What did you do in the Apiary today?

[madasafish]

19C Saturday. United two Apideas: one Q+, other Q- using aerosol spray. Moved the Q- one into Apidea super .
All OK this am but raining heavily

 

[Moobee]

Nipping out to the village today to collect a couple of boxes of fondant from the local bakers. Just shows how much price gouging is going on - I’ve seen 12.5k boxes on line for nearly thirty quid

 

[Garry R]

I bought fondant at the honey show last year at a reasonable price - avoiding the carriage helps but can't remember the supplier's name. Will be there again this year - anyone on the forum going with a chance of meeting up and putting faces to names!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Me

 

[Garry R]

Will you be the one wearing a red rose in your beekeeping veil?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

between her teeth maybe

 

[Erichalfbee]

Will you be the one wearing a red rose in your beekeeping veil?

I will be carrying a heavy bag of medlars for @pargyle

 

[pargyle]

I will be carrying a heavy bag of medlars for @pargyle

...which is really helepful as I think I'm now down to the last couple of jars of last years medlar jelly ... I like it .. on a bit of toast or a croissant ... makes a change from honey or marmalade.

 

[Erichalfbee]

...which is really helepful as I think I'm now down to the last couple of jars of last years medlar jelly ... I like it .. on a bit of toast or a croissant ... makes a change from honey or marmalade.

The medlars and the cooking apple next door always do well and the crows leave them alone. All the pears have been stolen. The apples are netted and safe for now.
Wasps are starting on the grapes in the tunnel.

 

[pargyle]

The medlars and the cooking apple next door always do well and the crows leave them alone. All the pears have been stolen. The apples are netted and safe for now.
Wasps are starting on the grapes in the tunnel.

What or who would want to eat a medlar ...just the look of them would put anyone off ! No wonder the French name for them is Cul de Chien. It makes you wonder how nature managed to evolve such a fruit and what mechanism the tree has for spreading it's population far and wide. Or perhaps .. in the past ...there were medlar eating creatures that were obviously blind ...

And who in their right mind was the first person to stick a spoon into a well bletted medar and declare it was worth eating ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

What or who would want to eat a medlar

Parrots and fruit bats, seemingly.

 

[pargyle]

Parrots and fruit bats, seemingly.

Parrots will eat anything and fruit bats are nearly blind so that's probably the medlars target spreader .... not that many free living parrots in the northern hemisphere though !!

 

[Moobee]

I bought fondant at the honey show last year at a reasonable price - avoiding the carriage helps but can't remember the supplier's name. Will be there again this year - anyone on the forum going with a chance of meeting up and putting faces to names!

Me on Friday.

 

[Vanterrier]

Wrapped all three hives in bubble type insulation, triple layers, as night time temperatures forecast around 2c in coming nights.
Looks neat, wind and rain proof so I'm pleased to get that done. Access to feeders below PIR insulated roofs is easily achieved too.
K

 

[The Poot]

Vape no 3

 

[Moobee]

Fed the bees in the out apiary. Wasps still around & bees a bit tetchy so topped up the traps.
One hive is possibly queenless or has a newly mated queen not yet laying as they’re very calm and there’s cell polishing going on and pollen coming in. Lots of sealed brood but no eggs or larvae. Worse case scenario, I have a nuc with a new queen who’s laying well that I can unite with.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Vape no 3

Just started vape no. 1 on 54 colonies in 9 apiaries, just had enough battery power to finish mainly because I managed to maintain the InstantVap temperature between apiaries.

 

[The Poot]

Just started vape no. 1 on 54 colonies in 9 apiaries, just had enough battery power to finish mainly because I managed to maintain the InstantVap temperature between apiaries.

Rather you than me. I’d had enough after only five colonies! The Varrox works well but is a little laborious….

 

[Newbeeneil]

Rather you than me. I’d had enough after only five colonies! The Varrox works well but is a little laborious….

The InstantVap is so much easier than the Varrox. I did 22 colonies in my main apiary in under 40 minutes.
In fact driving from apiary to apiary takes longer than the vaping.

 

[Moobee]

Just started vape no. 1 on 54 colonies in 9 apiaries, just had enough battery power to finish mainly because I managed to maintain the InstantVap temperature between apiaries.

I’ve been turning mine off between hives & find that the battery loses power pretty fast.