What did you do in the Apiary today?

[The Poot]

Returning from adding a bit of syrup to a nuc, I found a queen hornet, quite exhausted in the window of my garage. I don’t know how long she’d been there. I (carefully) took her outside and she fell onto my lawn.
I drained the few last drops of syrup from the container in front of her and she burrowed into the grass and drank - bum in the air!
She emerged, gave herself a right good clean up, did a practice beat of her wings, then flew - around my head(!) then gradually upwards until she’d reoriented- then up up and away! Made my day.

 

[Erichalfbee]

She emerged, gave herself a right good clean up, did a practice beat of her wings, then flew - around my head(!)

She stopped to thank you

 

[Jengles]

I've a big hive in the garden which has always been a bit tempermental, but now the queen's failing and they've gone full psycho. I was ok with them covering my veil during inspection, but I drew the line when one attacked the dog 20 yards from the hive, on the other side of a 6 ft fence.

They've been evicted to the nearby field with a ripe queencell from a much calmer hive. It was very interesting to notice the distict smell of banana while they were trying to murder me during the move!

Entrance stuffed with grass. Will leave them alone for 3 weeks with fingers crossed. Hopefully any foragers returning to the original site with find a home in the nicer hives and chill out a bit.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I really don't know but suspect the queen cell to swarm time is too short for that to have been the cause.
Did you check thoroughly for other cells?

I’d only just been through the hive and there was no brood at all.

 

[Beth]

Regarding the mated BF queen I rescued yesterday and put in a cage in an older nuc with older bees and defo Q- . They've been in limbo, I was planning a unite with them.

She has no attendants because they were following me around the bee yard trying to get in the cage and kill her .
I dribbled syrup on the cage to hopefully give her a feed.

Will older flying bees revert to attendants? The youngest in this nuc will be about 12 days old. If I pin the cage between combs of honey or nectar, can she feed herself?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Do you have another colony you could make a proper nuc up with brood for your new queen and shake the other out?

 

[Beth]

Possibly. I'm going to check a hive that requeened about 4 weeks ago and appears to be up and running. The weather has only just become shakeable. If I had shook them out anytime over the last few weeks, they would have died of hypothermia. Hence just in limbo on syrup.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

merged a nice nuc above a q- hive after failed re-queen exercise

 

[madasafish]

Yesterday put test frames in two nucs.
Today found virgin/? mated queens on the open brood in each.. That simplifies queen finding - difficult in the horrible weather we have had. Marked both..
Found virgin?/mated queen in a full hive- one "donated" to me when Q-

Set up nicot queen rearing in another hive: hope it works this time and bees do not eat eggs as per last two. Better weather should help.
Reorganised cloake board starter/finisher double nuc.

Swarm I collected and housed two days ago has absconded.. Where to? Lots of trees around...

 

[user 819]

Returning from adding a bit of syrup to a nuc, I found a queen hornet, quite exhausted in the window of my garage. I don’t know how long she’d been there. I (carefully) took her outside and she fell onto my lawn.
I drained the few last drops of syrup from the container in front of her and she burrowed into the grass and drank - bum in the air!
She emerged, gave herself a right good clean up, did a practice beat of her wings, then flew - around my head(!) then gradually upwards until she’d reoriented- then up up and away! Made my day.

Nice to be appreciated and thanked by nature, good things come to those who do good deeds.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Stuck some (empty) brood boxes around various plants in garden (not apiray) to stop rabbits eating the leaves

 

[Parsonage Bees]

As the saying goes, to assume the age of QCs can make an *** out of . . . . well, the beekeeper.

Thinned out the swarm cells in a colony I checked on Sunday, nuced the queen and assumed all the cells were the same age, mostly open, so the capped ones were just capped.
No. Checked the thinned out QCs and 2 of them emerged in my hand.
Should have pulled down the capped ones when I found them.
Ran them both in the entrance of a Q- nuc. Let them sort it out.

 

[Beth]

Delighted to see Hive 1 with brood in both boxes, from either a bought or home bred queen. Not going fishing to find out which. I pulled 2 shallow frames from them to make a nuc for a mated Q arriving tomorrow.
I also put a frame of their brood and another of honey in the old nuc who are playing host to the rescued Q. I planned to sit her next to the brood (in her cage with the end plugged with a wad of wax and honey).Time release. Well the buggers wasted no time, she no doubt dove for cover while I was faffing with the badly made push-in cage. The rest were busy mopping up honey running from the honey frame.
I put a bit of syrup in their feeder and shut them up. Time will tell.

I also realised something stupid. I'm sure Hive 3 rejected that Q because there was no open brood to emit their pheromone. Like saying here's a mated queen but oh look there's no brood pheromone in the hive, she must be rubbish. Doh!

 

[gregior]

Something i've noticed is that when the bees first start to make swarm preps they build one or 2 cells a couple of days before the main cell building commences, i'm guessing these will be the virgins to go with the first cast. No proof just something i noticed.

As the saying goes, to assume the age of QCs can make an *** out of . . . . well, the beekeeper.

Thinned out the swarm cells in a colony I checked on Sunday, nuced the queen and assumed all the cells were the same age, mostly open, so the capped ones were just capped.
No. Checked the thinned out QCs and 2 of them emerged in my hand.
Should have pulled down the capped ones when I found them.
Ran them both in the entrance of a Q- nuc. Let them sort it out.

View attachment 40405

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Something i've noticed is that when the bees first start to make swarm preps they build one or 2 cells a couple of days before the main cell building commences, i'm guessing these will be the virgins to go with the first cast. No proof just something i noticed.

Thinking again, QC had been capped 3-4 days but queen still there and laying. Small larva found today. 8-10 QCs so you'd think swarm rather than supercedure.
Plus I must have missed eggs in cups at the previous inspection.
You never can tell with bees!

Watched a BIBBA video with Roger Patterson yesterday and he has seen young queens emerging with damaged wings. Not seen it myself but then I've only got a couple of hives atm. ?

 

[JamezF]

Finally had a visit from the SBI today, after several postponements due to poor weather. Got the all clear which is obviously pleasing, though it looks like the frames in one of the lower boxes in one double brood are really not in good shape and I need to make a plan to get the bees out and the frames replaced.

We arrived at the second apiary that she wanted to visit to find the bait hive empty, but a new swarm in a stack of kit I keep on-site for "emergencies" as a fully made-up hive. A quick peek suggested that they've barely been there a day or two (judging by the amount of comb drawn). Last year's swarm also looks as though it might be making swarm preparations, so we'll confirm on Saturday and nuc the queen if necessary.

James

 

[solokhumbu]

What a pain.
Is there robbing in apiaries there?

My bees are very fiesty at the moment in spite of taking the very greatest care to examine gently etc etc. I am very unhappy. They just get worse year on year. Even stung the bee inspector. I have two new queens on their way and I hope to restart at another apiary.

 

[Swarm]

Watched a BIBBA video with Roger Patterson yesterday and he has seen young queens emerging with damaged wings. Not seen it myself but then I've only got a couple of hives atm. ?

Friend of mine had one in his incubator, it didn't look like DWV just stunted wings.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

checked the Gelli and Ty Uchaf hives, one hive which had a queen cell in which would have emerged about four/five weeks ago has now got eight frames of brood, found and marked the queen - first green queen of the season. bramble nectar and pollen now piling in at all apiaries.

 

[Sutty]

Just checked the hives in my garden and they are all humming nicely