often by multiple combatants. It is like seeing a squadron of aircraft launching into battle!
Anyway, I knew I had to sort this hive out, as it had two supers packed with honey that needed to be removed. The next hour will forever be know as 'The Battle of Woodside Spinney.' It was as if the whole hive came out to attack me. I was well protected, but somehow still got stung around eight times through my suit. The noise was deafening as the bees fell upon me, even partially preventing me from actually seeing what I was doing! Eventually I managed to retrieve about fifteen kilos of frames, but at great cost to me and the bees.
Usually frames are put in to boxes and carried one hundred yards up the wood, where the bees usually give up the chase and go home. Not this time! They followed right to the car, double that distance, making it difficult to get any bees still on the frames released before loading. The other problem was that my attackers would not leave me alone either. It ended up with me having to walk about six hundred yards up the farm track to shake them off before I could remove my suit. We drove home with several bees appearing at intervals on the back windscreen. This morning I've been periodically releasing them from the boxes prior to processing.
I've had naughty bees before, but nothing quite like this. For the first time ever, I am considering killing the colony queen next year. One thing is certain, the hive will be dismantled and they will be split into at least four units to be re-queened. My partner has said that she will never help me with my bees again!

 

[Swn58]

Went down to the farm apiary yesterday to retrieve the last of the honey.

I meant to 'blog' this....but cannot seem to get to it any more. Has that been stopped now, by the new webmasters? I have my own website now, but don't yet blog on it. It's www.woodside-bees.co.uk by the way. I thought it could be linked on here, but cannot see that on here anymore either.

 

[Swarm]

Use clearer boards?