What did you do in the Apiary today?

[The Poot]

Done

Also from another thread, I checkerboarded the full and new Nuc on the original colony

Leave them for a week or so now

K

Well done. I’ve not checkerboarded supers, so will try that.
Hope it all goes well

 

[Vernon Purcell]

I made a video of me making a hive stand. https://youtu.be/0GDWSrhafU0

 

[The Poot]

Made more super frames….

 

[Do224]

United nuc with my favourite queen to my worst performing hive. Hope she works her magic there.

Added second super to well populated but queenless hive. I guess they’ve still got another week or so before their numbers dwindle a bit prior to their newly mated (hopefully ) queen getting laying.

Made two hive stands out of 3”x2” and two floors with under floor entrances out of 4” x 1”.

Never used under floor entrances before. How do people go about blocking them for transportation? Also, are they good at deterring mice or not?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Never used under floor entrances before. How do people go about blocking them for transportation?

Stuff the porch with foam.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Swapped some nucs around this morning before the girls were flying weaker nucs for stronger nucs to try and give some extra flying bees to the weaker ones, also set up the incubator as I’m going to graft from two colony’s on the weekend, added a super to a double brood and checkerboarded a super on a single brood and gave them another of comb.
Almost 11pm and the hives in the garden are humming again.

 

[Sutty]

Just checked mine and half are humming despite it raining all morning

 

[Curly green finger's]

Just checked mine and half are humming despite it raining all morning

I was surprised at mine again it’s not rained here today - it lashed it down out in the sticks while I was tractor mowing/topping.
Bees out there were going mad on the dandelions.
Hawthorne in places is only just opening on the welsh boarders

 

[Curly green finger's]

Moved 3 colony’s onto the side of the mountain this morning, as new nucs come on line later in the season they will be going up there as well - plan is to have young queens up there ready for the heather.
This will be my first attempt at the heather on the black mountains

 

[Cuckmere couple]

dismantled a rolling demaree of 2 brood boxes, 4 supers in order to swap frames from top with bottom as 'rolling'

put it all back

forgot to put q back in bottom box

let her walk in front door rather than open up again

 

[Moobee]

United nuc with my favourite queen to my worst performing hive. Hope she works her magic there.

Added second super to well populated but queenless hive. I guess they’ve still got another week or so before their numbers dwindle a bit prior to their newly mated (hopefully ) queen getting laying.

Made two hive stands out of 3”x2” and two floors with under floor entrances out of 4” x 1”.

Never used under floor entrances before. How do people go about blocking them for transportation? Also, are they good at deterring mice or not?

Had mine in a big field, no problem with mice at all.

 

[Do224]

Had mine in a big field, no problem with mice at all.

I’ve got what seems to be mouse damage in one of my weaker hives at the moment. I thought mice were only supposed to be an issue in the winter…

 

[JamezF]

Visited some of my hives today as a "pre-SBI inspection" check. Opened the first have and they were horrible. The light wasn't good to start with, but I couldn't see if there were any eggs because there were too many bees on the front of my veil. Closed up, walked away, and the bees came with me. Not pleasant. I had to drive the car at least 100 yards away before I could remove my gloves and suit. They're going to have to go, and soon.

Emailed the SBI to let her know she'd need to bring the chain mail, but she's suggested waiting until next week when the weather is supposed to be better (it's been heavily overcast and a bit showery and humid here) so perhaps they won't be quite so moody.

They're over the road from a field of OSR that is pretty much finishing flowering, so I think a plan to remove the supers, find and nobble the queen and then replace her needs to get under way sharpish. I'll check back with the RBI.

James

 

[Antipodes]

Visited some of my hives today as a "pre-SBI inspection" check. Opened the first have and they were horrible. The light wasn't good to start with, but I couldn't see if there were any eggs because there were too many bees on the front of my veil. Closed up, walked away, and the bees came with me. Not pleasant. I had to drive the car at least 100 yards away before I could remove my gloves and suit. They're going to have to go, and soon.

Emailed the SBI to let her know she'd need to bring the chain mail, but she's suggested waiting until next week when the weather is supposed to be better (it's been heavily overcast and a bit showery and humid here) so perhaps they won't be quite so moody.

They're over the road from a field of OSR that is pretty much finishing flowering, so I think a plan to remove the supers, find and nobble the queen and then replace her needs to get under way sharpish. I'll check back with the RBI.

James

It's not to do with having heaps of brood to defend and this is it?
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/post-osr-mayhem-advice-please.16387/

 

[steve1958]

Collected a swarm today which I was able to pass on to a beekeeper in need of Bees.
OSR coming to an end, and the bees are starting to calm again.

 

[Curly green finger's]

This afternoon I’ve demareed a colony, marked one of last years queens yellow, moved a nuc into the bottom of a double (reversed boxes)
Then I mowed the jungle of forget me nots grass dandelions god knows what else in my suite in front of 7 hives and got completely ignored so much for doing it with them shut in
Got a bit hot though

 

[Redcap]

Inspected my hives this afternoon; lots of activity at all entrances, all looked good and building nicely. No grumpiness, really pleased. Final hive to inspect was a large swarm I had collected just under two weeks ago, and had hived a week ago...took the crown board off expecting to see masses of bees...empty !!! Well about 30 bees...they'd all absconded.
Gutted, I didn't expect that to happen...and so wished I'd taken the advice of a fellow beek to pop an excluder in the bottom to prevent them moving on...captain hindsight wins again ! (I'm not entirely sure, but have a sneaky feeling they went 24 hrs after I'd vaped them...)

 

[JamezF]

It's not to do with having heaps of brood to defend and this is it?
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/post-osr-mayhem-advice-please.16387/

I don't think so. They've been a bit "difficult" for a while and it's too close to the owner's son's garden to be acceptable.

James

 

[Curly green finger's]

Just put three demaree boards on colony’s that I had to make up last night before I went to bed!

 

[madasafish]

Inspected my first attempt to get Q to lay in 9/10mm dia holes.
No action yet.

Found queen and marked her in a nuc of dark bees - she is dark as well. (third attempt!)
Strengthened nuc from a double nuc: frame of capped brood plus bees plus air freshener..

Q in above double nuc laying like clappers - nearly 100% of frame.. Must take a picture..

Then it rained and rained and rained...