Excellent! Brings the bees satellite TV too?
Excellent! Brings the bees satellite TV too?
Ah, no. If you'd seen part of the bigger array you may have realised we're setting them up to communicate with aliens ...Originally Posted by Kate Atchley
There are two very fine gentlemen in that photo.
Just in case any readers assumed the array had already successfully attracted extraterrestrials ...
Looks good Gavin. How exposed is that site? I usually tuck mini-nucs in sheltered positions - partly to avoid absconding and partly so the returning queen has something to orientate to and is less likely to get blown off course in the final approach.
Another drone article, in the current (April 2015) issue of the Kelly Beekeeping newsletter (#56), page 14.
Not too exposed, I hope. It is tucked behind a small ridge that should block the worst of the winds (but might create eddies). Unlike last year, no trees shading the nucs. I guess we'll find out about absconding soon enough.
They should really be in shade between about 11am and 5pm.
It might never get hot enough there to induce absconding but if you get any days where it gets much over 20c you will likely have problems.
In my experience the reasons you get absconding from a mini-nuc are:
1. overfilled
2. lack of shade
3. leaving the laying queen in too long without giving more space. Once the first brood is sealed if she has no more space to lay in they can abscond.
I rarely see absconding with mine now but those 3 points are fairly critical.
If you get a hot day and the apidea is in full sun you will definitely get absconding.
It may be less of a problem with the bigger mini plus but in an apidea there are just not enough bees in there to thermoregulate on a hot day.
A few years ago I tried Apideas in a shed with a tin roof and they always absconded when the sun got up and raised the temperature inside the shed.
This is the mating site at our queen rearing group.
Under the shade of a big lime tree and in tight against a north facing hedge.
apideas-minnowburn.jpg
These ones on the shelves face North East
apideas-for-overwintering.jpg
I am pretty sure Andrew Abrahams has his Apideas pushed in against the stone walls but that is as much to do with wind as with shade.
Last edited by Jon; 11-04-2015 at 09:51 AM.
Q rearing by numbers
I feel a rip off of the above Gavin post design may be required. Mine have been sitting on pallets hitherto.
Another rip off coming from this direction? We've some good lightly-shaded spots for them Glenborrodale. Love Jon's sylvan scene!
[QUOTE=Jon;29833]They should really be in shade between about 11am and 5pm.
It might never get hot enough there to induce absconding but if you get any days where it gets much over 20c you will likely have problems.
In my experience the reasons you get absconding from a mini-nuc are:
1. overfilled
2. lack of shade
3. leaving the laying queen in too long without giving more space. Once the first brood is sealed if she has no more space to lay in they can abscond.
Agree with all that. I found it helpful to cut out brood so that the bees build new comb for the queen to lay in. It can be a matter of fine judgement as you obviously need to leave some to keep the nuc at the right strength.
The brood that I cut out was not wasted incidentally; I stood it on the crownboards (with eke or empty super around) of full sized colonies for it to hatch out.
This year I hope to put some Apideas under my ground-mounted solar panels. The northern side of the array has bone dry soil that gets virtually no sun.
Peter Edwards
Mostly Jeff's design not Gavin's! I'd have stopped at the two pairs of long bars fixed horizontally to the 3x3.
The site is on a generally NNE-facing slope in a small bowl and with a small ridge behind to the SSW (so giving more of a NNE aspect but not direct shade). Yes, it may be too sunny, we'll see. We'll have a mix of Apideas and mps there. We shifted from a site which allowed us the shade of trees for the Apideas but the owner would prefer us on the new site where there is no such option without jumping a fence and careering down a steep slope.
Jon, you had good success with Paynes boxes as mating nucs in the open sun. Hoping that at least the mps will be fine.
We exhausted the local supply of gold-coloured 50mm screws! 36 per post.
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