What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Bee’s Knees]

I wouldn't worry, but it seems almost compulsory on here that you need to get your panties in a knot if you get a glimpse of the sun at this time of year. It would help if we knew where you were.
Best way to learn about hefting is to pile on the feed in the autumn so that the hives feel naimed down, then if you keep hefting throughout the winter you get to know how the hives feel as stores get depleted.
Also use the finger trick - if you need three fingers to lift the hive half an inch off the stand, they're packed with stores, only two, they are OK, but be prepared to supplementary feed. Only one finger, get feeding sharpish.

I am in Cheshire.

What if they are WBC hives, I would imagine they are already twice the weight of a National when hefting?

Can I hive really get through a whole winters worth of stores in late autumn just because it’s been a bit drier than normal?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What if they are WBC hives, I would imagine they are already twice the weight of a National when hefting?

That's why ywe don't talk about actual weights, you just need to practice on your chosen hive format so you know what very light, light, OK, heavy and very heavy feels like.

Can I hive really get through a whole winters worth of stores in late autumn just because it’s been a bit drier than normal?

doubtful - unless they weren't properly fed to start with

 

[Bee’s Knees]

That's why ywe don't talk about actual weights, you just need to practice on your chosen hive format so you know what very light, light, OK, heavy and very heavy feels like.

doubtful - unless they weren't properly fed to start with

I gave each hive a top up of 12L of sugar syrup and each hive was pretty full.
They are also on 14x12 so I take it they should have enough stores.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I gave each hive a top up of 12L of sugar syrup and each hive was pretty full.
They are also on 14x12 so I take it they should have enough stores.

I would think so

 

[JamezF]

you need to get your panties in a knot if you get a glimpse of the sun at this time of year.

After three weeks of permanent, unbroken cloud? I did

James

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I suspect @Penninetrader might have been wondering if the donor was in the habit of making timber equine gifts

As they say these days, "Beware geeks bearing GIFs".

James

I recall as a youth reading the magazines in the barbers while waiting my turn for a haircut. One of the young ladies in the centre spread was allegedly from the Mediterranean and the caption said she was a Greek baring gifts.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I wouldn't worry, but it seems almost compulsory on here that you need to get your panties in a knot if you get a glimpse of the sun at this time of year. It would help if we knew where you were.
Best way to learn about hefting is to pile on the feed in the autumn so that the hives feel naimed down, then if you keep hefting throughout the winter you get to know how the hives feel as stores get depleted.
Also use the finger trick - if you need three fingers to lift the hive half an inch off the stand, they're packed with stores, only two, they are OK, but be prepared to supplementary feed. Only one finger, get feeding sharpish.

Nowadays I'm lucky to be able to lift mine at all when full. Using a luggage scale is helpful as they provide a decent handhold.

 

[The Poot]

Not if the science is to be believed ... they need to keep the hive temperature up so tend to use more stores if they are cold ... if you have not got insulation on your hives - good time to get it on and keep it on.

Ah but is the science settled on that?
All hives are poly with additional insulation, but had become lighter over the past week or so. You stated that you could hardly lift yours and mine were like that a couple of weeks ago, but not now. I reckoned that all the flying with little or no return was consuming stores much faster than a clustered colony would. (I suppose I must also bow to the science that reckoned clustering was cruel?)

 

[The Poot]

I recall as a youth reading the magazines in the barbers while waiting my turn for a haircut. One of the young ladies in the centre spread was allegedly from the Mediterranean and the caption said she was a Greek baring gifts.

Oh Mr. John, that’s rude! Mine only had Horse and Hound…..

 

[JamezF]

Ah but is the science settled on that?

I suspect it's actually quite a complex question. The amount of brood must presumably be a factor, but how exactly? Without any brood there's no need for the core temperature of the hive to be anywhere near as warm as it would be if there is brood, but there have also been suggestions that having brood during colder periods assists with thermoregulation.

Neither do I know whether it's a given that if it's sufficiently mild for the bees not to cluster that they will definitely use more (or less) stores than if they did. Perhaps there's some sort of "sweet spot" between clustering and large numbers flying where they consume least stores?

James

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

From what the keeper said, they have a basic level of intelligence,

spiders

That was a little reminder of a great read for me some time ago: Children of time, Adrian Tchaikowsky

 

[pargyle]

Ah but is the science settled on that?
All hives are poly with additional insulation, but had become lighter over the past week or so. You stated that you could hardly lift yours and mine were like that a couple of weeks ago, but not now. I reckoned that all the flying with little or no return was consuming stores much faster than a clustered colony would. (I suppose I must also bow to the science that reckoned clustering was cruel?)

Interesting .. mine have been flying quite a lot but I was hefting this evening and still nailed to the ground - they are 14 x 12 Paynes polys with insulation above the crownboard. Mine are small black bees from Ceri Morgan queens in West Wales and I do find them very frugal .. if yours feel light then it's a no brainer to top them up. It's still going to be mild this weekend so you could get some syrup into them - it's turning colder as the week progresses though as you say so a small window.

 

[pargyle]

I suspect it's actually quite a complex question. The amount of brood must presumably be a factor, but how exactly? Without any brood there's no need for the core temperature of the hive to be anywhere near as warm as it would be if there is brood, but there have also been suggestions that having brood during colder periods assists with thermoregulation.

Neither do I know whether it's a given that if it's sufficiently mild for the bees not to cluster that they will definitely use more (or less) stores than if they did. Perhaps there's some sort of "sweet spot" between clustering and large numbers flying where they consume least stores?

James

Where is Derek Mitchell when you need him ? I hear he's looking for his next bee related project ! There's probably a PhD student out there looking for a thesis ... trouble is finding funding for something with little commercial value these days ... hard sell.

 

[Moobee]

Believe me, if you didn't have to read Virgil's Aeneid in Latin when you were at school, there is much to give thanks for

James

Or Tacitus the Histories

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

1970 was the last year that the Latin and Greek exams required translation from English into a dead language. Pity I wasn't a year younger.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Believe me, if you didn't have to read Virgil's Aeneid in Latin when you were at school, there is much to give thanks for

James

it's was all greek to me.
Although I must say I did rather enjoy my one year of Latin with Noeleen Adams God rest her, in school around 1980

 

[JamezF]

Although I must say I did rather enjoy my one year of Latin with Noeleen Adams God rest her, in school around 1980

I'd guess that you weren't required to endlessly chant the conjugations of dozens of different Latin verbs then. In some cases I can still remember the words, even if I can't recall what they actually meant. I even remember the text book, all about some chap called Caecilius, his wife Metella and her slave Melissa. I think they had a son (Quintus?) and at least one dog, too.

I gave it up as soon as possible.

James

 

[The Poot]

I'd guess that you weren't required to endlessly chant the conjugations of dozens of different Latin verbs then. In some cases I can still remember the words, even if I can't recall what they actually meant. I even remember the text book, all about some chap called Caecilius, his wife Metella and her slave Melissa. I think they had a son (Quintus?) and at least one dog, too.

I gave it up as soon as possible.

James

Chaucer in Olde English did for me…..passed every other paper well at A level, but because I was pitiful in this one I had to fail the lot!

 

[JamezF]

Chaucer in Olde English did for me…..passed every other paper well at A level, but because I was pitiful in this one I had to fail the lot!

Oh, the horrors. The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales was one of my O Level texts. I hated it. I ended up getting better grades in my German and French O Levels than I did in English

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

guess that you weren't required to endlessly chant the conjugations of dozens of different Latin verbs

I was - it's why I and a few others gave it up, I hate chanting by rote, even fast approaching my fifty eighth birthday the times tables gets me into a blue funk - one of that group went on to be a language teacher, and another did carry on with a few other languages (German definitely) but became a pharmacist.
I still look back with fondness on my Latin lessons, Mrs Adams was a really fun teacher but was on the verge of retirement, was head of the sixth and the latin was just a 'sideline' and still stuck to the form of latin teaching that she learnt during the great depression.
In fact my moment of glory came during our honeymoon near Mont St Michel when SWMBO wondered what the big inscription on the abbey wall was about (it was in French and Latin) and I managed, using my cursory knowledge of the two languages to give her a pretty decent translation.
Unfortunateli I messed it all up the next day when we went into a shop in Dinard to buy a baguette and a rotisserie chicken and I inadvertently asked for a spit roasted prostitute.