What did you do in the Apiary today?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Did SFA basically.
Forecast wasn't looking good so restricted myself to wandering up the garden to check on one of the nucs I'd made up yesterday as they had pushed out their grass stopper in double quick time and I was concerned many would have returned to the mother hive - popped the lid and all seemed fine, so left them to it.
Then felt guilty this afternoon as the sun had come out and it looked almost like a nice day, then I opened the back door to pop out to the shed to collect my notebook from my beesuit to be met with torrential rain and hailstones - so bad the drains couldn't cope with the downpour!!

 

[CaptainCymru]

Indeed

Plus, once all the robbers in the area have cleaned out the empties, they'll say "right lads, what's else is there?" and go for the new hives.

Must admit I have to agree , well considering I just found my queen dead on the new hives landing board .Everything looked normal and all .Will crack her open in a few days , see if theres a new queen running around there .

 

[Loxley]

Took a quick look through the nuc's I made up on Tuesday just to check on their stores and the numbers of bees. They seem to be doing fine for themselves and haven't touched the frames of capped honey I gave them which is reassuring. One of the three is a touch weaker than the others so I'll keep an eye on them. No queen's have emerged yet but their due in the next day or two by my estimate.

The parent hive is looking pretty good too, back up to 7 1/2 frames of brood, drawing out the foundation and 3/4 way through filling a super so I gave them another. I'm not sure what they are working at the moment but could be the bird cherry as there's a bit of that out at the moment.

 

[Repwoc]

Interesting.....as bananas make fruit go off quickly due to, what I assume, is the same chemical fumes that is given off?

They give off ethylene which causes fruits to ripen.

 

[Dorchop]

Where to start.
Got 15 colonies in an apiary I cannot get to atm due to flooding. Been like it for weeks.
Had to bite the bullet and deal with it today. The job had not been made easier by the foot deep tractor ruts in the track full of water.
Got 2 inspections done from one end and a hive at the opposite end swarmed. Had to go and get a nuc from the van and deal with that.
I had to carry everything from the van 400m up a hill after walking through 4 inches of water on top of 3 inches of mud.
Must of been up that track 20+ times fetching supers etc they get heavy after a bit.
Then halfway through inspecting a double brood colony the heavens opened, had to finish the inspection and close them up, walked back to the van now soaked to the skin.
Sat in the van for half an hour until it stopped then back up the hill to carry on.
Got to the penultimate hive and the last hive swarmed. ffs.
Back to the van for another nuc.
Got them in a nuc and said sod it.
Took me most of the day to do what should of taken a few hours.
Fed up doesn't come close.
Bee suit has mud up to the knees and needs washing again. Boots are wet and my back hurts.
Bloody beekeeping. lol.

wow what a day1!

 

[pargyle]

Not a lot today ... got suited up three times in glorious sunshine and by the time I was ready and smoker lit it was piddling down - gave up in the end and turned to the lathe for some relaxation instead. I'd bought a huge ball of garden twine from B&M for £3 so I made a dispenser for it - sad I know.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Found a length of elastic in the wife's sewing box so with the assistance of a small pair of scissors and a crotchet needle to thread the elastic I restored the wrists of my beejacket to being beeproof again.

 

[pargyle]

Found a length of elastic in the wife's sewing box so with the assistance of a small pair of scissors and a crotchet needle to thread the elastic I restored the wrists of my beejacket to being beeproof again.

I like it ... beekeepers finding unusual ways to avoid the withdrawal symptoms from not being able to play with our bees ..

 

[Arfermo]

But what about SWMBO's knickers?

 

[madasafish]

Inspected three hives in a hurry taking an interval whilst cooking.
All near starvation - not quite. Added brood of honey to worst cases.

It did not rain this am!

 

[Nannysbees]

Any idea?

 

[drex]

Never thought I would be so glad to see swarm cells, as like a lot of folks, my bees got off to such a poor start. So I did an AS on one colony. Starting to put supers on others. One colony very feisty, no queen cells, queen not seen and only a few eggs. This was the case on previous inspection and I thought they might be superceding but no sign yet. My very best colony, which is out doing the rest by a mile now has a third super, very strong, but no swarm signs

 

[The Poot]

Managed to fit snorkels to all bees in all hives. Wet suits have not arrived yet sadly.......

 

[Loxley]

Any idea?

I can't see the tail in the picture, was it white? Also hard to judge the size but it Looks like a wet Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) to me.

 

[Nannysbees]

I can't see the tail in the picture, was it white? Also hard to judge the size but it Looks like a wet Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) to me.

Thank you, couldn't see his tail, was chilling in the sun on my pergola when I went to check his tail he'd gone

 

[Moobee]

Away for a few days in the West Country (renamed Wet Country after this week!) and gutted as received an offer of a swarm but OH deemed it too far to go home and collect (120 miles).....

 

[StephenT]

Checked the half of a AS from 4 weeks ago without the Q to see if the new Q who was due to emerge 2 weeks ago had emerged and mated. No sign of any brood but found a sealed QC as per the photo in the first super above the QE next to an empty QC (not one that had emerged - just empty). No other brood in the supers. They wouldn’t have had any eggs to make a new queen so what’s going on here? Are they just messing with my mind?
Another hive that swarmed still did not have a laying queen, 3 weeks after she was due to emerge. The QC with the cap removed is still there. Need to requeen them or merge with a queen right nuc if still no sign of a Q next week.
The other hive that had swarmed over 4 weeks ago and we saw eggs and larvae last week had pretty much drawn another super we put on last week and were filling it. Some consolation.

 

[pargyle]

Saw a swarm in the sycamore tree in the front garden .. they usually arrive in the lilac tree underneath .. this one was at least thirty foot up and in amongst some foliage and spread across two or three branches that were close togther. No hope of collecting them ... I don't think they are mine but with the torrential rain today I really can't be sure. They must have arrived in one of the few dry spells as I noticed a lot of bees flying around when I went out to the car to get something. I put a bait hive below where the swarm was and another one off to the side but as of now they are still in the tree - silly beggars must be fed up of getting drenched as we've had at least three periods of rain since I saw them first. Ah - well .. some you win some you lose.

 

[BigAshW]

Hives checked today.

Most are empty. Going up tomorrow. Any supers are coming off. I'm going to remove the demaree boards and drop them to a double brood and get the feeders on.

Virgin queen hatched above the snelgrove on another so moved that box to a new spot and feeders on both that and the parent colony.

Feeders on the nucs as well.

It's been a shocking start to the year.

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's been a shocking start to the year.

Yep.
I’ve got pollen sub on one and the others are emptying their supers