What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

We foolishly ran after them

Oh.....done that

Being able to find and mark the queen would mean that I could have quickly found her first and made sure she was safe

I always have a transport plastic nuc box to do just that if I'm doing anything like that. Pop the frame she is on into it then you can be as robust as you need to be with the rest of them.

I think I need a better plan for how I organise all the boxes and hive parts as I remove them from the during a demaree.

Move hive over and place new box on a new floor in its place. Fill with frames minus one. I mix drawn and foundation. Find the queen and put her frame in. Add QX then two supers another QX ( I have one with an entrance)and put the original box on top

 

[Peter Vanstone]

Thanks for the detail. Honestly, I haven’t been concerned with time until now, but this year is getting to be taxing. Also realizing my other projects (some needful) will likely be put off another year if I don’t scale back.

Going through 40 in a day would almost seem like a punishment now. Hats off to you. Out of curiosity, what were your brother’s conclusions?

I think it was a mental thing,life is short,l neglect things for the bees,my brother and l were builders his house was neater than mine,l don’t know if he gained anything by his logging,he even logged free time he worked for his son.was it Galbraith said work expands to fill the time left for its completion,a friend a lawyer,l keep 8 hives with him,his garden is like Augusta.magnificent,now after three years,l am just managing to slow his mind and body to get some pleasure out of it.

 

[Peter Vanstone]

I've had one of those days that makes me feel like not a very good beekeeper

A swarm arrived in my home bait hive this lunchtime. I suspect it's from one of my own hives. I guess that's both positive and negative in that it hasn't escaped into the wild, but it shouldn't really have happened in the first place. I can perhaps blame the weather making regular inspections awkward, but that's more an excuse than a reason.

Inspecting my home hives this afternoon I found one that was doing an emergency requeen, I assume down to my cack-handedness somewhere along the line. I doubt that's the one that's
swarmed though. Another has BIAS and a sealed queen cell and I suspect that's the source. I couldn't find the queen, but that's hardly news. The other "problem hive" at home, with wild comb
drawn amongst boxes of empty frames are showing no interest in moving up into the box of
foundation that I gave them.

A hive at an out-apiary that I'm setting up went into winter very strong, but came out the other side looking very weak for reasons I can't determine. Whilst the colony is currently very small, there is BIAS and I FOUND THE QUEEN!!! Not only that, I even managed to mark her! I had to use a "crown of thorns", but at this point I just don't care. She seemed to wander back off into the hive quite happily once the paint dried so I'm hoping I can call that a success.

I did a demaree on three hives a few weeks back and last time I visited I split off a nuc with a queen cell. That appears to have emerged now and the QC was half torn down. The hive it had come from was a disaster Lots of very pissed-off bees, a couple of queen cells in the top box, but no eggs anywhere, top nor bottom. Clearly I missed some queen cells in the top last time and the original queen has gone AWOL. I've removed the demaree and put the two brood boxes back together under the supers in the hope they can sort it out.

The second one had eggs in the top box and wasn't in a great mood either. There's been no time to raise and mate a new queen, so I assume the old one somehow ended up in the top box though I've no idea how. By this time I had bees going mental trying to sting a marker pen with a black lid that was in the breast pocket of my bee suit and I was probably honking of bad pheromones, so I decided to put a super on top of the upper box, but otherwise delay the decision on what to do with them and leave the third hive for another time once my suit has been washed.

Finally I visited the colony in the tree branch. They're also showing no interest in moving up, which is quite disappointing. I was really hoping that with loads of OSR nearby they'd be desperate for more space by now.

James

You mentioned had to use crown of thorns,l am a coward and always do.do you pick them up.l look on the bee queen like the late queen with humbleness , l don’t bow but I couldn’t pick up.

 

[JamezF]

Move hive over and place new box on a new floor in its place. Fill with frames minus one. I mix drawn and foundation. Find the queen and put her frame in. Add QX then two supers another QX ( I have one with an entrance)and put the original box on top

Ah, no, I didn't mean how to set the demaree up. I meant when taking it all down to move empty frames from the top to the bottom and frames of brood from the bottom box back up to the top and keep the demaree rolling.

James

 

[JamezF]

You mentioned had to use crown of thorns,l am a coward and always do.do you pick them up.l look on the bee queen like the late queen with humbleness , l don’t bow but I couldn’t pick up.

I've practiced picking up drones, but don't have the confidence to do it with the queen. And yesterday I was wearing marigolds so there was no chance.

James

 

[JamezF]

I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity now...

Just thought I'd take my coffee for a stroll up to the apiary to check things out from a distance after yesterday. All seemed relatively calm and quiet and then "that sound" happened again. Bees started to emerge from the hive I believe is doing an emergency re-queen. Despite the really convenient walnut tree they've settled in some blackberry bushes, but in two separate groups, neither any bigger than a large orange.

I'm as sure as I can be that it was an emergency re-queen. There were definitely no eggs and the queen cell was on the face of the comb, right at the extent of the capped brood, so made with the last eggs that the workers were likely to have had access to.

Is the most likely explanation that I missed a couple of queen cells yesterday, that they've all emerged at almost exactly the same time and two have left the colony together? Based on the dates of my inspections and the fact that I saw eggs I'd say today is the most likely first date that an emergency queen would emerge.

James

 

[joebeewhisperer]

I think it was a mental thing,life is short,l neglect things for the bees,my brother and l were builders his house was neater than mine,l don’t know if he gained anything by his logging,he even logged free time he worked for his son.was it Galbraith said work expands to fill the time left for its completion,a friend a lawyer,l keep 8 hives with him,his garden is like Augusta.magnificent,now after three years,l am just managing to slow his mind and body to get some pleasure out of it.

I understand. I can look around my backyard and see many things that need either starting, or completing. But until now, I’d rather my time go to the bees.

We have a small log home in the edge of a 4-5 acre field. Field hasn’t been mowed in entirety in 5-6 years. To onlookers, it probably looks abandoned, but it’s full of blackberries and many other plants that provide excellent forage, and in truth there are no onlookers.

Excellent description on slowing of mind to get enjoyment from it. You have no idea how apt that is for this season of my life. Thank you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah, no, I didn't mean how to set the demaree up. I meant when taking it all down to move empty frames from the top to the bottom and frames of brood from the bottom box back up to the top and keep the demaree rolling.

James

Ah yes. You have to be careful. I shake all the frames clear of bees before moving up

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity now...

Just thought I'd take my coffee for a stroll up to the apiary to check things out from a distance after yesterday. All seemed relatively calm and quiet and then "that sound" happened again. Bees started to emerge from the hive I believe is doing an emergency re-queen. Despite the really convenient walnut tree they've settled in some blackberry bushes, but in two separate groups, neither any bigger than a large orange.

I'm as sure as I can be that it was an emergency re-queen. There were definitely no eggs and the queen cell was on the face of the comb, right at the extent of the capped brood, so made with the last eggs that the workers were likely to have had access to.

Is the most likely explanation that I missed a couple of queen cells yesterday, that they've all emerged at almost exactly the same time and two have left the colony together? Based on the dates of my inspections and the fact that I saw eggs I'd say today is the most likely first date that an emergency queen would emerge.

James

Did they go back? I have a video of a virgin queen coming home with masses if excited bees decked out in surrounding trees while she was out. I guess it’s too early though.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity now...

Just thought I'd take my coffee for a stroll up to the apiary to check things out from a distance after yesterday. All seemed relatively calm and quiet and then "that sound" happened again. Bees started to emerge from the hive I believe is doing an emergency re-queen. Despite the really convenient walnut tree they've settled in some blackberry bushes, but in two separate groups, neither any bigger than a large orange.

I'm as sure as I can be that it was an emergency re-queen. There were definitely no eggs and the queen cell was on the face of the comb, right at the extent of the capped brood, so made with the last eggs that the workers were likely to have had access to.

Is the most likely explanation that I missed a couple of queen cells yesterday, that they've all emerged at almost exactly the same time and two have left the colony together? Based on the dates of my inspections and the fact that I saw eggs I'd say today is the most likely first date that an emergency queen would emerge.

James

could be a mating flight if you already have a virgin in there

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ah, no, I didn't mean how to set the demaree up. I meant when taking it all down to move empty frames from the top to the bottom and frames of brood from the bottom box back up to the top and keep the demaree rolling.

James

shake all the bees off the frame before moving it up, I always do, having been caught out in the past

 

[JamezF]

Did they go back? I have a video of a virgin queen coming home with masses if excited bees decked out in surrounding trees while she was out. I guess it’s too early though.

No, both groups just settled quietly in a cluster on the blackberries. They really look like casts to me. I've attempted to put both in nucs anyhow, but they're free to leave if they wish. The larger group was fanning like crazy around the entrance whilst I was doing the second, but I need to catch up with them as a delivery of timber arrived as I was putting the lid on.

Crazy morning! My bee suit wasn't even dry from being washed last night.

James

 

[JamezF]

shake all the bees off the frame before moving it up, I always do, having been caught out in the past

Yes. I think I might just need to write myself a clear, detailed plan that I can follow until I get the hang of it.

Like many things in beekeeping, it all sounds straightforward until you're standing at a hive surrounded by a cloud of bees

James

 

[Jon.21]

Perhaps so. I have been sitting here writing up my notes thinking on what went wrong and how I can avoid it.

The emergency re-queening I'm sure must be down to my carelessness. I needed to swap them into another brood box and probably "broke" her when I was doing that. Being able to find and mark the queen would mean that I could have quickly found her first and made sure she was safe before starting to move the frames.

The possible (probable) swarmed hive is likely down to a poor inspection schedule. I've not inspected that colony for two weeks because on the rare occasions when the weather had been sufficiently good I really needed to get other things done. I'd honestly expect to get away with two weeks between inspections in this location during April, but clearly not this year.

The messed up demarees might well be down to inexperience of doing them. I don't know why the first appears to be queenless. Could be my cack-handedness again. The one with eggs in the top box I suspect is down to accidentally transferring the queen into the top box. I think I need a better plan for how I organise all the boxes and hive parts as I remove them from the during a demaree. Things would probably have been less messy if I'd been able to inspect when I initially planned to, but the weather just wasn't good enough.

As for the two colonies where the bees won't move up I'm wondering if putting a frame of brood into the upper box might work by drawing nurse bees up and the queen with them.

James

It’s a rollercoaster for sure….I did 4 demaree’s last weekend and first 3 went ok but 4th I couldn’t find the queen so shook the bees in.

Did an inspection weekend just gone (week later) and in bottom brood box of the one I shook in it was all good with eggs and larvae. Did top brood box and found eggs . Couldent see a queen (not marked as late supercedure end of last year).

So plan is to wait a week and re-assess because currently it looks like I’ve got 2 queens in the colony. Queen excluders were used above and below the supers before anyone asks .

 

[gregior]

Inspected 15 of mine today, the 3 demerees i set up on 11th April now all have virgins in the top boxes (with their own entrance) and the queens below are laying in an epic fashion,I was hoping they might be good for the year with the early Demeree but no chance they will be trying to swarm in a few weeks. Of all the others only 1 had swarm cells so Padgened that 1. Bees pretty well behaved. Some were notably light on stores with barely any honey in any supers yet.

 

[JamezF]

I've been thinking over what's happened in the last twenty-four hours here and I suspect that my initial assumption about the source of yesterday's swarm was wrong. I reckon it probably came from the hive that was raising emergency queens, with both today's swarms being casts (which provides an explanation for their relatively small size).

If that's the case I'm surprised that the first queen to emerge didn't nobble the rest of the queen cells and carry on, but perhaps I'm not the only one who missed them. Or perhaps the opportunity didn't present itself.

Maybe the truth will become clear once I next inspect yesterday's swarm. If the queen is laying then presumably she came from the hive I originally believed. If she isn't then all three likely came from the same one.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

If that's the case I'm surprised that the first queen to emerge didn't nobble the rest of the queen cells and carry on,

Or the worker bees decided it was ok to swarm repeatedly.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm surprised that the first queen to emerge didn't nobble the rest of the queen cells and carry on,

another one from the book of beekeeing myths, bullsh!t and total B*ll*x

 

[steveselvage]

I split a couple of colonies today and decided that the jacket I've been using for a while is due an upgrade to a full suit.
I shook them off the frames to find any queen cells and upset them a bit.
The little darlings found a hole in the backside of my jeans and managed to sting me on the arse twice , once on the back of my thigh and one on my calf.
One tagged me on the chin through my veil as well !
Most stings I've ever had in one visit.
Cut the grass and put a new hive stand in position.
The bees are really packing it in at the moment, put second supers on the bigger hives.

 

[JamezF]

another one from the book of beekeeing myths, bullsh!t and total B*ll*x

Well that's definitely a new one on me. The first queens to emerge don't attempt to nobble their "competitor" queens in their cells then?

James