What did you do in the Apiary today?

[gregior]

Bees seem to think it's Spring.

 

[Superlativesoul]

Bees seem to think it's Spring.

Seeing your video I would suggest you make sure all your boxes are aligned with each other ,I'm sure I saw gaps between them .Nice to see the bees flying
John.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Yesterday I went to the further away apiary with my InstantVap. I've boasted before about how it does x hives in x minutes on one battery. Turns out it doesn't manage any hives if you forget to take the batteries. Job done today, in the cool misty air. What happened to the warm temps we were due?

 

[Swarm]

Had jar of honey as a present from a beekeeper who had a couple of colonies off me in Spring this year, he was over the moon that they managed such a good harvest. I felt guilty taking it but he insisted and wants my opinion of his honey, it certainly looks good.

 

[Sutty]

Wandered past the hives this evening after the bees have been very busy during the day to hear a couple of them humming, with fanning bees at the entrances.
That will be the quick-setting ivy honey that they then "can't use".
Amazing all my colonies aren't packed with it after foraging on ivy over a number of years!

 

[JamezF]

This morning I visited the unoccupied house numbered "20" in this image from Google Earth, to help move the last three hives from the garden, which is about 20m long by 5m wide at the most. The lady who was taking the hives over had tried to move one by herself about a week ago, but the floor turned out to be rotten and she got stung quite a few times, so very sensibly asked some of us to help to shift the remainder.



I was amazed to hear that originally the garden contained forty hives! This is in the middle of a suburban area, so houses all around although there are allotments beyond the end of the garden.

Two of the hives were WBCs which had seen better days but were beautifully made. I have no wish to keep bees in a WBC, but I'd quite happily have had one of those two and made the necessary repairs just because it was so nice to look at.

James

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Drone cappings dropping out of one of my colonies. In November, not encouraging.

 

[Sutty]

Drone cappings dropping out of one of my colonies. In November, not encouraging.

I've never seen fragments big enough to tell the difference!

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I've never seen fragments big enough to tell the difference!

I hope I'm wrong. Varroa lower right for scale.
Thin, biscuit coloured, dome shape.
I cleared the slide at the beginning of the month to do a drop count.
Last went in 24 days ago, saw marked queen. ?

 

[JamezF]

Even if you have parts of cappings from drone cells on the floor, that doesn't mean you have an emerged drone in the colony?

James

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Even if you have parts of cappings from drone cells on the floor, that doesn't mean you have an emerged drone in the colony?

James

I had one a few years ago where I saw drones flying on warm days overwinter. They limped on into April with the queen laying some worker brood and the beekeeper hoping they would supercede.
At worst they can look after the comb until spring and we'll find out.
Paid actual money for this queen to improve the flock. She's looked good since introducing her in early August. Time will tell.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm feeling rather inadequate knowing that there are people who can distinguish between a flake of capping from a worker cell and a drone cell

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I'm feeling rather inadequate knowing that there are people who can distinguish between a flake of capping from a worker cell and a drone cell

I could go in and check. . . . Oh!

 

[madasafish]

Today after lunchtime , we saw the sun. First time for over two weeks (literally).
Hefted nucs, fed mini nucs. Two small nucs have fallen to wasps..(Total four to date). Still a few wasps around.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Still a few wasps around.

Many on the Ivy here.
The hives are being left alone

 

[Newbeeneil]

Today after lunchtime , we saw the sun. First time for over two weeks (literally).
Hefted nucs, fed mini nucs. Two small nucs have fallen to wasps..(Total four to date). Still a few wasps around.

I’ve lost a few to wasps as well this year.

 

[Penninetrader]

I’ve lost a few to wasps as well this year.

We all seem to take advantage of the yellow ball putting in an appearance, took some unused syrup out of a nuc and replaced with some fondant. The syrup tray had a few slugs hiding there as usual. For the first time I found about 10 Ladybirds on the insulation inside the roof. I left them there for now but obviously turfed out the slugs.

 

[pargyle]

Hefted all mine ... now totally nailed to the floor, can't move them .. would have taken the feeders off but there were still a few bees in there and no suit or gloves and in my lunch break decided I'd been there before and discretion was safer ... Lots of bees visible through the clear crownboard and a fair few flying despite the miserable cloudy weather down here ... Aunty's Cyclonic Gloom apparently ...

 

[E&MBees]

We all seem to take advantage of the yellow ball putting in an appearance, took some unused syrup out of a nuc and replaced with some fondant. The syrup tray had a few slugs hiding there as usual. For the first time I found about 10 Ladybirds on the insulation inside the roof. I left them there for now but obviously turfed out the slugs.

I’ve found some really chunky spiders hiding under the roofs of my bee hives. Bees aren’t bothered, not sure I like them though!

 

[pargyle]

I’ve found some really chunky spiders hiding under the roofs of my bee hives. Bees aren’t bothered, not sure I like them though!

Yes ... those big black ones that look at you with the attitude ... you think I'm going to move ? You are just a human and I'm a SPIDER ...