What did you do in the Apiary today?

[pargyle]

Checking on introduced/ united colony’s and I’ve finished extracting the spring honey I’ve got six full buckets of cappings for the bees to clean up or I might put them in a drum and spin the water honey out.

You're still extracting spring honey ? Where have the supers been all this time ? You are lucky it's not set in the comb .. or do you have a massive warming cabinet to put the frames in .. ? I don't even like leaving supers more than a few hours before the frames go in the spinner.

 

[Curly green finger's]

You're still extracting spring honey ? Where have the supers been all this time ? You are lucky it's not set in the comb .. or do you have a massive warming cabinet to put the frames in .. ? I don't even like leaving supers more than a few hours before the frames go in the spinner.

Ok osr was removed supers put back on and they have been left banked on a few colony’s infact a few more than a few were left on for good reason, honey is mainly all dark honey dew and Hawthorne and still runny a few supers have lighter summer lime/ clover.
Most of all our spring crop across all sites has been osr mixed and dark runny honey .
I am wondering what heather and honey dew together are going to taste like.

 

[Swarm]

Put clearer boards on for the last supers and did a few brood checks. Had a look at the last Amm queen and added some comb and stores, it's up to them now.
All colonies will get a nice guzzle of light syrup to give them a little boost, they are working Balsam and Ivy buds are just a couple of weeks from bursting and then it's time to break out the Instantvap again. What happened to this year?
It was so nice to go through the brood nests today, to see how they have coped, despite the weather. Who would be a Summer bee in 2023?
Time to evaluate and make those plans for next season.

 

[Erichalfbee]

NONE of the colonies is taking the uncapped honey down…. Grrrrrrr
So it’s underneath they go on Saturday.

 

[Superlativesoul]

NONE of the colonies is taking the uncapped honey down…. Grrrrrrr
So it’s underneath they go on Saturday.

Do you have any idea why ?Have the colonies been like this before ?Sure that it will go well on Saturday
John.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve had the odd hive refuse to move the honey but not all. I checked a couple of broods in case they were filling up ( we have balsam here) but no.

 

[The Poot]

NONE of the colonies is taking the uncapped honey down…. Grrrrrrr
So it’s underneath they go on Saturday.

Mine refused to comply last year, so this year the honey was spun out and put into a feeder. They can’t get at it fast enough, total congestion in the cone! Not nadiring this year either as just too many wasps again.

 

[Murox]

Had a surprise when making up a nuc, a whole super of capped honey.Had given up hope cos of the weather.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Mine refused to comply last year, so this year the honey was spun out and put into a feeder. They can’t get at it fast enough, total congestion in the cone! Not nadiring this year either as just too many wasps again.

I'm still torn between doing that and nadiring the supers. I shall probably make a decision on Saturday morning. I have some spun off uncapped honey to put back straight away to give them a start.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

started rotating supers through freezer for storage...smugly looking at BH weather forecast having just taken off summer harvest

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Out apiary up the river, where there is himalayan balsam, not moving open stores down from above crown board so taken it off and freeze it until after the Apivar treatment.
Feeders on and cappings being licked over. Not sure how long I can leave them to do another stores check. Don't want to feed too much and restrict brood space.
Happy I don't have nucs or weak colonies that need regular feeding and monitoring.

 

[blackcloud]

Oxalic treatment yesterday and the results are in:-

Poppy 3 -(swarm united with queenless hive)

Tinker 0- (swarm)

Daisy 151 -(double brood monster hive,this year's buckfast)

Winnie 6- swarm with 20 bees, did a split took brood and bees from Rosie, double brood monster hive)

Rosie 65 (New buckfast this year, monster hive)

When we caught the swarms we gave them an oxalic blast that may have resulted in the low numbers, the swarms are still on single brood but are strong colonies

Will continue to treat over the coming weeks hopefully we'll have strong colonies going into winter

I don't normally give hives names -except the one known as St Trinians....

 

[Moobee]

Quick check on the nucs between the rain. Two have successfully queened - both queens were small, very dark and very quick! Decided to leave them be to settle in, I can mark them in a few weeks.
One hive bearding madly each evening, hoping they are making room to ripen the last of the honey……

 

[Goran]

This heat wave is killing.. Bees are mad, I am mad.. We all are mad.. Night temps above 20C, day temps not to mention.. This won't end well, definitely.. We still didn't completely recovered from last storm..

 

[steveselvage]

Spent ages going through a nuc looking for a virgin queen.
I assumed they were queenless last week so gave a frame of eggs/young brood but they have made no emergency cells so today I thought I'd unite with another nuc.
Went through them several times but couldn't find a queen.
Would filtering them through an excluder work with a virgin queen?
Went through a nuc I brought in a couple of weeks ago that were bloody horrible when they arrived to find them much more relaxed which was a nice surprise

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Spent ages going through a nuc looking for a virgin queen.
I assumed they were queenless last week so gave a frame of eggs/young brood but they have made no emergency cells

means nothing - it sometimes takes multiple test frames before they make a QC, sometimes they never do even if they are queenless.

so today I thought I'd unite with another nuc.
Went through them several times but couldn't find a queen.
Would filtering them through an excluder work with a virgin queen?

yes - a queens thorax is the same size whether mated or not, and that's what stops her going through a QX

to be honest, I would either shake them out a fair distance from the nuc, or even take the chance and unite regardless.

 

[steveselvage]

means nothing - it sometimes takes multiple test frames before they make a QC, sometimes they never do even if they are queenless.

yes - a queens thorax is the same size whether mated or not, and that's what stops her going through a QX

to be honest, I would either shake them out a fair distance from the nuc, or even take the chance and unite regardless.

Thanks for that.
I'll unite them tomorrow and see how they go

 

[Sutty]

Had an unpleasant hive I was planning to unite but not found the queen last 2 inspections.
Moved them 12m, put their super on next-door (few inches away) hive, and moved that hive to half-way between the 2 hive locations.
Hopefully will bleed off the flying bees so I can find the queen, dispatch & unite.
Annoyingly the unpleasant hive is the supercedure daughter of my loveliest queen!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Had an unpleasant hive I was planning to unite but not found the queen last 2 inspections.
Moved them 12m, put their super on next-door (few inches away) hive, and moved that hive to half-way between the 2 hive locations.
Hopefully will bleed off the flying bees so I can find the queen, dispatch & unite.
Annoyingly the unpleasant hive is the supercedure daughter of my loveliest queen!

Possibly the daughter had the Genghis Khan of the bee world as a father?

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

Ooooh, extracted my first honey yesterday. Very exciting! Only two supers, not all frames used and those used (my theory was to get them off (I have 14x12s) and if too watery would feed back) only partly filled but all capped or shake-test-successful and all came out beautifully and less than 18.5%. Bees were fine when taking off and putting back the wets. 16lb in all from 12 frames.

The only mishaps were trying to get the extractor out of the utility to clean and put back in the garage whilst the bees were still flying - ended up leaving it there overnight as boyfriend was stung when he tried to lift it and there was a bee under the rim that he didn’t see, and power washing the uncapping tray on the front yard and spraying boyfriend’s car with the residue which the bees also found and rendered his car inaccessible for a while
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