ESBA Apiarist

The Magnificent Seven

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ESBA Apiarist
, 02-01-2012 at 10:01 PM (7641 Views)
Well, those Magnificant Seven small and perfectly formed (Amm-looking) colonies were still alive this afternoon. The 3.5% oxalic acid dihydrate in 1:1 syrup (w/v) was dispensed according to the usual 5ml per seam rule, although some were occupying a small part of their seam so were spared the full 5ml. It was baltic (that isn't any kind of reference to Finland by the way) and I think that my hands suffered more than the bees did, though several did point their stings in the air at me just to let me know how they felt. Who can blame them, they were assaulted with Apiguard in the late summer and have been keeping small clusters so I don't imagine that they felt they really needed that.

Those Paynes polynucs are a bit of a pain (pun hardly intended) to top up with sugary stuff on top. The feeder compartment seems a long way away for these small clusters so instead I sliced 1cm thick pancakes of BFP Bakers Fondant and laid it carefully on the top bars then squidged the polystyrene roof back down to get the nuc sealed properly again*. These pancakes will not last long but should see them through for a few weeks when I'll do it again until the weather is warm enough for the feeder compartment to be in reach.

If they make it they may provide useful breeding stock. I can see me shifting some of my own more powerful colonies in there though to demonstrate artificial swarms and the like at a sensible time of year.

Our host has one cracking colony there which, like some of mine, benefited from the huge boost they get from a visit to the Angus Glens at the time when the hills turn purple.

* I should add that bees were carefully ushered off the top bars before applying fondant. The squishing was guilt-free.

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Updated 02-01-2012 at 11:09 PM by ESBA Apiarist

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  1. Jon's Avatar
    Good to see signs of life.

    I have a magnificent 6 behind the shed at the bottom of the garden although one of them is unlikely to make it through the winter.

    You should collect a few wings from those colonies to get an idea of the extent of hybridization.
    I have done the morphometry on about 2/3 of mine.
    It can throw up surprises, ie not all the black ones are good ones.
    I requeened about 10 with Galtee origin stock last summer and I intend to use these as my drone colonies.
    I have several colonies of near 100% amm which are unrelated or not closely related to Galtee and I will do most of my grafting from these.
    Updated 02-01-2012 at 10:54 PM by Jon
  2. ESBA Apiarist's Avatar
    I went full of good intentions and armed with paper envelopes and pen but the cold wind and rain and the great difficulty in accessing the stuff on the floor of these polynucs made me postpone (again). The best way may be to pick a warmish day and quickly transfer all the frames (with bees) into a new clean box and then recover the corpses. One colony is in a Smith wooden box with the floor screwed on (so I'll need a screwdriver) and I forgot that I could lift the Swienty/Denrosa poly Nationals off their floor by the time I got to them. Certainly plan to though. Today I realised that our Epson SX515 Printer/Scanner/Copier does it at 2400x2400 dpi so I don't have the excuse of a flaky old HP slide scanner.
  3. Calum's Avatar
    Good news your colonies are overwintering well. The losses here are going to be massive according to all accounts.
    Suprised you are feeding them already. Are they that low on stores?
  4. Jon's Avatar
    Hi Calum. Why are beekeepers expecting big losses in your area?
  5. Calum's Avatar
    hi Jon,
    the mild winter, the warm autumn. The bees were flying well into November, and some stayed in brood right up till christmas.
    So I figure lots of varroa being produced due to the extended brood period. Lots more reinvasion through robbing and absconding bees due to the mild autumn. And the wet changeable weather we had through august when most people were trying to treat with F.A. lead to increased failed treatments. The very long season for himalayan balsam probably shortened the longevity of the winter bees too... Did you see the photo I posted of my varroa fall after my O.A. treatment? That was not isolated, I now some really experienced beekeepers that have already lost 30%.. My losses are 10% but it is early days, so hammering on wood