What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Ely]

Today I dribbled.

That started happening to me once I hit my 40s

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

First opportunity to venture up to the range apiary, back of the truck loaded with ropes, tools and the new battery chainsaw as I'd had reports that it was carnage in that area after the storms. Although the track up to the range had been cleared as soon as I went through the carpark and turned into the track that goes to the top of the quarry, this:

And still nearly half a mile to the bees!
It wasn't too bad and the chainsaw made short work of it, although I shall soon have two large trees that are slowly leaning over the track and shall need removing, but as I had plenty of work clearing my own garden I left them for now.
The clearing work I've done around the apiary the last few years meant any trees down near the hives were far enough away and beyond the hives so were no bother. All hives were fine.
Glad to say that just the additional brick on the polynuc was enough to keep it in place (I'd forgotten to strap it) if there are any brick afficionados out there, the bricks were produced at two of our local coalmines - Cwmgors and Amanford.
the apiary is pretty high up and fairly exposed but it seems that the surrounding trees work as a good windbreak and I've noticed before how sheltered it is up there - even during rough weather.

 

[Erichalfbee]

You’ve got a few hives up there.

 

[Penninetrader]

First opportunity to venture up to the range apiary, back of the truck loaded with ropes, tools and the new battery chainsaw as I'd had reports that it was carnage in that area after the storms. Although the track up to the range had been cleared as soon as I went through the carpark and turned into the track that goes to the top of the quarry, this:
View attachment 41760View attachment 41761
And still nearly half a mile to the bees!
It wasn't too bad and the chainsaw made short work of it, although I shall soon have two large trees that are slowly leaning over the track and shall need removing, but as I had plenty of work clearing my own garden I left them for now.
The clearing work I've done around the apiary the last few years meant any trees down near the hives were far enough away and beyond the hives so were no bother. All hives were fine.
Glad to say that just the additional brick on the polynuc was enough to keep it in place (I'd forgotten to strap it) if there are any brick afficionados out there, the bricks were produced at two of our local coalmines - Cwmgors and Amanford.
the apiary is pretty high up and fairly exposed but it seems that the surrounding trees work as a good windbreak and I've noticed before how sheltered it is up there - even during rough weather.
View attachment 41762View attachment 41763View attachment 41764

Those bricks, 1830's 50's ? On second look probably later,

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Those bricks, 1830's 50's ? On second look probably later,

early 1900s probably

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You’ve got a few hives up there.

and room for more if I wanted, It's not the best of apiaries, but it's a lovely quiet haven, miles from anywhere, hidden and secure and fairly productive, even this year - you have to be careful early season as it's a few weeks behind the other apiaries and doesn't always build up spring stores before being hit by a harsh June gap. It's my Sunday chillout apiary during the season.

 

[Penninetrader]

early 1900s probably

Course clay, utility bricks. It would appear that chainsaw arrived just in time. Good that your hives survived but also your pruning prep work clearly paid off.

 

[JamezF]

I can get into my bee shed again!

Whilst I appreciate that many of you won't quite share my excitement at the reinstatement of full access to my apiary storage facility, the lack of it had become a bit of a nuisance. Recently the shed has become something of a dumping ground for all things bee-related, culminating in not even being able to get a foot through the doorway last week before the storm. The unfortunate side-effect of this behaviour has been that I have slowly ended up with jobs backing up in the workshop that required access to things I could not reach from doorway of the shed, to the point where the workshop became a three-dimensional version of one of those sliding block puzzles where the first thing I had to do before attempting any job was to shuffle all the half-finished projects around to make space where I needed it. I'm not entirely sure how this ends up happening so regularly. I suspect that the usual laws governing spacetime don't apply in workshops. Perhaps they're where matter re-enters the universe after falling into a black hole?

This afternoon I reorganised everything in the covered storage area adjoining the shed which allowed me to move a load more kit into it from the shed (and some empty supers that have been stacked in the house since I extracted them). I do now need to find a new space for my overflow frame storage, but that really shouldn't be a problem compared with finding a place for a load of wet supers, for instance. And it's only the one thing, which can quite happily be left outside for a while, covered in a tarp.

I should even be able to finish off possibly half a dozen jobs waiting in the workshop too.

James

 

[MrMouse]

Treated all of my hives with OA - instantvap lite is brilliant!
Some bees flying
All 10 colonies remain heavy and alive.

 

[Erichalfbee]

instantvap lite is brilliant!

It sure is
Took me back to threads like THIS

 

[E&MBees]

Completed winter treatment, all hefting ok. A few bees flying, the rest were active when I peered through the poly crown board.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

trickled

 

[drex]

Been on the tablets for that for months. They work well.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Counted the varroa drop following OAD 7 days ago.
800v, 1000v, 1500v totals where alarming.
Hope they make it through.

 

[The Poot]

Vaped.

 

[Swarm]

Cleaned up the last blocks of wax, now have ten kilos to trade in next Spring.

 

[ericbeaumont]

800v, 1000v, 1500v

What was the late summer treatment?

 

[NickM]

Continued to clear up after Storm Bert, which occurred when I was on holiday and flooded the apiary. The stand with the three production hives floated then tipped into the water, still strapped together. Pete Davis from the Bath Beekepers righted them (thank you Pete for coming to the rescue), and when I returned I found all three queens had survived.

However today's Oxalic trickle showed one colony OK, one low on numbers, and the third queen dead on the hive floor with the rest of her bees. Luckily there are two more queens in nucs as backups come the spring.

I will move the small colony to my cosiest poly nuc, then when we get a cold spell I will move them all to a higher spot.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

What was the late summer treatment?

Don't worry, not Apivar fail.
Except for the worst one they were treated with Apiguard in September. The worst 1500v hive was a late supercedure/split so decided not to treat while getting mated and established.
The 1000v hive had a high mite drop coming out of last winter so put Apivar in for a few weeks in April before supers needed. They were a big productive hive all year.
A couple of others are swarms. Going to try OAD early to clean out the mites they arrive with, not done this so far.
One hive shows brood emerging, otherwise the others could be broodless.
Considering this oxalic acid/glycerol sponge treatment next spring. . . . if they make it through.