todays news

[Bridget]

Treated with OA today and found one of my two small colonies has succumbed. Not surprised as it was very small. Plenty of stores and fondant which had been used. Found the queen, she was rather small. the other colony is also small, only about 2 - 3 seams. they are still uncapping stores and haven't touched the fondant. It's been very wet and cold here for quite a while so despite my love of skiing I,m hoping for an early spring to have a chance of that wee colony surviving.


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[brothermoo]

Went to the out apiary, first time since high winds, and lucky enough the hive still stands! It's only a nuc (although double brood) treated with OA over the 3 seams and fed fondant.
1945

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[Mellifera Crofter]

Phew! I think you were lucky, Brothermoo. Is it in a sheltered spot? That hive looks terribly vulnerable to me - not just to wind, but also to animals that might bump it over.
Kitta

[brothermoo]

Yeah it is a good sheltered spot in a field that is being slowly converted to an orchard. Hope they build up well in spring so that I can get them into normal boxes for a wider base, animals are a concern until then!
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[Mellifera Crofter]

...animals are a concern until then!
...
Please strap up that hive, Brothermoo! Anchor the straps into the ground with sturdy tent pegs or something like that.
Kitta

[Mellifera Crofter]

... or put it on a pallet and strap the hive to the pallet.

[brothermoo]

Ok just for you ;)

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[GRIZZLY]

All my colonies out and flying yesterday. Hope the weather doesn't turn bad like last year. I must check their store level - they could be using quite a lot due to the extra activity.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Ok just for you ;)

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Thank you, Brothermoo! I'm happy now.

[snimmo243]

Look what I found right outside one of my hives today http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/25/ypupemam.jpg

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[gavin]

Way to go! Give them a bit of sun and 8C and the bees will be taking home orange pollen loads for 2014's babies. Well ahead of most years. Far ahead of last:

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?453-todays-news/page90

but given that the weather will be cold for a while will spring beat 2012?

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/entry.php?209-Snowdrop-frenzy-at-the-apiary

I must visit mine this weekend.

[Trog]

Our first snowdrop opened on Wednesday (22nd). Given the weather, it probably wishes it hadn't! Even our hardy wee bees won't be venturing out tomorrow ... nor will I, probably! Lots of ferries cancelled in anticipation of yet another storm.

[greengumbo]

I've a single snowdrop out and not much else. Was down in Somerset over the weekend and the bits that were not covered in water had some daffodils open.

[rogerb]

I've got snowdrops and aconites.

But the big job today was moving two hives to higher ground as their stands were well underwater, and only a few inches to go before the base of the hive would start to disappear, had a peek under their quilts and they seemed no worse for their ordeal.

[Adam]

rogerb,
What are your quilts made from?

[rogerb]

Ah, I wish you hadn’t asked that, I’m exposed as a cheap-skate and maltreater of bees; I use an old fleece, I have a big collection of them with dead zips and dryer burns, that live in a polybag, nice and warm in the house. When I have a peek in the “closed season” I take some with me in case I feel any dampness (this happens not more than once or twice a year). So if I do I work out the source, cure it and then give them a fresh dry toasty one. When I have a peek I’m normally looking to see if they have had a go at their block of fondant (I give each hive a small ice cream tub full when I tuck them away).

[gavin]

Not to worry - there are guys here who house their bees in nothing but correx!

My beekeeping career started with secondhand equipment including bits of old carpet with neat flaps in them where the feed hole sits. I'm sure there are guys using that now.

[greengumbo]

Not to worry - there are guys here who house their bees in nothing but correx!

My beekeeping career started with secondhand equipment including bits of old carpet with neat flaps in them where the feed hole sits. I'm sure there are guys using that now.

I have a carpet with hole that I got given when I got a few WBCs ! I admit i didn't use it though. I made a nice eke with kingspan and room for fondant instead.

[Adam]

Not to worry - there are guys here who house their bees in nothing but correx!

.

I do know of such a cruel beekeeper!

[drumgerry]

Well not really today's news but got my place booked on my II course in June a couple of weeks back (been a while since I was last on SBAi) and am counting the days. Drone squishing here we come!

[gavin]

You said that last bit with a wee bit too much enthusiasm for comfort! If you look around at the faces at a queen breeding meeting when they come to that bit, you can find the odd woman looking enthusiastic but the blokes are mostly wincing!

[kevboab]

The ultimate sacrifice. Poor wee guys get such a raw deal.

[drumgerry]

All for the greater good guys! I'll try to keep the relish down to a minimum Gavin!

[fatshark]

Well not really today's news but got my place booked on my II course in June a couple of weeks back (been a while since I was last on SBAi) and am counting the days. Drone squishing here we come!

Which course are you going on drumgerry?

[Ha! … my spellchecker converts drumgerry to drudgery … which seems a bit harsh]

[drumgerry]

Aye poor choice of username on my part eh Fatshark?! The course is the one being given by Michael Collier through the Beeman in Dumfries-shire in June.

[robin118]

How much does the equipment for II cost? I've heard its rather expensive.

[drumgerry]

I only have experience with the kit I bought Robin which is from Dr Schley in Germany and it was around 2,000 Euros. I know there are other brands and even DIY versions - perhaps someone else might give you more information on the subject.

[mbc]

How much does the equipment for II cost? I've heard its rather expensive.

I have a friend who successfully uses home made insemination equipment he picked up from a Polish beekeeper for just over a ton.

[fatshark]

Just back in from a mammoth session painting poly nuc boxes for the coming season. I'd really prefer those "Bee Box" Langstroth poly nucs from Modern Beekeeping to only have handholds on the end panels and to have none of that irritating (from a painting point of view) branding anywhere.

Time for a beer … :p

[drumgerry]

Spraying the buggers is much easier Fatshark!

[fatshark]

I'm sure it is … but that would mean more 'investment' in my beekeeping activities. Painting is also a rather sensitive subject at the moment as there's the minor issue of the hall and landing I keep getting reminded about. Better to keep a very low profile i think ;)

[Wmfd]

Those poly nucs are a faff to paint. I only have had to do one and I've yet to use it in anger. Looks nice in green though.

Yesterday was a joy here in East Anglia, 10C, sun shining and bees flying. I had a quick run around and all six hives still going. Fondant now on all of them, and one taking down about a lb. a week.

I really should get organised on putting together hives and frames. Still some roofs, supers and lots of frames to go.

[Bridget]

Jealous from the Highlands of Scotland


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[Bridget]

Today's News from Sochi -seeing as there's not much else topical on here today.

I thought you might like the small picture from a Sochi blogger - of his breakfast honey in a nice small package, complete with dead bee. Shame when I went back to copy I found there was no way to copy it, so you will have to imagine. Those pesky Russians blocked it I think, along with the pictures of hanging cables, brown tap water and loos seat put on wrong.


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[Bridget]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/07/nytuse6e.jpg
Ah! Bee in honey from Sochi


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[nemphlar]

[QUOTE=Bridget;23746]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/07/nytuse6e.jpg
Ah! Bee in honey from Sochi


LOL I've visited the country a number of times and you wouldn't recognise it as the same place the BBC or CNN report on, free visa available during the Olympics try it

[Bridget]

I gather dead bees in honey is very common in China so maybe the Chinese got the food contract



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[Bridget]

[QUOTE=Bridget;23746]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/07/nytuse6e.jpg
Ah! Bee in honey from Sochi


LOL I've visited the country a number of times and you wouldn't recognise it as the same place the BBC or CNN report on, free visa available during the Olympics try it

I take your point Nemphlar but this is not your normal Russia. The Olympics produces a very different circumstance. build great stadia but forget to install the loo properly and then get slagged by the worlds press cos they use the loo several times a day.


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[Trog]

Perhaps the bee was placed in the pack to prove it was real honey?

[The Drone Ranger]

Could be worse
Might have been a horse in the pasties

[greengumbo]

Bees flying today and the chickens started laying eggs again :)

[Jon]

Checked 10 hives at my allotment apiary for the first time in 5 weeksand signs of life in all of them.
Looking like a better start to the season than this time last year when the penny had just dropped that losses were going to be very heavy.
I have 5 nucs in the garden still alive and kicking as well as 5 apideas.

4 still to check at the association apiary as well as 9 nucs overwintering for beginners.

They are all heavy so no need for any fondant.

[GRIZZLY]

Today we have a mighty wind PLUS driving snow.. The daffodils are nearly out , the snowdrops have been out for weeks and the catkins are waving about on the hazel bushes. We've been sawing up our fallen trees and stacking the logs ready to dry out for next year. My workshop is filling up with new equipment we've been making for our new teaching apiary .

[Jon]

Bloody hell.
just looked behind the shed and the wind had blown the shelving down.

1952

Must have happened earlier this afternoon.
The wind really picked up after midday.
One of the slot shelving uprights had come off tipping 3 nucs and 6 apideas on top of the nuc lower down which tipped over as well.
It was held on with 75mm screws screwed into 4 inch battens so I don't know how that could have failed.
Maybe the uprights came away from the screw heads with the wind rocking it.
It looked like a pile of lego with nucs, apideas, planks and insulation in a pyramid on top of a muddy quagmire.
I discovered this just before dark and got everything back together as best I could.
I closed everything up as I need to fix the shelving and put everything back in place tomorrow.
Will be a bugger working out the order of the apideas.
cross your fingers for the ten queens in that lot.

[prakel]

cross your fingers for the ten queens in that lot.

Best of luck with them, this is a winter I hope we don't see repeated too soon.

[Bridget]

For a moment I was confused cos I saw bees out. then I saw the leaves on the trees so it was taken last year


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[Jon]

Photo was taken on 13th November.

[Pete L]

Best of luck with them, this is a winter I hope we don't see repeated too soon.

Hope your nucs end up okay Jon.

Prakel, i hope we do get more mild winters like this one, better than snow and months on end of freezing cold.

[Jon]

Hopefully all ok unless a queen or two got nipped in the fall.
I think they were only exposed for a couple of hours.

[prakel]

Well, today (so far) is what might be called 'mild'. Precious few days like this in these parts over the last 50 or so days; the clever people with calculators and pretty maps might disagree but I doubt that they've been stood outside trying to work in the almost constant chill of the wind.

[Wmfd]

Day off today, popped into the garden and found myself surrounded by bees making the best of a mild day.

They're even making use of the wallflowers I planted for them.

David

[brothermoo]

Been making hives up over the last few days so my tablesaw has been busy... Thought I would try something from the mike Palmer school of thought and today I made a double nuc box for over-wintering.

It takes 5frames each side (rose OSB)
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[Bridget]

Bees flying at last. Not many but good to se them out for a bit


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[greengumbo]

Heaps of bees out again today. Making my plans for the season ahead now. Saw a bumblebee today and a queen wasp in the garden - firsts for the year.

In non bee related news - last night saw some amazing aurora above our house which complemented a lovely glenlivet 15yo :)1959

[GRIZZLY]

Bees out in force today,taking advantage of the warmer spell. I've also made up some of the double side by side neucs a la Mike Palmer with another b.box on top. Each side will take a full hive split into two boxes. These make good cell builders for Q rearing. Missed the Aurora however. Shameful.

[Jon]

In non bee related news - last night saw some amazing aurora above our house which complemented a lovely glenlivet 15yo :)1959

brilliant photo GG

[fatshark]

Very envious of the aurora GG … no sign of it down here that night. 9 years living in Glasgow and I missed it the one time it appeared there as well. Two trips to Northern Finland, way above the Arctic Circle … snowed all the time I was there :(

On a brighter note … added pollen to colonies today to get them fired up for the OSR. Just a tablespoonful or so on piece of card laid on the top bars. When I checked 6 hours later all were taking it down, and one had finished it. Despite the temperature being about 7 centigrade all day (and raining) the addition of the pollen appears to have really excited the colonies … those I checked were rushing about under the Perspex crown board when I checked about six hours later.

1960

[Mellifera Crofter]

Lovely aurora photo, Greengumbo. If that was taken about 4 in the morning (was it?), then no wonder I've missed it - and happy bees, Fatshark. Did you harvest the pollen yourself last year?
Kitta

[GRIZZLY]

Can't get near the bees for a while having had a foot operation which keeps me off my feet for a least 6 weeks. My wife has said she is going to take them on and I've had offers of help from our association members - which I intend to accept. The bees are flying when they can but the high winds and heavy showers are starting to hamper development, still I suppose they will come good in the long run.

[Bridget]

Can't get near the bees for a while having had a foot operation which keeps me off my feet for a least 6 weeks. My wife has said she is going to take them on and I've had offers of help from our association members - which I intend to accept. The bees are flying when they can but the high winds and heavy showers are starting to hamper development, still I suppose they will come good in the long run.

Good luck with the op Grizzly. Fraser had his ankle fused last winter and was also off his feet for 6 weeks. He was also not meant to lift anything heavy for several months so bear that in mind. It's been worth it - you could see how lame he still was when we were on Colonsay but although it's taken a good year since the op he is now much improved and at last totally off the painkillers which he has been on for years. We skied about 3 weeks ago - his surgeon said he wouldn't ski again so we were very chuffed with that. Worth all the aggro if you get a good result.


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[Mellifera Crofter]

Yes - best wishes from me as well, Grizzly. With Margaret there the bees will still be in good hands. Kitta

[GRIZZLY]

Thanks Bridget and Kitta. Margaret and I are going up to Colonsay again this summer to follow up on queen rearing. I hope to come away with one of Andrews black queens to add some other genes to my bees and help avoid in-breeding. Met Andrew and had a long chat with him at the National honey show last October. I see he is listed as one of the speakers at the BIBBA conference later on in the year.

[Mellifera Crofter]

I hope you'll have better weather this time! K

[brothermoo]

Crocus pollen being carted in by the basket load! Lots of action around the entrance this morning thanks to the sun shining!
More weather like this and I will be transferring my nuc into full sized box :D
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[gavin]

... and elsewhere in Belfast there were Amms piling in the pollen in the sun. Colours and local flora suggest willow, dandelion, a bit of hazel still, and who knows what else! Happy bees getting on with making big colonies in the sunshine.

See you this evening I hope BM.

G.

[brothermoo]

See you this evening I hope BM.

G.

I see you!

1961

Good to have you with us Gav!

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[busybeephilip]

Hmmm.... my bald patch is getting bigger !

[Jon]

I know the feeling Phil. We can't all have a head of hair like Willy B.

[Blackcavebees]

Looks like a good display on the screen

[gavin]

Looks like a good display on the screen

LOL! That Belfast BKA display? They must be proud of it!

As well as some fine top-of-the heads of hair I do see an impressive chin of hair too! And I wasn't meaning that Santa-impersonator either.

You can see my view of the masses in the usual place here (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?702-Communication-in-Bees&p=24092#post24092).

[Jon]

Did anyone mention what a fine display Belfast put on at the conference?

[Blackcavebees]

As well as some fine top-of-the heads of hair I do see an impressive chin of hair too! And I wasn't meaning that Santa-impersonator either.

we call it the Black Cave system, used in queenright colonies, graft the chin hairs mid to late May and after 35 days in an apidea ready to make increase for any bald spots, LOL

[GRIZZLY]

Well we finally got some bees for our Ass'n apiary. One of our senior members has given up beekeeping and has donated his bees and all his kit to the Assn and members. They turned up in WBC's and our first task is to pop them into nationals suitable for teaching beginners. All we have to do now is to give them a health check and check their docility and ease of handling. Just keepng our fingers crossed they are relatively docile for handling by beginners.

[Jon]

You can always requeen asap when you have a few queens available.
As long as they are disease free there should be no problem.

[brothermoo]

Weather is woeful here so I made a trip to the association apiary of course! I needed a day like this so that I could move a stand with two hives underneath a tree with 2 massive dead limbs. Got the work done not a bee in sight.. sometimes the rain is a good thing!
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[busybeephilip]

hey Moo, dont forget the 3 foot or 3 mile rule for moving bees

[Jon]

Where was this - Cultra?

[brothermoo]

Don't worry Phil the bees were placed back on their stand in the same place after the work was completed. Yes Jon cultra.

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[gavin]

I'll be moving bees (to a more secure site ;)) less than 1 km tomorrow. We're in for a few days in which there ought to be next to no foraging, and there will be a colony on the same stand to receive any that do go back, so I'm not anticipating particular problems.

[busybeephilip]

I'll be moving bees (to a more secure site ;)) less than 1 km tomorrow. We're in for a few days in which there ought to be next to no foraging, and there will be a colony on the same stand to receive any that do go back, so I'm not anticipating particular problems.

To be honest I have moved bees about 3/4 a mile with no bees returning to the parent stand. I think that if the bees have plenty of local forage then they dont have to fly far and dont get to learn about their extended environment. If there was a dearth of nectar then the same might not apply as I would imagine the bees will search up to 3 miles.

I recall my bees visiting a rape field (near minnowburn) bringing in loads of yellow pollen and nectar and it was just about 3 miles away, you could follow the bees leaving the hive in a beeline heading into the distance

[busybeephilip]

Where was this - Cultra?

Actually jon, some of those big trees in minnowburn are in a dangerous state, the old neighbour told me that some had blown down and that he had to get some cut down in previous years, one reason why we did not select the 1/2 acre area behind the current apairy site

[crabbitdave]

I watched a German beekeeper online if he was moving his hives under 5km, when took them to the new site he would bump the hive off the ground then block the a reduced entrance with fondant, he never explained why he did that only it work, I don't think if be brave enough to do it


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[gavin]

To be honest I have moved bees about 3/4 a mile with no bees returning to the parent stand. I think that if the bees have plenty of local forage then they dont have to fly far and dont get to learn about their extended environment.

I think that you are right, especially at this time of year when they are reluctant to go far. There is a line of willows between their old home and their new one that was a big draw from their old site, but also lots of forage close by their new one. We plonked them down in their new home at lunch today and it looks really good there. Plenty of warm sun, shelter, lots of mature trees many of which are good for bees, and a wild flower meadow being sown a hundred metres or so away.

I really did mean it is a secure site:
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/perth-kinross/buzz-about-castle-huntly-as-beekeeping-is-to-be-introduced-1.246786

I shouldn't really link to the Courier piece. It was written by an Evening Telegraph journalist then copied - word for word - into the Courier which comes from the same publishing house. The journalist putting his name to this piece of plagiarism then illustrated (or his editor did) the print article (but not the online one) with a very similar composite image as produced by the original paper but used a bumble bee rather than a honeybee to illustrate it. Then the Sunday Post (didn't know it was still publishing) and the Sun took it up as well.

G.

[brothermoo]

Excellent stuff Gavin! There is a 'secure site' near one of our association apiaries, good chance to flood the area with drones we want? Jon? Lol

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[GRIZZLY]

Well it looks as though all my colonies have come thro' the winter - second year running withous any losses. Have to maintain the feeding until the weather warms up a bit and the flowering starts.Anti varroal treatments to start as soon as I can get into the hives and perform a proper inspection. Too cold to transfer the donated ass'n bees from the WBC's into Nationals.Must approach Jon to get them wing tested - they are rumoured to be of black bee origin.

[drumgerry]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/31/zevuna3y.jpg

Pretty early for this sort of thing here in Speyside!

[Bridget]

Oh! I nearly did a proper inspection on Saturday as it was nice and warm but I kept telling myself too early, far too early for the Highlands. You must have been surprised! Maybe I'll have a proper look at the weekend if it's nice again though the breeze off the snowy mountains certainly adds an edge.


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[drumgerry]

Lovely here this afternoon Bridget so I thought I'd take the plunge. Only got half of them done and had to super a couple. Those ones had an upturned poly feeder acting as an eke over the fondant and the bees had built brace/wild comb in the space. Had to cut that off - gutting to have their efforts go to waste in that way. I was removing frames of stores - they'd hardly touched them up to now. Left them with plenty though and they'll need it as things are really starting to get going now. Oh what a contrast to last Spring! (so far!)

[Bridget]

Well here in Livingston in the haar it's foul as I'm sure Lucy has told you.


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[Bridget]

Btw are you feeding syrup or is there no need with all the stores left


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[drumgerry]

No need to feed when they have frame after frame of sealed stores Bridget. I was removing frames of stores and replacing them with empty drawn comb. If they rattle through the stores I've left them I can always replace the frames of stores I took out today. For everyone else please bear in mind that Bridget and I are in areas with no OSR so we're not trying to stimulate a rapid build up which (although I have no experience of this) I believe can be done with little and often syrup feeding in OSR areas.

[snimmo243]

Depending on where in Livingston Bridget is you mind find there is osr within reach

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[Bridget]

No snimmo I just work in Livi three days a week. I wander through the industrial park with its newish trees and shrubs and a few meadow flowers and even in the heat last summer never see a bee. I long to put a hive on the factory roof but there is no way up.
I live the other end of the Spey Valley to Drumgerry


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[Calum]

Grrrr it hate twaddle (http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/03/how-become-beekeeper)

[greengumbo]

Free seeds with some nice species in there. Better than most that are given away from time to time.

www.growwilduk.com/

[Bridget]

Grrrr it hate twaddle (http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/03/how-become-beekeeper)

I nearly took this as an insult until I realised it was link and not a comment one previous comment. No one comes well out of that article, especially the journalist. No wonder I never read the Giardian. Ha ha


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[prakel]

seem to be a LOT of queen wasps about at present.

[GRIZZLY]

Not seen a single wasp yet.

[Neils]

lots round here too.

In other news, I'm moving house. I've now sorted out an apiary for where we are moving to.

It s five minutes away from where we are going to be, in an orchard, with several acres of OSR currently in flower. I'm not moving them now because trying to pack up the house AND extract OSR honey might yet scupper a deal that we've spent a long time trying to make happen.

[Calum]

Bagged the first swarm on Friday evening here.
Transferred it to a hive on Sunday afternoon without issue - the owner must have neglected the dewintering chores for it to go this early.
really lovely carnicas too, not even a twinge of red about them.

they are going at the dandelion like mischief today...
1981

[snimmo243]

I eventually managed to open up both my colonies today, a wee bit disappointed, 3 frames brood in one and 4 in the other plus the same again in stores. Considering I had been using a stimulative syrup to prepare for rape I thought they would be further on! Loads of bees flying and bringing in Orange, yellow and cream pollen. I hope they build up enough to exploit the rape but I suppose on the positive side at least they have survived the winter well

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[madasafish]

Opened up three of my six hives.

Overwintered nuc had 3 1/2 frames of brood.. and two frames honey. Apart from being flighty they were fine. One 3 foot TBH had six frames of brood and 2 of nectar - and were very placid. And the warre has one box full of bees and no stores - feeding fondant. All bringing in loads of willow and orange pollen even at 13C..and a cold wind.

I am inspecting the other hives today with a newbie visitor who has had a TBH for a year and never opened it up... should be fun...


Preparing to switch bees into langstroths in the next 2-3 weeks. When it's warmer...

[greengumbo]

I eventually managed to open up both my colonies today, a wee bit disappointed, 3 frames brood in one and 4 in the other plus the same again in stores. Considering I had been using a stimulative syrup to prepare for rape I thought they would be further on! Loads of bees flying and bringing in Orange, yellow and cream pollen. I hope they build up enough to exploit the rape but I suppose on the positive side at least they have survived the winter well

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What is generally considered strong enough to exploit OSR ? I have 1 small nuc, 1 national with 2 frames brood plus 6 seams bees and 2 langstroths with 8 seams of bees and lots of activity but yet to have a proper look.

[GRIZZLY]

Stick them on the rape and they will certainly build up - might even give you a small surplus at the end.

[greengumbo]

Stick them on the rape and they will certainly build up - might even give you a small surplus at the end.

They are about 400m from a field about to flower (4 - 6 flowers open on the main stems so far on average) and my wife, i.e. chief bee monitor while I'm at work, said they have been piling out in that direction this week.

First Common Carder Bumble pollinating my gooseberries at the weekend and a swallow overhead. Spring kicking into gear ! It is still very dry though.

[Calum]

So the bee loss statistics for a survey carried out in germany:
Deutschland 8.330 107.538 97.658 9.880 9,1
Belgien 27 379 333 46 9,1
Luxemburg 17 661 645 16 2,4
Niederlande 30 672 614 58 11,2
Österreich 50 1.243 1.140 103 10,8
Schweiz 49 1.169 1.051 118 12,4
Land / nr of responses/overwintered colonies/ survived/ losses/ losses in %
no catastrophy in mainland europe it would seem....

[Jon]

And all of that before the neonic ban could have any possible effect!
If those statistics had been put out a year later the low mortality rate would have been put down to the ban.

[prakel]

seem to be a LOT of queen wasps about at present.

1982

[greengumbo]

Went through my two bigger hives today. Both lang polys. 1st had 6 frames solid brood and about 10% drone brood. 3 were solid with stores and one had fresh nectar and pollen. Have swapped a frame of stores with drawn comb as little space left. 2nd hive was similar so I took a frame of brood and donated it to a weak nuc to give it a boost. Also changed a solid slab of stores for drawn comb. A few drones running about in both hives.

Time to super both ?

Also took delivery of the MB anti swarm queen trap which I am actually going to use to do a vertical A/S rather than trap the queen.

[GRIZZLY]

Off to the rape today.Must be about a hundred acres of it just coming into flower.

[fatshark]

Split two nucs off a strong double brood colony that appeared to be thinking about swarming … queen plus stores and a frame of brood into one nuc, large charged QC plus stores and a frame of brood into another, leaving a final fat charged QC in the box. The colony had a clipped Q and a single sealed QC which I knocked down. I was surprised they hadn't done a runner but suspect it's because the weather is still pretty cool.

Set up my bait hives. I'm filling them with foundationless frames this year to encourage them to build comb properly from the outset. What could possibly go wrong :confused:

Rather cool day but the bees were working the OSR hard. I did my first grafting of the season as many of the hives have had drones in for a week or so now. I just did it sitting out in the open … if the take isn't good enough I'll have another go tomorrow morning in the shelter of the passenger seat of the car.

[drumgerry]

Ooooo grafting already! Now you're giving me itchy fingers! Probably a bit early for me in Speyside though!

[fatshark]

Probably a bit early here … it was bl**dy cold. However, the view from the apiary is looking good :o

1983

[Jon]

I hope to get grafting soon. I have a colony with 10 frames of mostly sealed brood which I can set up as a queenright cell raiser shortly.
I don't have drones flying yet but they should be out and about by the middle of May which means I could start grafting from the 1st of the month.

[brothermoo]

Took the kids to see the bees today and they loved it. BIAS and the whole top box is near enough broodnest, they had even drawn out Thee largest cells I have ever seen for drones in the outermost frame which the queen has laid up (where they haven't put all the nectar coming in) no queen cells but a few unused cups so I will check again in a few days to see if there's any more interest in them.

___________________________________
brothermoo.wordpress.com

[nemphlar]

Managed to get through them today for the first time this year, astonished at how far on they are. 2 of them are full and have drones which I hadn't seen out, the other 5 are well forward.
3 out of 4, 5 frame nucs half full of brood, only a 2nd year drone layer in a nuc to spoil the day.
Certainly the best start to a year since varroa arrived, from the comments on here seems to be the norm, a mixture of soft winter and low varroa loading perhaps

[fatshark]

I did my first grafting of the season as many of the hives have had drones in for a week or so now. I just did it sitting out in the open … if the take isn't good enough I'll have another go tomorrow morning in the shelter of the passenger seat of the car.

Take was very poor … so I repeated it this afternoon, in the passenger seat of the car to avoid the squally rain. The bees were beautifully calm which suggests I've done something right in my previous queen selection :) If this lot don't work I'll wait until May … any dates between now and then mean they'll be emerging when I have unavoidable commitments.

[Jon]

I find The first round or two is always tricky with very few starts.
But it is nice even to have half a dozen cells to get started with.

[Little_John]

Bl##dy freezing here in the Lincolnshire Fens - strong north-easterly wind coming in off the North Sea with nothing in the way to stop it ...
But - the girls were still flying today - they're a lot tougher than I am. Spent the day in the shed making more of my six-and-a-half-frame NUCs.
BTW - does anyone on here use a Morris Board ? This'll be my second season using one. Bl##dy clever bit of kit.

[HJBee]

Great day today, 3 hours of brilliant bee keeping, 1st thorough hive inspection of the year, 2 hives complete with queens (clipped & marked). Eggs, larvae, sealed brood, pollen & nectar coming in, supers on. The girls behaved impeccably!

[gavin]

Ditto, H-J

Eeek! I once knew a German professor (the relatively humourless type) with initials H-J, and it has just all come back to me. Start again. Ditto, HJ. I also spent a delightful 3 hrs with the bees, dithering, watching, marking, clipping, listening to drumming woodpeckers and warblers and communing with the hens in the orchard. We talk to each other. Sad, I know, in a mature fellow like me. At least I don't talk to the peacock, he's much too busy strutting his stuff. Then another three hours on the allotment. Anyway, that's all 7 queens there now marked and clipped. I'm aiming for no repeat of any embarassing departure of swarms as me and some beginners arrive in the orchard, as happened last year.

One colony was bursting at the seams. I gave it a second brood box on Friday and by today it had almost finished drawing out about five of the frames. Two others have filled a brood box, and four will be fine but are slower to build up. One pegged it in March, but that one was so fierce it wouldn't let me put on winter feed. So be it.

Great to see spring properly underway. In the last two days the leaves have expanded in the hedgerows, the blackthorn is showing signs of passing its best, the swallows have arrived in quantity, and the pears have come out in the orchard. Lovely.

[Jon]

Gav. I was at the minnowburn apiary on Wednesday and found one of my colonies had 10 frames of brood.
I gave it a second brood box with drawn comb and when I checked this morning it had eggs in 7 of the frames.
I estimate 8000+ in 4 days. So much for non prolific Amm.

[fatshark]

At least I don't talk to the peacock, he's much too busy strutting his stuff.

I've heard the peacock say the very same thing ;)

Re. colony size and build up. This is the time of year when strong colonies really take off, whereas small ones - below some sort of threshold of workers to brood perhaps - stay small. The weather tomorrow is looking warm (and wet, but I'll dodge the showers) in the afternoon and I'm going to boost a couple of weaker colonies with a frame of brood and adhering bees, plus a generous spray of scented water of some sort.

[gavin]

That damn peacock is just jealous of the way I comport myself around the estate (save when I get bees down the trousers, as happens occasionally). Mind you, he wins hands down regarding shaking that ass. There's no way I can wiggle and rustle like he does. Must post a photo. Not me, the peacock.

Yes, once there are enough young bees (I think) the colony goes exponential. The most vigorous colonies were doing a lot of that up and down shaking, presumably the equivalent of motivational talks: the opportunities are all out there, let's keep up this high level of activity? Late in the afternoon isn't the time for lots of waggle dances, so the shaking signals were unlikely to be a prelude to that.

I'll not shift frames around, partly due to the high disease risk where I am (EFB and AFB have been nearby) and partly because I'm keen to assess them all for type and temper amongst other things. I have one that seems to fit Amm well (even to the extent of putting pollen all round the brood nest) which seems like a good stock although its temper in the autumn was suspect, and others of varying levels of hybridity and excitability.

[Neils]

First inspection and first artificial swarm up at the allotment apiary. Both hives there are packed with bees. One a day or two away from swarming I reckon. Fortunately I've spent a lot of the weekend making up kit both to ready for the new season and on the reasoning that it's easier to move brood boxes and supers when they're made up rather than flat packed.

I was hoping to get the house move completed before I had to deal with swarming, but no dice! The other colony is also busy, is just starting its first batch of drone brood and now has a super of comb of to play with.

On the nature reserve site, very different state if affairs, one hive with 5 frames if brood, but plenty if pollen and nectar coming in, the other with 6-7 frames, this one now has a super to draw out over the next few weeks as they're starting to pack the brood box with stores. Traditionally the nature reserve bees have tended to expand much quicker/earlier than those on the allotment, but it's all change this year.

[fatshark]

The weaker colonies weren't anymore … so I helped transfer a nuc into a full colony for my mentees instead. Loads of interest in bait hives this afternoon and one of the colonies at the association apiary swarmed. The queen must have been clipped as they clustered under the floor. Amazingly they then all slowly disappeared, but not through the hive entrance. After an hour or so I got on my hands and knees and peered under the stand. Next to the OMF was a half inch wide gap in the poly floor. Never seen that before … :rolleyes:

[drumgerry]

Been getting to grips with 3 Fairweather pollen traps today as I've volunteered to take part in the CSI/COLOSS pollen collection study and the traps have been loaned to me by SASA. They are pretty damnable things though - the traps that is! All sorts of gaffer tape required to make the buggers work properly and to ensure the bees head in through the entrance and not underneath it, round the sides etc etc. Two of the designated colonies seem to be dealing with the traps better than the third which has bees climbing the walls of the hive in preference to going inside. Are some bees more intelligent than others? There's one for the scientists ;) !! The stupid ones are my "yellowest" colony so maybe it's that!

[Jimbo]

Oh no! got the same job to do this Friday. Better go buy a roll of gaffer tape. Will report back which ones turn out to be the stupid ones

[nemphlar]

Drove up from Sheffield, a sea of yellow all the way up and round scotch corner, 100 miles of OSR , no wonder the guys in the south are talking swarms. Quite an area if your trying to make a living from the bees. I don't normally suffer with hay fever but the smell was thick.

[prakel]

Horse chestnuts in full flower here, got to be one of the nicest sights at this time of year but fields of yellow are a close second!

[HJBee]

The lime trees are breaking out around here http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/24/7u3adeby.jpg

[greengumbo]

The lime trees are breaking out around here http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/24/7u3adeby.jpg

That is a lovely sight.

My morello cherry and plum is just about to flower so the lime is probably 4 weeks off !

[prakel]

That is a lovely sight.

It is, but unbelievably early -a little bit like Gavin's Sycamore's which always seem to flower before ours down here on the South Coast.:)

[snimmo243]

We've still got blackthorn in flower in Bathgate and it was February flower of the month in Beecraft! At least I know there will be some slae gin to be had

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[gavin]

That's amazingly early for lime! Ours are just breaking (winter, not flower) bud and will probably flower at the end of June and into July - even the big lime a hundred yards away from that magical early sycamore (must check it at the weekend, can't have west of Scotland lime flowering ahead of our sycamore!).

I see two types of sloe/blackthorn around here. In more natural scrubby areas like the steep slopes of the Sidlaws they flower late, but there are early plants where there has been landscaping around road junctions and along roads where they have been planted. I reckon nursery stock has different triggers for flowering than the original native stuff.

PS Lovely picture, HJ.

[HJBee]

Have to admit it is not mine, from t'internet. But they are starting to flower in my village.

[Little_John]

... no wonder the guys in the south are talking swarms.

Bagged my first swarm of the year this morning ... :)

How does the saying go ? "A swarm in April is worth .... "

[prakel]

A load of silage.

[prakel]

the sun's back too for a couple of days at least

1987

[HJBee]

The bumbles and honey bees were going daft in this tree tonighthttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/2u3agaba.jpg

[gavin]

The bumbles and honey bees were going daft in this tree tonight

Norway maple, I'll wager. There is one along a bit from my work window, just coming into flower as yours is. It is always just ahead of the local sycamore, has leaves that are similar, but it holds its flowers erect rather than dangling under leafy umbrellas as sycamore does. Bees often work sycamore in light drizzle and I reckon these umbrellas help keep the flowers and bees dry.

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/learn/british-trees/non-native-trees/norway-maple/

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/100072268/norway-maple-buds.jpg?preset=content_page_image&cb=48ad9c98f858456fb91e319fd3cb5de4

G.

[HJBee]

I thought they were sycamore but I will have a look again to see if they are upright flowers or dangling. H

[gavin]

I thought they were sycamore but I will have a look again to see if they are upright flowers or dangling. H

Norway maple: flowers out before leaves open, earlier, erect, not organised into a spike with a central stem and flowers off that. Smaller tree.

Sycamore: flowers wait until their umbrella is ready, dangling, in a well-defined hanging spike. A big butch tree in time.

They are closely related Acer species. Here's a sycamore from last May on the outskirts of Longforgan.

http://www.sbai.org.uk/images/SycamoreMay13.jpg

[Adam]

Bagged my first swarm of the year this morning ... :)

How does the saying go ? "A swarm in April is worth .... "

A bagel?

[fatshark]

Filthy wet day here (and more to come) so no need to peek at the bait hives expectantly … :(
However, I did get an order for a load of honey :)

In yesterdays news, I checked a nuc late in the afternoon where I'd added a foundationless frame (see the fishing line thread started by Jon in 2012) on Sunday evening. The entire thing was drawn out and the queen had laid up many of the cells … beautiful :)

[snimmo243]

On the issue of things in flower I can report that on my travels today the osr in broxburn and kirkcaldy are about 75% in bloom whilst at inverkeithing it is barely in bloom, meanwhile sycamore in kirkcaldy is flowering whilst willow catkins are everywhere!

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[brothermoo]

Found one solitary queencell in my hive today. Put the frame with it on into a nuc (I did transfer cell from bottom of frame to middle) then added few frames and shook some bees in to create a nice wee easy split. Doubled my hive count which is nice! There were no other queencells just a couple of cups that were empty, but the one with the larvae was loaded with royal jelly! :)

___________________________________
brothermoo.wordpress.com

[Little_John]

A bagel?

I decided to look it up in a rhyming dictionary - apparently there aren't any English words which directly rhyme with 'April'.

There are a few words which are close, like 'Sable' - but maybe a Sable coat for a swarm is a bit ambitious - maybe a Sable Mitten ? I've heard there are ladies in Soho who can do wonders with such things. :)

[HJBee]

[QUOTE=gavin;24764]Norway maple: flowers out before leaves open, earlier, erect, not organised into a spike with a central stem and flowers off that.

Definitely Norway Maple!

[greengumbo]

Off with her head ! Queen that has layed nothing in the past 2 weeks despite a lovely patch of polished cells ready for HM and the odd drone got the chop tonight. I suspect late supercedure as no colour maring on her back from last year. Cut a square of eggs out from another hive and patchworked it into the new hive. Should I give them a few days before checking for QCs ?

[fatshark]

Nope … you should be able to tell tomorrow if they're queenless by the the way they've treated the egg-containing comb you've patched in. I think I've read somewhere of beekeepers using the hive tool to break the wall down a bit across a row of cells to encourage them to draw out QC's.

"Late" supercedure for you is 23rd of June or so isn't it??

My news is I received a copy of Cueilleurs de miel (Honey gatherers) which has stunning images in it. It's on Amazon at the best price in some time.

[greengumbo]

Nope … you should be able to tell tomorrow if they're queenless by the the way they've treated the egg-containing comb you've patched in. I think I've read somewhere of beekeepers using the hive tool to break the wall down a bit across a row of cells to encourage them to draw out QC's.

"Late" supercedure for you is 23rd of June or so isn't it??

My news is I received a copy of Cueilleurs de miel (Honey gatherers) which has stunning images in it. It's on Amazon at the best price in some time.

The website for that book is stunning. I routinely "borrow" images from it for talks and posters. In fact I did so not five minutes ago.

I shall have a look at the frame tommorrow morn and squish the bottom row of cells down. I just read on the other forum that I am going to just raise a scrub queen that will be useless. I could have grafted but was in a rush tonight to be honest. I was planning on proper queen raising starting in a few weeks.

[fatshark]

I am going to just raise a scrub queen that will be useless

Not quite sure why … I suppose the alternative would be to unite them and - once you've got some queens - split the entire box up into nucs perhaps.

Surprising how often the term scrub queen and useless appear on the same page. Often they do just fine, getting you out of a tight spot and keeping the colony ticking over. Sounds quite useful to me.

As an aside, for those that don't know the photographs from Eric Tourneret, his website (referred to above) is here (http://www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/index_en.html). Next time you're firing up that shiny stainless steel 12 frame radial beauty have a look at how some harvest their honey (http://www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/photolibrary14.html).

1991
Image by Eric Tourneret … used in awe.

[greengumbo]

Nope … you should be able to tell tomorrow if they're queenless by the the way they've treated the egg-containing comb you've patched in. I think I've read somewhere of beekeepers using the hive tool to break the wall down a bit across a row of cells to encourage them to draw out QC's.


Well I had a quick peek and nothing being drawn from the patch of eggs I donated.

I will leave them until the weekend now and then try grafting.

Could I have a laying worker if the queen was a late supercedure last year that was misfiring ? Any tell tale signs ? Could it be its just bloody miserable today outside so the bees are not up for raising a queen straight away ?

[gavin]

Well I had a quick peek and nothing being drawn from the patch of eggs I donated.


No young bees and so they can't? But you'd expect some old ones to at least try. Maybe they've just been hanging around too long and have got depressed?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4P3pvKmbsg

Oh, and sycamore are out all over, as is that Norway maple. Edinburgh and Tayside, brollies out just in time for the rain. ;)

[greengumbo]

Could I raise a queen in stronger q+ hive using harden method and then pop it in this one ?

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[chris]

La fête du travail- labour day. Except for the bees :)
Walking around this morning, I noticed them going crazy on the maples that were in the sun. First time this year. Always amazed by how it begins suddenly. It signals the start of the big build up towards the lime in June.

[greengumbo]

Could I raise a queen in stronger q+ hive using harden method and then pop it in this one ?

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Well nothing is easy.

Single QC being drawn from my donated eggs BUT butterfingers then dropped the sodding frame. The lip of the cell being drawn was slightly bent - will this result in a dud ? I guess I will graft into this hive just in case.

Second problem. Theres my marked queen running about and laying above the QX in another hive. Should be easy to sort out if we have some nice weather.

Its never simple eh.

[Jon]

They usually repair queen cells as long as the larva is not damaged. You have to be careful to make sure the larvae are all removed if you are removing queen cells for whatever reason as they can rebuild a cell from the base if a larva is intact in its pool of jelly.

[Bridget]

Funny day. Cold then the sun came out and so did the bees. We repaired the bee house roof and then watched bees sunning themselves. I seem to remember someone saying here that it was the young bees doing some orientation. Then saw two bees clearing out a half formed larvae. Any reason for this?

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/03/ema2y5up.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/03/yguju8ep.jpg


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[drumgerry]

Just good hygienic behaviour Bridget - a good thing! I think it's a pupa though and the bees spotted something they didn't like about it

[Jon]

The abdomen looks too short, maybe a virus damaged pupa.

[drumgerry]

Speaking of viruses I was helping an older beekeeper this week who hadn't been through his bees since the autumn and who hadn't treated for varroa either then or midwinter. On every frame there were drones and workers with DWV - more than I've ever seen before. In my 11 years of beekeeping I could probably count on my two hands the numbers of bees with DWV I've seen. This was on a different scale and quite shocking. The colony appeared otherwise healthy (apart from every comb being old and black) and was bursting with bees - I told him it might collapse from the varroa load later in the year if nothing was done. He is not on the web so I've had to order some MAQS for him and we'll be treating them this weekend - never used that before so should be interesting. Hoping to persuade him to burn a lot of his old black combs (he has a lot from old dead colonies) and do a Bailey comb change on his colony. I'm thinking that's not going to have an appreciable effect on the varroa as there's no brood break but will be beneficial in terms of virus/disease.

[Bridget]

Just good hygienic behaviour Bridget - a good thing! I think it's a pupa though and the bees spotted something they didn't like about it

Yeh sorry pupa! I knew that really!


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[gavin]

I've just performed my first artificial swarm of the year. Three novices joined me today and I was keen to show them their first drones amongst other things. No drones at all in the first four. Despite the cool breeze we tried one more - which had not just drones but drawn queen cells 2-3 days from sealing.

This is a rural site where swarm preparations often start 2-3 weeks from now.

[snimmo243]

We checked our bees today one colony had loads of Queen cups and unripe honey in every frame of the super. It has been quite cold here so I'm not convinced it will be from our, maybe dandelion?

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[gavin]

The bees were going mad for OSR at lunchtime here even though it was cool. Some colonies had masses returning with the characteristic yellow face.

When I say mad, of course I mean very enthusiastic rather than the neonic-inspired mad :p

[snimmo243]

Hi gavin does the temperature not need to be higher for the osr to produce nectar? Our bees are bringing in three different pollens just now, cream, bright yellow and a duller yellow, no yellow coupons though!

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[gavin]

I seem to recall seeing bees foraging on rape in cool conditions before, yet most years they don't seem to. Perhaps they're taking advantage of a slow secretion of nectar over a longer period of time, now available to them as it warms a little? This spring we've had lots of sun, and recently lots of rain which will help.

[Jon]

I know of several swarms in the greater Belfast area in the last week.
A lot of people have huge colonies already and these will swarm if not carefully managed.
I have all my queens clipped now so they wont get far should I miss a queen cell.

[lindsay s]

Hi all I’m still out there but I haven’t been on this forum for the last six months so I’ve a lot of catching up to do. A bad case of Bee Fever has brought me back. I still have my bees and you will get an update soon.
Lindsay

[Jon]

Good to get an update from the outer limits!

[Trog]

Glad you still have your bees, Lindsay. :)

[lindsay s]

Last year’s news.
I ended up with 173lbs of honey from 6 producing colonies which was more than I expected considering our weather. I was very pleased with the quality and I could have sold it three times over. I went into winter with eight colonies, six full strength and two nucs on seven frames and a dummy in standard brood boxes. Three colonies had been on open mesh floors but I replaced them with wooden ones. Winter 2013/14 was wet and windy apart from two days of snow.
This year’s news.
The 5th of April was the first time I managed to carry out a quick inspection. All of the floors were cleaned and I found a few of them very damp. Seven colonies had brood and one colony was queenless. The queenless colony was united with one of the nucs a few days later (newspaper method). Three colonies that were low on stores were given a little feed of syrup. The weather was better for my next inspection so I removed quite a few old and mouldy combs from the hives.
Yesterday’s news.
The day was dull windy and 12⁰c but the apiary needed attention so I just had just had to get on with it, the forecast for the rest of the week showed no signs of improvement. My strongest hive has 6½ frames of brood and the rest have 4 to 5 frames of brood apart from one nuc. The nuc has three small brood patches and barely enough bees to keep it covered. This nuc had been united with my queenless colony but unfortunately most of the old bees left and boosted the nearest hive to their old location which just happened to be my strongest hive (beginners please take note uniting colonies doesn’t always work). It was worth a try anyway and I ‘m not going to give up on the nuc just yet. There is an abundance of dandelions out at the moment and the new comb that’s being built has quite a yellow tinge to it. I for one am glad to see the dandelions and they play a major part in my colonies spring build up.

[Jon]

Lindsay. I presume your bees are native or at least native type that far north.

[lindsay s]

Lindsay. I presume your bees are native or at least native type that far north.
Hello Jon
The quick answer is yes and no. Jimbo was kind enough to test samples from 3 of my colonies in August 2011. The results were 88%amm, 94%amm and the other sample was hybrid. I will post more details on the makeup of our bees once I’ve made a few enquiries.
As far as colony strength goes I’ve just been speaking to another beekeeper and her bees are at the same stage as mine. We try to have our bees at full strength by early June just in time for the white clover. There is no June gap up here.

[nemphlar]

I was told by a recent visitor that the Orkney bees have learned to fly below the walls, I'd love to have seen that

[prakel]

In light of the recent bee theft threads, here's a report of some that have actually been found

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-27283519

and we keep hearing how cheap bees are on the Continent!

[HJBee]

Today's news indeed, Shame article doesn't cover off likelihood of them actually crossing the Channel
Shared from Sky News: 'Killer' Asian Hornet Could Threaten Honey Bees http://news.sky.com/story/1258679

[gavin]

The folk in the Scottish Government/SASA would like to start monitoring with traps, especially at sites where bulk transport might bring them straight in. I was sceptical, but they are right of course.

[Jimbo]

Yah! reached another milestone in my beekeeping. Been practicing picking up the queen and clipping her wing. In the past just used a crown of thorns but is a bit of a faff. After watching Andrew Abrahams picking up queens and marking/clipping them last year thought it was about time I gave it a go. Did 4 queens today and going to do another 5 tomorrow. The secret is for you not to hold your breath and breath in and out normally!

[fatshark]

Another pretty grotty day here. Good points about the weather we're getting here is that swarming is delayed - I went through three strong colonies, all had sealed queen cells but the queen was present in all of them (even the unclipped ones). I reckon they're waiting for a break in the weather before doing a bunk. However, it wasn't a good day to run a practical queen rearing course - dodging showers and searching for graftable larvae in poor light and low temperatures.

Predicted to be 11 centigrade tomorrow when I'll be checking the grafts …

On a more positive note. Those on the queen rearing course seemed to enjoy themselves; all got the hang of grafting, got practical experience of different types of grafting tools and can (I hope) make sense of the small amount of extra kit they'll be needing in due course.

[Bridget]

Bumble bees amongst the blaeberries today. There were also tiny white flowers on the cow berries and tufted owlets sitting on a log pile waiting for a feed from Mum. So vulnerable to buzzards and pine marten so hope they survivehttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/11/retuheby.jpg


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[HJBee]

Kilbarchan Beekeepers had our seasonal Apairy visit today at one of Ian Craig's sites. Great visit despite the weather, well attended by members and prospective Beekeepers alike.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/12/9ygazuna.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/12/y8eberu9.jpg

[gavin]

Kilbarchan Beekeepers had our seasonal Apairy visit today at one of Ian Craig's sites.

I want that man's bee suit for the Cup Final next Saturday!!!

I have beekeeping stuff in a Lidl bag too (cheapskates that we are).

[EmsE]

Are you sure? It generally has lots of bees 'inside' the veil too lol.

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[gavin]

:D

What, our Ian's bees - misbehave?!

I was helping a friend who is away at the moment this afternoon and ended up with bees inside my trousers. Which is worse - veil or trousers?!

[Bumble]

I was helping a friend who is away at the moment this afternoon and ended up with bees inside my trousers. Which is worse - veil or trousers?!

I can't say which is worse, but it can be quite amusing to watch the reaction when either happens, more especially when the person concerned is wearing shorts beneath their suit.

[gavin]

Amusing?!!!

I'm a Scotsman, remember, so when I get a full suit rather than a simple jacket you know what it will be like under the suit!

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[Paul]

I can't say which is worse, but it can be quite amusing to watch the reaction when either happens, more especially when the person concerned is wearing shorts beneath their suit.

So nobody has yet tried Beekeeping in a Kilt? No need for a Nuc box if your wearing your own personal Skep :D

[snimmo243]

So nobody has yet tried Beekeeping in a Kilt? No need for a Nuc box if your wearing your own personal Skep :D

If you saw what happened when I got stung on the heid there's no way I'm risking a kilt! :$

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[Calum]

been stung on the todger - wasnt that bad.. Tip of the nose is worse if you can imagine that!

[drumgerry]

Dare I ask how a bee happened to be in that vicinity?!! Probably illegal however it happened!

[Jon]

Probably why he did a runner to Germany!

[Calum]

Dare I ask how a bee happened to be in that vicinity?!! Probably illegal however it happened!

One balmy evening in Germany, we transported some bees to a new site, by the time they got there it was dark...
It had been a long drive, I was gasping for a pee...
But as ever bees first, we unloaded & I pulled out the fabric we had stuffed in the entrances to keep the bees in, so they would get a breath of fresh air. Then I went to relieve myself in a bush. A night-fighter got me! Wasnt easy to get the prick out of my **** in the dark, but I was well motivated.

The wife was very impressed, for a while.

Still not as bad as a sting just inside the rim of the nostril!

[Jon]

I want that man's bee suit for the Cup Final next Saturday!!!

I have beekeeping stuff in a Lidl bag too (cheapskates that we are).

Too many Lidl shills on this forum!

[drumgerry]

Just got confirmation that I can begin putting hives beside a local well known castle and next to their walled garden. Heaving with lime trees and right below a rather large managed heather moor. I am well pleased to say the least!!

[greengumbo]

Trials and tribs......my queenless hive is no more queenless ! The queencells that resulted from a cut out of eggs from my best AMM colony have yielded a queen. Three torn down and empty and 1 that had hatched. I even managed to spot the virgin running about. Fantastic. Hopefully this weather will stay for her to get mated. She was not huge but I guess that will change ?

As for my 2 big hives.....lets just say they are about to swarm (queen cells maybe 3 days from capping) and I don't have time to do much this week :(

[biggus]

Not sure if this is the best place for general beekeeping questions, but dear, learned members of SBAI, if you will indulge a question from someone well south of the border, here goes.

My best and strongest colony is mystifying me by nether swarming nor continuing to build up and I am wondering if the queen is running out of steam. It overwintered in double Paynes poly national broods (and survived being blown over twice in the storms!) I added a super early April as they were doing so well. I had no excluder handy and they pretty quickly filled the super with wall to wall drone brood. Not crazy popcorn, but whole frames of lovely even, pale coloured drone brood. I eventually added a second super above an excluder which is now a bit less than half full. My bees at this apiary are in the middle of forest and heath, so don't bring in much OSR.

Meanwhile in the lower boxes the bees have started backfilling the brood nest with stores and the brood areas have become rather scattered with quite a lot of drone round the edges and sometimes right across. There are several frames of perfect, capped worker brood, and a few areas with eggs and young brood.

The workforce is contented, gentle and motivated. There are, however, so many drones flying in and out as to make the hive clearly audible from 30ft away. It did occur to me that maybe I had absent mindedly put drone foundation in that super without an excluder, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Some of the combs on the super have both worker and drone brood, but in consistent, even patches.


The thing is, I have checked them regularly and there is no sign of queen cells, barely even a cup. Has this colony just decided to make drones instead of having swarms (hence them drawing out drone comb off worker foundation)? Or is the queen conking out?

If it comes to it, is there a lazy way of requeening without finding her? Tis a pain searching 30 frames and 3 boxes and my success rate is typically low.

[Rosie]

I find that a protected queen cell works almost every time. In fact the only time it has ever failed me was at the end of a season.

[fatshark]

Grafting tomorrow … went down this evening to set up the Ben Harden box. Oh dear … looks like they've tried to swarm. Clipped queen so shouldn't be too far away. A few hundred bees clustered under the floor. Removed three heavy supers, went through the box. Removed the super frame with loads of brace comb, sliced the latter off and dropped the super frame by the edge of the hivestand. Sure enough, found a couple of capped queen cells. Also found two open charged ones, so knocked everything else back. No shortage of bees (actually it was packed) so reckon I'll use it to generate some queen cells after all … dumped the bees from under the floor back into the hive.

Set up the Ben Harden upper box. Disappeared off to the other end of the apiary and went through the colony I'll be grafting from. All good. Checked a couple of nucs and a bait hive (nada … looks like the queen in the latter hasn't returned from the mating flight. Damn).

Went to clear up and pack the car. Finally remember the super frame dropped by the hive stand. Went back for it. One bee walking around on it. The queen. Or at least, a queen :) Not entirely sure she's the original as the wing didn't look clipped, but it was getting pretty dark by now.

Lifted her up to the landing board and she sauntered in calm as anything … good times.

[greengumbo]

Grafting tomorrow … went down this evening to set up the Ben Harden box. Oh dear … looks like they've tried to swarm. Clipped queen so shouldn't be too far away. A few hundred bees clustered under the floor. Removed three heavy supers, went through the box. Removed the super frame with loads of brace comb, sliced the latter off and dropped the super frame by the edge of the hivestand. Sure enough, found a couple of capped queen cells. Also found two open charged ones, so knocked everything else back. No shortage of bees (actually it was packed) so reckon I'll use it to generate some queen cells after all … dumped the bees from under the floor back into the hive.

Set up the Ben Harden upper box. Disappeared off to the other end of the apiary and went through the colony I'll be grafting from. All good. Checked a couple of nucs and a bait hive (nada … looks like the queen in the latter hasn't returned from the mating flight. Damn).

Went to clear up and pack the car. Finally remember the super frame dropped by the hive stand. Went back for it. One bee walking around on it. The queen. Or at least, a queen :) Not entirely sure she's the original as the wing didn't look clipped, but it was getting pretty dark by now.

Lifted her up to the landing board and she sauntered in calm as anything … good times.

Your beekeeping sounds as calm as mine is panicky. I've no time to do anything at the moment so just hoping for no swarms and if they do that I find them / bait hive them.

[Calum]

After two weeks of bad weather, there will be a bunch of swarms this weekend...
I don't think I'll be worried by it.
My rule of thumb is 1 frame of capped brood = two frames of bees. If the colony is full I need to remove capped brood and bees (as this makes work for the colony - drawing out comb, feeding larve) so if my brood chamber is full of bees, and my super is decently populated, I need to remove brood to make nucs (this also reduces varroa load as most are in brood). Two frames capped + their bees, 1 frame open brood with young larve and the bees on it + bees shook from two frames of larve (young bees) are enough for a starter. They dont need to be removed from the bee stand. This is usually enough to keep the colony occupied for three weeks or so. Giving them an extra drone frame to work on helps dampen too. But this is for carnica that excel on two brood boxes.
This is a preventative measure I am doing twice a season per colony - no need for clipped wings or (illegal in germany) bait hives.

[greengumbo]

After two weeks of bad weather, there will be a bunch of swarms this weekend...
I don't think I'll be worried by it.
My rule of thumb is 1 frame of capped brood = two frames of bees. If the colony is full I need to remove capped brood and bees (as this makes work for the colony - drawing out comb, feeding larve) so if my brood chamber is full of bees, and my super is decently populated, I need to remove brood to make nucs (this also reduces varroa load as most are in brood). Two frames capped + their bees, 1 frame open brood with young larve and the bees on it + bees shook from two frames of larve (young bees) are enough for a starter. They dont need to be removed from the bee stand. This is usually enough to keep the colony occupied for three weeks or so. Giving them an extra drone frame to work on helps dampen too. But this is for carnica that excel on two brood boxes.
This is a preventative measure I am doing twice a season per colony - no need for clipped wings or (illegal in germany) bait hives.

Illegal in Germany ? Interesting. Whats the rational ?

I have a bait hive up at work that had scouts all over it today - lose a swarm at home....gain a swarm at work. Great watching the scouts analyse the dimensions and move around it in a linear manner.

[drumgerry]

It does seem a bit draconian! I have 3 bait hives set up with a mix of frames with soon for the bonfire comb and foundation. Bees are not so thick on the ground around here so it's not every year I catch a swarm.

[Trog]

A swarm went window-shopping in London today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27444845

[greengumbo]

One of my artificial swarms failed spectacularly and they isolated the Queen who died. Other one was fine but got them just in time, heaps of sealed qcs , no eggs and the queen looking super svelt ready to go. Have started grafting from my native stocks so will have a look tomorrow to see what's what.

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[snimmo243]

I've just got in after a back shift and some night time beekeeping! I met my beekeeping compadre at 1 am to feed the splits we made at the weekend (no robbing here) all went well, it was a lovely night. we decided to have a look at our bait hive as there was a lot of interest in it on Saturday and we found a swarm had moved in :D

[lindsay s]

Cold and miserable and that’s just me, I’m sure my bees are feeling a lot worse. We’ve had two days of fog followed by three days of rain and cold biting northerly winds. The forecast for this weekend is not much better. I’m sure the colonies will be ignoring the foundation that needs to be drawn and rapidly using up their stores. Summer was good while it lasted (3 days last week) and I suppose there’s always next year to look forward to.

[Bumble]

Went to help a friend collect a wet swarm from a tree in their apiary the other day, and got the job of going up the ladder. Not a big ladder, I hasten to add, I don't do heights! When I went to hold the skep beneath the cluster the elastic thumb loop broke on one sleeve, the sleeve pulled slightly back down my arm leaving just enough space for one obliging bee to crawl inside the glove, sting my hand and die. I thought nothing more of it until the following morning, but woke up with a badly swollen hand and forearm with red tracks running up to the armpit.

Antibiotics are marvellous! :) The red tracks have gone and my arm no longer resembles the Michelin Man.

[Feckless Drone]

The news in Oz from a friend of mine is all about honey rationing in Sydney supermarkets and curtailing exports. The crisis is the drought and record high temperatures not neonics or CCD. Here is a link to a reasonable, well informed newspaper article (http://www.smh.com.au/business/sweet-deal-with-nature-could-turn-sour-20140516-38feh.html). I notice 3 or 4 government enquiries there into the state of the bee industry and really trying to address issue of keeping Varroa out. There is an opportunity here - since Oz has had to curtail exports in particular to China then our bee farmers might consider promoting their products to that market.
Surely heather honey would hit the mark!

[prakel]

A short video from Martin Cade of the Portland Bird Observatory showing a gang of bee-eaters who are paying us a visit at present.


http://youtu.be/TCgyXMVcvCw

[prakel]

"There's definitely a queen mating apiary around here somewhere...."


http://youtu.be/dgdhLGyR-oQ

[greengumbo]

Trials and tribs......my queenless hive is no more queenless ! The queencells that resulted from a cut out of eggs from my best AMM colony have yielded a queen. Three torn down and empty and 1 that had hatched. I even managed to spot the virgin running about. Fantastic. Hopefully this weather will stay for her to get mated. She was not huge but I guess that will change ?

As for my 2 big hives.....lets just say they are about to swarm (queen cells maybe 3 days from capping) and I don't have time to do much this week :(

Checked the hive with the virgin quickly today as its been 2 weeks since I saw her running about. Nice patch of eggs that look about 3 days old and saw her majesty looking nice and plump. Great stuff.

[lindsay s]

I’m sure the colonies will be ignoring the foundation that needs to be drawn and rapidly using up their stores.
I went through the hives today after eight days of cold damp weather and my above quote was spot on. Most of the colonies are OK for pollen but they have very little nectar coming in or honey stored. Laying is almost at a standstill with very little open brood and in two colonies chalk brood has increased dramatically. Only two colonies have a super and my weak over wintered nuc has been written off, it will be united tomorrow. By the way Jon I found only two queen cups between seven colonies.

[gavin]

"There's definitely a queen mating apiary around here somewhere...."


Love the synchronised balancing act. Cracking birds, I'm green with envy. I saw some (not necessarily the same species) in Tamil Nadu a few years ago.

[Jon]

I used to see them in the summer for the couple of years I lived in Andalucia.
The other bird I loved from that era was the Hoopoe.

[snimmo243]

I'm sure there was something in the paper a couple of weeks ago about a hoopoe being spotted in peebles!
I like dippers

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[Bumble]

A short video from Martin Cade of the Portland Bird Observatory showing a gang of bee-eaters who are paying us a visit at present.


http://youtu.be/TCgyXMVcvCw

Do you have any idea if they're just passing through or if they might stay for the summer?

[prakel]

Not totally sure, they tricked us the other day by appearing to be heading off into the channel but have made a reappearance today. Should be able to have a word with the bird guy when he's not too busy as we put bees on some of the cover crop land that they manage at different times. We've now acquired a (solitary?) Honey Buzzard and the rain's stopped so the cabin fever has passed too!

[HJBee]

If you have done a A/S and it has failed due to the QC not hatching, and the original hive Queen did a runner (or was ejected), and you have 2 queenless colonies with one with emergency QC on a frame, both splits have no eggs, no queen - would you unite now in anticipation of what hatches in the next day or so. Or would you keep them both queenless? I made a decision last night to unite and it's been worrying me since. If it remains queen less, would putting a frame of eggs from a nearby colony be the next stage as there is no spare queen stock immediately available, or would introducing a sealed QC on a frame of sealed brood be best, if it can be sourced? H

[gavin]

What to do with a combined unit with one Q cell? Have a quick peek around hatching time (and try not to get them too riled). Has the cell hatched? If not is it about to hatch and is it showing that darkening and roughening of the tip in anticipation of hatching? All will be well. Best leave them in peace for about three weeks. You're unlikely to see anything until then, and going in risks them attacking the queen and risks you interfering during mating flights. You want them settled and quiet, calling back their queen while she's out - not fending off someone with smoke and nitrile gloves and changing any landmarks she may have noticed on her way out!

Of course I don't practice what I preach and will tinker (gently) sometimes but I do try to give them at least a fortnight to get to know their new queen and let her find her bearings before going in.

Quite often I split off a nuc with one of the Q cells so that there is a spare available if needed. You need to make sure that all stay warm though.

Yes, the egg test could be worth doing on the queenless half to test whether it really is queenless, and, if it is a strong unit, raise another.

[HJBee]

Hatching time should be today or tomorrow latest or if they are duff too (probably due to chilling as it was an emergency artificial swarm split done in the peeing rain as the owner was going on holiday the next morning).

So have a peek tomorrow night at the QC see if hatched, if not introduce a frame of eggs and remove the frame with the dud emergency cells?

Ta Gav

[gavin]

No problem!

I'd be surprised if the queen cells are dud. As long as there were plenty of bees to cover them once you closed the hive they'll be fine. It is when you have a lot of bees abandoning the split with the Q cell that it can get chilled.

But if it is cold, ignored and unloved, with no sign of the bees preparing the cell to hatch, then eggs are worth trying.

G.

[HJBee]

Think as they were emergency cells, queen had gone, they could be anything! Time will tell tomorrow!

[gavin]

Here are three points to bear in mind when assessing failed queen cells in splits.

1. Were there too few bees to keep the cell warm? Chilling is possible, try to avoid having too many bees going home. If the box isn't in a position to catch flying bees on their way home, shake extra young ones in, and/or seal them in for a few days.

2. Might there have been a virgin on the loose already? Bear in mind that the pupa could have been already killed.

3. Is the tip of the apparently failed cell darker and roughened? If so, give the tip a nudge with your hive tool. The hatch cut by the queen on her way out sometimes gets re-affixed.

Been there, done them all! Thankfully I did remember about no. 3 on Sunday.

G.

[HJBee]

They should have hatched yesterday / today if Queen cell as I saw them sealed last Tue. If not am assuming it's just worker /drone in the cells or failed, but will check. These had plenty of bees, but think they were done post queenie doing one or being done in. The cell in the Nuc from the split I think got chilled, we opened it up after 13 days, small queen post pupae and formed, solidified jelly in the bottom of the cell.

[HJBee]

Yay! One hatched QC tonight when we did a wee peek, so all put back together and will be left for a few weeks while she hopefully mates and starts laying. All is back to how it was pre swarm instincts, no bees lost apart from a okish queen.

[nemphlar]

Lost a large swarm with a VQ, had gone through them last week and thought I'd left them with single cell, queen removed. Thats the second year I've left a large colony with a cell, note to self under no circumstances leave a big colony to sort itself out. Although on the up side it had a low varroa count and may survive as a feral for a wee while if nobody caught it.

[JohnnyD]

Is that longbenton as in Newcastle a Upon Tyne?

[Jon]

note to self under no circumstances leave a big colony to sort itself out.

I know what you mean. I think the same way.
You can lose a swarm or if the queen gets lost on a mating flight you can end up with a large colony of very aggressive bees.
requeening by combining a queenless colony with a nuc which has a mated queen is tried and trusted.

[brothermoo]

I have 2 colonies now from an AS split which I checked yesterday fr the first time in a month (couldn't be helped) and no laying queen in either. Whether or not there a lre virgins yet to lay or mating was poor or even a lost queen I dont know. Im thinking if splitting the whole lot down to loads of mating nucs.. not rushing into anything either!

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[nemphlar]

I've always found VQ mating in a full brood box frustrating, a mated queen from a nuc/apidea is always favourite, but like everything timing is the key and having new season mated queens prior to swarming time is tight, particularly this year. I've got 3 nucs to check for laying today and 4 apideas got a due cell today, so hope fully keep the messing about to minimum.
Part of my problem was not having enough supers, had to knock the cobwebs of some that have been stacked for years

[HJBee]

All types of bees were enjoying the alliums todayhttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/11/u3eja4yv.jpg

[GRIZZLY]

Extracted 6 supers of rape honey yesterday, - all of which was completely capped. I was somewhat surprised that not a single comb had any set honey in it unlike in past years when the combs were nearly solid. I don't know if anyone else has had similar findings ? I ended up with 135 pounds from 3 hives.

[Black Comb]

Well I should have extracted some spring honey. A check today reveals we are well into the June gap and the supers are much lighter than 10 days ago. The weather in the interim has been reasonably good.
It's been perfect foraging weather today but not many were flying.

[fatshark]

With the amount of rain we've had something is obviously doing well as colonies are starting to collect nectar again. Last w/e they were starving, now the brood frames are dripping with fresh nectar. I've no idea what it's from but will have to rush round putting some supers on this w/e.

Since yesterday my Ben Harden setup has built brace comb between several cells which again probably reflects that the flow has started again. I'd been feeding them a bit before then.

About 75% of my OSR crop was capped, and almost none of it was solid. I store the supers stacked on my honey warming cabinet for a few days before extracting.

Quick peak in a couple of suspected Q- colonies this evening and delighted to find eggs in both. A good end to the week.

[HJBee]

Today's big news is I've passed my Basic Beemaster Exam woohoo. Thanks in the main to all the lessons (good, bad and downright hilarious) & hours of fun with EmsE. 👍👍

[crabbitdave]

Today's big news is I've passed my Basic Beemaster Exam woohoo. Thanks in the main to all the lessons (good, bad and downright hilarious) & hours of fun with EmsE. 👍👍

Well done, it's always good to see something for all the hard work you do :)


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[HJBee]

Ta v muchly 😊

[GRIZZLY]

Herself passed her beemaster this week as well - now got a qualified assistant in the beeyard.

[Bumble]

Congratulations, and well done, to all the newly qualified Basic Beemasters.

[Bridget]

I haven't heard yet. Perhaps it's because I live so far north and the postie has not got here yet. (Number 1 essential requirement to becoming a beekeeper .....optimism.)


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[drumgerry]

When I sat mine a few years back I was told there and then what the result was. Did your examiner say you'd get your result by post Bridget?

[Bridget]

Yes Drumgerry, she said it needed to be invigilated.


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[HJBee]

I got told mine then & there to be followed up with a proper certificate. H

[GRIZZLY]

I got told mine then & there to be followed up with a proper certificate. H

Yes - so was the wife.

[Bridget]

Oh dear :0(


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[Easy beesy]

Candidates in England not told on the day. Results notified later and certificates sent to County Exam secretary for distribution

[Bridget]

Beautiful her today and bees still flying at 9pm in temps of 22 degrees. No lack of nectar here- we've masses of clover and then what did I see todayhttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/18/emyzuhy7.jpg in a sheltered spot



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