What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Gilberdyke John]

Beekeeping cannot be done by rote and the calendar - a lot depends on your locality and what forage is available ..

We mentioned RAB only recently. He frequently said exactly that.

 

[pargyle]

We mentioned RAB only recently. He frequently said exactly that.

Yes... He had lots of good advice, usually right. We miss him on here.

 

[The Poot]

Removed final super of the season and checked food stores in the brood box - almost nothing.
Gave them a tub of fondant. Some yellow pollen going in and some balsam bees.
Checked fondants on the other hives and witnessed an absolute feeding frenzy in each one. I wasn’t surprised as nearly everything in the garden has “gone over” and the ivy is still not open. The yellow pollen, I think is from my neighbours large anemone patch.
So, last bits of extracting to do, then it’s vaping and feeding and - it’s all over for the season

 

[Erichalfbee]

checked food stores in the brood box - almost nothing

Same here in most of the colonies
Can’t bear leaving the bees with none of their honey so the light colonies got supers nadired a few weeks ago.

 

[The Poot]

Same here in most of the colonies
Can’t bear leaving the bees with none of their honey so the light colonies got supers nadired a few weeks ago.

You’re more organised than me. I’ll be feeding unripe honey back, once I’ve spun the last four supers tomorrow.
Their urgency in the fondant tubs was a little alarming.
One colony though, has seven frames of honey in the brood box, having ignored their supers….!

 

[pargyle]

You’re more organised than me. I’ll be feeding unripe honey back, once I’ve spun the last four supers tomorrow.
Their urgency in the fondant tubs was a little alarming.
One colony though, has seven frames of honey in the brood box, having ignored their supers….!

That's rather a lot of frames of honey to have in the brood box .. if you have colonies desperate for stores I would be redistributing 5 of those 7 frames ... plenty of time for them all to build up their stores for winter - we are barely in Autumn.

 

[Erichalfbee]

That's rather a lot of frames of honey to have in the brood box .. if you have colonies desperate for stores I would be redistributing 5 of those 7 frames ... plenty of time for them all to build up their stores for winter - we are barely in Autumn.

Depends where you are. The balsam is still out here but even on a half sunny day the bees aren't mad on it so I guess the humidity and temperature just aren't right. Ivy is maybe two or three weeks away and most years it rains. I have put pollen sub on the swarm on the roof...or rather Stan did. I don't go up there

 

[pargyle]

Depends where you are. The balsam is still out here but even on a half sunny day the bees aren't mad on it so I guess the humidity and temperature just aren't right. Ivy is maybe two or three weeks away and most years it rains. I have put pollen sub on the swarm on the roof...or rather Stan did. I don't go up there

Poots in Dorset so not dissimilar to me up here in Fareham (we are perhaps a bit warmer and less wet & windy as a result of the hill behind us and the Isle of Wight in front). My bees are flying and even in the miserable drizzle were coming back with some interesting pollen baskets (Goodness only knows what they are finding but there are lots of exotic plants in gardens around here).

You are right though ... local conditions can vary within even a few miles and advice on forage should always be treated as location centric. The Ivy here is still weeks away.. it's usually October before it really breaks and even then it's weather dependent (temperature mostly I suspect) - it seems to like a short period of cold weather and then some warmth and a bit of sun to be a really good year for the Ivy. I'm rather hoping the present colder spell and the predicted warm spell at the end of the month will do the trick.

 

[Niv]

Removed the 'demaree' BBs (laden with honey) and swapped out some empty frames in active BBs with the stored honey and put the rest in store for later feeding.
Continued labelling up jarred honey - looks like this will be my biggest crop to date (with one of the lowest number of hives in a season).

 

[The Poot]

Poots in Dorset so not dissimilar to me up here in Fareham (we are perhaps a bit warmer and less wet & windy as a result of the hill behind us and the Isle of Wight in front). My bees are flying and even in the miserable drizzle were coming back with some interesting pollen baskets (Goodness only knows what they are finding but there are lots of exotic plants in gardens around here).

You are right though ... local conditions can vary within even a few miles and advice on forage should always be treated as location centric. The Ivy here is still weeks away.. it's usually October before it really breaks and even then it's weather dependent (temperature mostly I suspect) - it seems to like a short period of cold weather and then some warmth and a bit of sun to be a really good year for the Ivy. I'm rather hoping the present colder spell and the predicted warm spell at the end of the month will do the trick.

I’m surrounded by fields of cut grass and there are only a few gardens in the village to yield Autumn scrumptiousness.
It’s a largely clay, somewhat elevated vale, but there are lots of field hedges which are bramble rich. This time of year they tend to be brutally cut back with the loss of the bird food too.
There has been a real dearth of income for the bees recently, coupled with bad weather and without adding food to the hives, as the supers are removed, the bees would be in a very difficult position.
This year is the worst I’ve known for late Summer and it’s a case of keeping things going until the ivy kicks in.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’m surrounded by fields of cut grass

Yep!
Improved grassland and barbered hedges.

 

[Moobee]

Bees going nuts in the sunshine after the tropical downpours. Similar to @pargyle , lots of interesting pollen coming in. Heading to the IOW for a few days then back Friday for another round of vaping…

 

[Nannysbees]

Wasps out in droves!! Reduced entrances right down

 

[Moobee]

Has anyone used cream of tartar to invert syrup? Asking for a friend….

 

[The Poot]

Wasps out in droves!! Reduced entrances right down

Same here. Been out and about today and found the nest………

 

[Nannysbees]

Same here. Been out and about today and found the nest………

Did you!!!! How did you track it down?

 

[The Poot]

Did you!!!! How did you track it down?

Dog walking. It’s taken a while to find. I’ve walked differing routes this last week or so and just keep an eye open for wasp movement. As in prior years, this one is in the ground, in a low bank under a hedge, beside a minor road without a pavement. There was a continual stream of dozens going in and coming out at ankle level! I’m surprised my dogs didn’t get them caught in their fur. So….tonight’s the night.

 

[MrMouse]

Significant wasp pressure here in Dorset, too. Sadly no time to go nest hunting so conservative measures only!

 

[Moobee]

Just back from a week in the IOW so nipped to the out apiary to do another round of vaping.
One hive had a queen last week and now appears to have another wandering around as I found a (missed) open queen cell , plenty of eggs and brood but couldn't find any queens so left them to fight it out.
Hives in one apiary very stroppy and a fair few wasps about but the OMFs seem to be keeping them at bay.
All hives and nucs have good stores so will nadir supers after last round of vaping and then feed if needed. Nearby field of sunflowers and buckwheat so plenty of pollen and nectar coming in at the moment.

 

[Nannysbees]

Just watched