What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Newbeeneil]

I was surprised by the amount of fresh nectar - at least a frame and a half.

I had a quick look at my long hive and was also surprised by the amount of fresh nectar. Brood on 6 frames and loads of nectar. I'm not worried about swarming in that one as they have plenty of room but if it was one of my nationals...........

 

[Newbeeneil]

Spent yesterday chain sawing in the teaching apiary. Bees out flying and taking no notice of the chainsaw even within a metre or so.

 

[Wilco]

Spent yesterday chain sawing in the teaching apiary. Bees out flying and taking no notice of the chainsaw even within a metre or so.

They're very happy at the moment. I have to walk through clouds of them repeatedly when checking the sheep and they're all very content at the moment. Must be as excited as we are.

 

[Garry R]

Yesterday I popped a colony into the long hive I made in the winter (see the avatar) and went to check on them today and flying nicely so they seem to have settled and got themselves orientated OK - very close to the original spot - just a difference in entrance height.

 

[Fusion_power]

I inspected a very strong hive today that had 5 good frames of brood plus 3 more frames about half full. There were 4 frames almost full of fresh nectar and an abundance of pollen. I found one queen cell with a 3 day old larvae so this colony will be split tomorrow. I have a full box of Dadant size frames ready to go. If you look closely, there are several mature drones in the pictures along with several workers with frayed wings showing how much foraging they have done in the last 2 months.
Bee frame side 1 and Bee frame side 2

 

[Brian Bush]

Toured the apiaries yesterday. Active bees bringing in pollen.
Pleased that 6 out of 7 overwintered NUCs have come through and very active.
Delighted to find one hive colony very active as I thought had lost them before Christmas. There was no sign of life when I treated with OA and they had not touched the fondant even though the hive was light on stores. 2 hives received another lump of candipolleen as they had devoured all from 3 weeks ago.
I also checked the unit and my sale delivery of in-hive feeders and super foundation from Thornes had been placed inside by a neighbouring unit.

 

[Hiveanidea]

During the Springlike weather looked through six nationals and all queenright with brood ranging from three to five frames. Just by half removing frames and working in through stores until reaching brood without disturbing further in. HOWEVER, as suspected by the hefted weight of each hive they were heavily packed out with Ivy stores and in danger of being brood blocked. In all l have more than 30 full frames of stores, mainly Ivy, fully capped and apparently not touched. I’m wondering how my bees and l are going to make use of all these? I’ve taken some away from the outside and put drawn comb next to the brood to ease the situation. In the course of things l don’t want any of the ‘cabbagy‘ stuff moved up into supered Spring honey so will have to sneak out many more l think. Hoping for a cooler October this year, to be honest……but the climate is changing!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I’m wondering how my bees and l are going to make use of all these

simple - use them for feeding nucs if you are making up any, or for emergency feeding if needed during midsummer dearths

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bit of tidying up at the home apiary in readiness for the new shed.
Saw my first queen bumble this year - exactly 12 months to the day when I saw the first one last year.

 

[JamezF]

Saw my first queen bumble this year - exactly 12 months to the day when I saw the first one last year.

I've seen quite a few so far this year. Far more than I recall ever seeing at this point in previous years. They've been working the daffodils and celandine, not that there's much else available at the moment really.

James

 

[deemann1]

Checked 15 hives in home apiary one loss . The hives were jam-packed with ivy honey i removed 4 frames of ivy out of one hive and switched with drawn comb ..overall brood rearing only getting started

 

[masterBK]

Warm sunny day so quickly checked al 31 hives today. Brood and plenty of stores in all of them. Several combs with Nectar probably from blackthorn. Looks like another year without needing fondant. Two of the strongest ones had some sealed drone cells on the fringes of a couple of combs. I also found an unoccupied mouse nest under the floor board of a hive on a low stand and lots of rabbit borrows that risk undermining several taller hive stands.

 

[BugsInABox]

Checked 15 hives in home apiary one loss . The hives were jam-packed with ivy honey i removed 4 frames of ivy out of one hive and switched with drawn comb ..overall brood rearing only getting started

Learner Q - what do you do with ivy honey?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Let the bees eat it. Keep it for splits. Feed it back in a dearth. If you can get some off in the autumn ( presuming the bees have plenty)there is a market for it.

 

[Fusion_power]

I got the split made today with 4 frames of brood and 1 frame of fresh nectar partially cured into honey. One of the brood frames is half drone brood which I will cut out tomorrow leaving only the worker brood. Two other frames are due for renewal and will be culled as soon as the brood emerges. There are two healthy queen cells with one due to be capped in 2 days. It is one of the strongest splits I've made.

 

[user 20297]

I've been contacted by my local association, of which I wasn't at that point a member. They noticed that I'm a practical-minded beekeeper (aren't we all!) and open to new ideas (aren't we all?). I'm going to help them locate a site, get the money from public funding which is available in our area, and then give practical help where I can. We hope to have a training apiary set up for next year. Adding that challenge to my own colonies, which have all survived until this point, I'm going to be a very busy bee.

 

[Nannysbees]

Took three of the four mouse traps off today and replaced them with a blocks. We have several different sizes which we change depending on the needs of the girls

 

[Swn58]

All my lot are looking good. A lot of pollen now going in on all three sites. The problem has been the weather. All these weather forecasters: "It's going to be nearly 60 degs F." Rubbish! They obviously have not been working outside in it The wind is making the temperature far less than that they are saying here, so I haven't risked any inspecting.
I hope that this week will be as they promise this time, as in WARMER. Then I can take a look, make a plan and get my first varroa treatment done!

 

[JamezF]

All these weather forecasters: "It's going to be nearly 60 degs F." Rubbish! They obviously have not been working outside in it The wind is making the temperature far less than that they are saying here

My understanding is that the forecast temperature is always what would be measured in still(-ish) air, such as inside a Stevenson screen. Not all forecasters show it, but if you look at the Met Office forecast they give the forecast temperature and then a "feels like" temperature that's intended to account for the cooling effect of the wind, which can be several degrees centigrade below the forecast temperature.

It was 2.5°C colder here today than yesterday, but it was definitely more comfortable being outside because the wind had dropped. It felt warmer, but it wasn't actually

James

 

[Swn58]

My understanding is that the forecast temperature is always what would be measured in still(-ish) air, such as inside a Stevenson screen. Not all forecasters show it, but if you look at the Met Office forecast they give the forecast temperature and then a "feels like"

I do understand 'wind-chill' etc.. What I have found lately though is the 'happy happy.....Spring is here, isn't it all great' attitude of some tv forecasters, that downplay this, in favour of trying to bring us all a better outlook! I don't always have the time to go online to find out what the weather is up to. Maybe it's just me being grumpy