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Thread: Mouldy hives

  1. #21
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Hi Lindsay ... I saw one or two like this this spring as well. I think there was also a higher 'slug index' in the hives when I first inspected. I have colonies in Fife and Ardnamurchan. All survived the winter, though I lost 10% due to failed queens. These boxes were well-populated but one queen was a drone layer and the other was just not laying at all.

    Fife has been bl%%dy cold. I just checked ... 17 nights of frost in April (the 10 year average is ~3-4) and an average temperature of 5.9°C compared to the average of about 9.5°C (data thanks to the excellent Muchty weather website which is based on a personal weather station down the road from one of my apiaries). The good colonies are doing well despite this, with some being almost full of brood, first supers on and filling with fresh nectar (almost certainly OSR). The strongest were starting to make queen cells and I've (ambitiously) started queen rearing and will be back there this w/e for grafting. However, most weren't this well advanced and I'd predict aren't going to be strong enough to properly exploit the main OSR flow which will be starting in the next week or so.

    Ardnamurchan has also been cool with bees only flying well in the middle of the day. Pollen (gorse) has been going in well for a month but they've needed the stores boosted and will probably need syrup today when I check them again. The winter was long and wet (no surprises there) and I didn't see a bee until the end of February. Queen rearing here won't be starting any time soon.

    I've just realised this should really have gone in the 'daily' thread ... so back to the mould for a closing thought. I only see it on the outermost frame and usually in cedar boxes where the bees tend to avoid these frames due to the cold. In poly I regularly see the cluster up against the sidewall, even in midwinter.

    Cheers
    David

  2. #22
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    Thanks for the reply David
    You got it spot on, the mouldy frames were at the edges of some of my damp cedar hives. My poly Everynucs as you’ll know have rebates which stops the water ingress and my bees do well in them. This brings me on to this hive https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/nationa...nal-poly-hive/
    When I first saw it I thought all my Christmas’s had come at once because I’m used with top beespace and I like the rebates. I’m hoping the central hole in the crown board will take their round bee escape, if not I’ll bodge something with a wooden board. I’m going to use my Smith frames in them and I’ll probably glue a strip of wood along the frame runners to close up the gap of the shorter top bars. It looks like the frames run the warm way and if the floor doesn’t rotate the brood box to the cold way I’m still willing to give it ago. I intended to stick with my short lugged frames because it’s the dominant frame here and I make up nucs and swap frames with other beekeepers. I’m going to get two to try out for few years and I’ll get some spare kit so I don’t need to interchange with my Smith hives. Do you have any opinions before I take the plunge. I’m not too worried about the cost because beekeeping is a hobby for me that’s getting increasingly out of control!
    Last edited by lindsay s; 02-05-2021 at 01:19 AM.

  3. #23
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    I've got a lot of Abelo hives, though an earlier incarnation than those new ones. Assuming the poly and finish/fittings are similar I think they are pretty good hives. I don't like the floors, but they're usable. The Varroa tray doesn't fit well and OA vapour escapes all over the place. The poly is dense and a bit brittle. I dropped a super with frames recently and it broken into 3. I've glued it together with Gorilla glue and some BBQ skewers for strength and it'll be fine. The upper/lower edges of the boxes are hard plastic and that saves hive tool damage. The paint finish is hardwearing, though I've got several roofs with a lot of pitting on for some reason - blue tits? Wasps? Dunno.

    Two comments about these new boxes, which have stopped me buying them. They're 12 frame boxes, which is probably too big for my bees. If I need a bigger box I'd prefer to have a double brood. Mostly mine are in a single box and 11 is ample, and 10 is often OK (Swienty poly boxes). It's easier to brag about 'all frames filled with brood' if the boxes are smaller The second thing - and a dealbreaker as far as I'm concerned - is the rebate at the interface between the boxes. This makes them incompatible with anything else I've got and that drives me nuts! I've got a few Paradise Honey boxes that are fine hives (except for the dreaded overhanging 'lip'), but incompatible with the cedar/Swienty/Abelo boxes that comprise 95% of my kit. I only use the Paradise boxes as bait hives now.

    The Abelo crownboard looks much improved. The original had 5 holes and was not great.

  4. #24
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    Since my last last post I’ve bitten the bullet and ordered two Abelo 12 frame poly hives. I used to work about six 14 x12 Smiths at one time but I found with all that brood to look after the bees hardly ever filled the first super even in a good year. I gave up after about 7-8 years because they weren’t suitable for up here. I will easily dummy down the 12 frame polys. By the way my mentor did run a 15 frame glen hive at one time but I can’t remember if he got much honey.
    As long as I can change my short lugged frames between the polys and my Smiths I will be happy. I’ve ordered enough poly spare kit for them to be stand alone. I’m not planning an expansion of numbers I’m just hoping they will keep my bees warm and dry. The main problem that needs solving here at the moment is why is the weather so poor when our our bees are building up their brood nests!
    Last edited by lindsay s; 03-05-2021 at 09:55 AM.

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