What did you do in the Apiary today?

[RJC]

Checked on the nucs I split in mid July and a couple of hives that are requeening. Saw a jet black queen on a queen excluder - looked unmated so left her to it. Another queen in a nuc has already filled every cell with eggs! Nice stripy queen.
I could kiss the farmers who’ve planted phacelia locally (one field right by my out apiary) - all the colonies are bringing back purple pollen. They’ve interspersed it with something with white flowers but couldn’t make out what it was.

Buckwheat?

 

[Moobee]

Buckwheat?

Ooh could be!

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Clearer boards in 4 colonies. Much frame shuffling. Mostly the one big colony.
The colony where I nuced the queen last week having found QCs. Leaving the nuc on the other end of the stand meant the foragers knew just where to go and they've robbed the nuc dry. Can't see the queen. !

 

[Moobee]

Lucky you. All our surrounding fields are “improved” (a matter of opinion) grassland. At least the Balsam along the Aeron is left to its own devices.

With virtually no OSR this year and all the other fields nearby just being wheat/barley or maize, this is a nice boost for the back end of the season.

 

[Moobee]

Finished the inspections I abandoned yesterday as it became very cloudy and the bees got very defensive, so I stopped and it started raining within 20 minutes. Some very heavy supers on the home hives so swapped in some foundation just so I can lift them off next time. Beautiful capped comb. Most years I’m lucky if they’ve capped 75%

 

[Garry R]

Clearer boards on. Anything left to bring in the bees can have. A colony which went queenless has now got a mated and laying queen. Never had such a yellow queen so was simple to spot and mark. She looks quite Ukranian with the yellow abdomen and blue thorax!! Laying beautifully.

 

[Penninetrader]

Finally has a day match up with granddaughter and weather combining together here, to go visit bees. Suited in a Smallish suit and ridiculously thick gauntlets just in case. No trepidation at all, though didn't find the smaller gloves till we were packing up. . Even ended up with no gloves holding bees on finger.
Loved it, far better than me at Queen spotting. Found and marked a newly mated and laying well Queen too. Needless to say that hive now houses pink dot Queen Amelia

Had my Ruby with me last week, 12 yrs. First time around bees in XL suit and large gloves. Telling me she was scared whilst sticking her head into the boxes and removing the dead,,,,,priceless. This week she is baby sitting chickens for her pal. Dear child you bring us joy

 

[Penninetrader]

Clearer boards on. Anything left to bring in the bees can have. A colony which went queenless has now got a mated and laying queen. Never had such a yellow queen so was simple to spot and mark. She looks quite Ukranian with the yellow abdomen and blue thorax!! Laying beautifully.

All reports from Somerset seem positive, count your blessings as for many it has been a difficult year

 

[Garry R]

All reports from Somerset seem positive, count your blessings as for many it has been a difficult year

Tricky start - joyous end, Reckon my best hive will have given me 120lbs - and me with a bad back. My osteopath will be none too pleased.

 

[Penninetrader]

Bad back twin here, get some help with the lift . Never laugh in the face of good fortune

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Tricky start - joyous end, Reckon my best hive will have given me 120lbs - and me with a bad back. My osteopath will be none too pleased.

Sure about that? If it's a private treatment he/she will get rich.

 

[Garry R]

Sure about that? If it's a private treatment he/she will get rich.

To be fair she is someone who seems happy when she can discharge a patient after successful treatment and the patient is happy too in feeling pain free.

 

[Anduril]

OK, people may have noticed that I haven't been on the forum of late. I took the family on holiday setting off on the 29th July, for an overnight stay then a flight to Rome. Well it didn't go quite as planned, waiting to be seen by a receptionist at the hotel. I collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. My son assisted with the first one as well as a receptionist and guest. 11 minutes later the paramedics turned up and dealt with a second cardiac arrest and then took me to the San Giovanni Addolorata hospital in Rome and placed in an induced coma for 2 to 2.5 days.
2 days ago under local anesthetic I had an ICD fitted and yesterday after tests, the unit is working perfectly. Just a waiting gamet to find out when I can return to the UK, luckily I have only lost 1 day of memory.

 

[Bettenham]

OK, people may have noticed that I haven't been on the forum of late. I took the family on holiday setting off on the 29th July, for an overnight stay then a flight to Rome. Well it didn't go quite as planned, waiting to be seen by a receptionist at the hotel. I collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. My son assisted with the first one as well as a receptionist and guest. 11 minutes later the paramedics turned up and dealt with a second cardiac arrest and then took me to the San Giovanni Addolorata hospital in Rome and placed in an induced coma for 2 to 2.5 days.
2 days ago under local anesthetic I had an ICD fitted and yesterday after tests, the unit is working perfectly. Just a waiting gamet to find out when I can return to the UK, luckily I have only lost 1 day of memory.

Oh gosh. Sounds like you were in the right place at the right time. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

OK, people may have noticed that I haven't been on the forum of late. I took the family on holiday setting off on the 29th July, for an overnight stay then a flight to Rome. Well it didn't go quite as planned, waiting to be seen by a receptionist at the hotel. I collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. ............... luckily I have only lost 1 day of memory.

Heavens. At least you remembered us here
Get well soonest.......
Stan had a heart attack that I swiftly dealt with like a professional , forgot aspirin and took him to the local general hospital that didn't have a Cath Lab instead of hurtling down to Swansea where they would have stented him there and then instead of waiting hours for an ambulance transfer.
At least I know how your nearest and deafest feel.
Take care of yourself and enjoy the food. Are you out of hospital at least?

 

[Anduril]

Heavens. At least you remembered us here
Get well soonest.......
Stan had a heart attack that I swiftly dealt with like a professional , forgot aspirin and took him to the local general hospital that didn't have a Cath Lab instead of hurtling down to Swansea where they would have stented him there and then instead of waiting hours for an ambulance transfer.
At least I know how your nearest and deafest feel.
Take care of yourself and enjoy the food. Are you out of hospital at least?

Still in hospital, awaiting a release date which should hopefully be Monday, conflicting information at the moment, the insurance informed my son they would send over a doctor to assist me back. The hospital have told me no decisions have been made

 

[Vanterrier]

Good luck, take it easy, get well
K

 

[Wilco]

Still in hospital, awaiting a release date which should hopefully be Monday, conflicting information at the moment, the insurance informed my son they would send over a doctor to assist me back. The hospital have told me no decisions have been made

Insurance companies are not interested in your health/you receiving the best care, they simply want to get you back to the UK as fast as they can so they can pawn you off on the NHS regardless of the wait you'll have rather than them have a larger bill for private healthcare. Happened to my mum when she ruptured her cruciate a few years ago - despite the fact she happened to be in the clinic of one of the best cruciate surgeons in Europe who was ready to operate immediately.

I am very glad to hear you were saved and have the ICD. Will you be taking the next year a bit more gently? Sorry your holiday didn't work out quite as you did hoped.

 

[Anduril]

Insurance companies are not interested in your health/you receiving the best care, they simply want to get you back to the UK as fast as they can so they can pawn you off on the NHS regardless of the wait you'll have rather than them have a larger bill for private healthcare. Happened to my mum when she ruptured her cruciate a few years ago - despite the fact she happened to be in the clinic of one of the best cruciate surgeons in Europe who was ready to operate immediately.

I am very glad to hear you were saved and have the ICD. Will you be taking the next year a bit more gently? Sorry your holiday didn't work out quite as you did hoped.

The surgeon said I could run a marathon in a months time, I'll give that one a pass. The hospital have said to me that you are going nowhere until you have had the operation, they have a reputation to maintain. Some of the doctors and nurses don't speak English, so we get by with Google Translate or find common words that fit, others speak good English. This hospital is excellent, but the food is too salty

 

[pargyle]

Goodness Anduril, that must have been an awful shock for you and your family, did you (hindsight being a 100% science) notice any pre-cursors to the heart attack ? Loss of breath, tiredness, chest pain, pain in the arms/shoulder ... as you get older you tend to think some of these are just the symptoms of age but - well worth a visit to the doc if you notice these.

Hopefully you are well on the way to recovery but it's a wake up call to look after yourself, you may not be in the right place at the right time if it happens again.

Thanks for tellling us ... for all of us semi-geriatric beekeepers it's writing on the wall.

Philip