What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Newbeeneil]

Sorry to hear that Neil all my nucs are ok for stores as most have heather stores from last year, im glad I moved most of them up to the heather even though some larger colony’s had nosema and perished.
We’re they a biggish nuc that have staved?

It was a full hive that starved. Most of my colonies are so big this year they eat any stores very quickly and with no income in my village apiaries starvation is always a possibility.
The nucs I’m due to sell were advertised as 5 frame but I’ll sell them as 6 frame which is all brood. They have no stores at all - hence the need for the fondant.

 

[user 819]

Tbh the temps are far too low and the chilly winds are having a big affect not only on forage but I believe plant nectar production, plenty of pollen but little nectar .
Yesterday I fed three strong colonies with left over set ivy winter stores from 2022, all bereft of stores.

 

[Moobee]

Tbh the temps are far too low and the chilly winds are having a big affect not only on forage but I believe plant nectar production, plenty of pollen but little nectar .
Yesterday I fed three strong colonies with left over set ivy winter stores from 2022, all bereft of stores.

Interestingly mine are going nuts for hawthorn at the moment so presume it must be producing nectar at these lower temperatures.

 

[gregior]

Lots of reports of hungry bees,mine are the same and some of my Q's have slowed right down laying,there is a trickle of dandelion nectar coming in here which is keeping them going. Saw a utube vid from C Manton a beefarmer whos bees are so hungry they're canibalising the brood,we need some warmth sharpish.

 

[pargyle]

Not in the apiary but not far from it ..I decided it was time to clean all my stored kit (empty hives and nuc boxes). Probably not the best idea I have ever had with 'er indoors around - as it prompted the inevitable spanish inquisition - 'where did all these hives come from?'. The usual reply 'what these old things - I've had them ages' doesn't seem to wash and in reality even I don't know where they all came from ! Three bottles of Cilit Bang has restored them to a clean state - there was a fair bit of black mould on them where they have been stored outside. albeit sheltered and they were mucky on the inside as well. I would not say they look like new but they are much much better - a spray and a scrub with Cilit Bang a few minutes left and then hosed off ... remarkable.

I took the opportunity to look at my stored frames as well ... I seem to have accumulated a load of standard national frames which are not a lot of use when I'm on 14 x 12 so I cut the comb out of most of them and then the whole lot (along with some broken 14 x 12 frames) went into the incinerator. I don't think I've ever seen my 60 gallon incinerator glowing red from top to bottom before.

Fortunately no wax moth damage - some years it's slugs that invade over winter, some years it's earwigs and woodlice - this year it was the year of the spider - loads of them - perhaps helped to keep the wax moth at bay ? There's a bit of paint needed on some of them (getting on for 13 years on some of them without more paint, so I can't complain) and a couple of bits of repairs need to be done but nothing major. I've still got another hive, a couple of floors and a roof to deal with but it will have to wait until I've got some more Cilit Bang ...

and .. I need a bigger shed !

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Checked hives in this apiary yesterday. The bees were quick to come out if the sun came out, but otherwise kept away from the chilly air.

One hive had a drone laying queen. I was able to replace her a couple of weeks ago with a queen from a friend but the new queen, though accepted, is not laying! I'm quite puzzled but there's nothing to be done so I'll leave them alone for a while.

Close of play yesterday around 5pm: (I've just noticed there are three different kinds of home-made roofs

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One hive had a drone laying queen. I was able to replace her a couple of weeks ago with a queen from a friend but the new queen, though accepted, is not laying!

Sometimes a new queen won't start laying until the old queen's brood has all emerged.

 

[JamezF]

Bah! I've had a message this morning from the owner of the land where the water pumping station is. They want to bring large excavation machinery in so they can do the work to fix the leak and some of the workers are unhappy about the bees, so they'll have to be moved. They intend to start on Monday, so I have to sort something out before then.

James

 

[JamezF]

Bah! I've had a message this morning from the owner of the land where the water pumping station is. They want to bring large excavation machinery in so they can do the work to fix the leak and some of the workers are unhappy about the bees, so they'll have to be moved. They intend to start on Monday, so I have to sort something out before then.

My Brucie Bonus is that the site I have access to that is (almost) three miles away has a tree fallen across the main entrance

James

 

[JamezF]

My Brucie Bonus is that the site I have access to that is (almost) three miles away has a tree fallen across the main entrance

And the owner thinks there are blackbirds nesting in it now, so unless they're clearly not using it, they tree has to stay. I love it when a plan comes together.

James

 

[Wilco]

And the owner thinks there are blackbirds nesting in it now, so unless they're clearly not using it, they tree has to stay. I love it when a plan comes together.

James

Obviously the blackbird is called Hannibal Smith...

 

[Curly green finger's]

Interestingly mine are going nuts for hawthorn at the moment so presume it must be producing nectar at these lower temperatures.

I’ve seen bees forage on Hawthorne @ 12/14c for nectar

 

[Moobee]

I’ve seen bees forage on Hawthorne @ 12/14c for nectar

Yep that’s about our temperatures at the moment.

 

[Wilco]

Looks like I might get a single box of spring honey. Not sure how this hive is doing the miraculous when none of the others are.

 

[enrico]

Looks like I might get a single box of spring honey. Not sure how this hive is doing the miraculous when none of the others are.

View attachment 39680

Probably by robbing it from the others

 

[Newbeeneil]

Checked another 20 hives today and found one dead out and another 4 that were on the verge of starvation. Hopefully I have brought them back from the brink with as spray of sugar syrup onto the frames prior to another slab of fondant. These are large of colonies with 7-10 frames of brood and not a drop of nectar.
I added fondant to almost all the other colonies as well. If it carries on like this it will mean another delivery of 15 boxes of fondant!!!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Looks like I might get a single box of spring honey. Not sure how this hive is doing the miraculous when none of the others are.

View attachment 39680

Although many of my hives are starving I have a couple of sites that are bringing it in by the bucket load.

 

[user 819]

The wind chill at times has barely dropped so far this year, it is having a big effect on foraging and now it is raining again.
Not much change next week either so look like Monday I will have to go aroud the colonies and give fondant as well.

 

[pargyle]

Not in the apiary but not far from it .. got my Burco boiler going and spent a few quiet hours cleaning the frames I had rescued from my spare kit. Boiled in washing soda with a scrub using an old washing up brush they are now serviceable although some of them are very dark. Wondered whether a soak in oxalic acid would lighten them up a bit ? Might try it and see.

Most of them will need rewiring but, as they are foundationless and both nailed and glued, they are otherwise in good order structurally. Some of them are ones that I made myself, from scratch, when I first started beekeeping so 13 years old and still going - probably been cleaned a couple of times previously. My beekeeping budget back then was very tight - I would not make my own now !

WIth the cost of washing soda and electricity it's probably only marginally cost effective compared with the cost of seconds in the sales but I've saved a few quid and the time it takes to make new frames up.

 

[Wilco]

Although many of my hives are starving I have a couple of sites that are bringing it in by the bucket load.

There were two colonies next to this one, one of which is on double brood, not keeping up!