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Thread: todays news

  1. #3711
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    I noticed the bees coming back with some ivy pollen last week and pinpointed the source to a plant about a mile away absolutely heaving with bees.

    Its earlier flowering than any others I see locally and looks quite different. I wonder how easy it is to propagate from cuttings / roots ?

  2. #3712
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by greengumbo View Post
    ... Its earlier flowering than any others I see locally and looks quite different. I wonder how easy it is to propagate from cuttings / roots ?
    I’ve read somewhere it takes about twenty years before an ivy plant will flower. I don’t know whether that is true, or whether a cutting may flower sooner - but still worth trying, I think.

    Kitta

  3. #3713
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    20 years ! wow !

    I guess it can go next to the mulberry then They should flower about the same time.

  4. #3714

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    It will take fifteen years and it only flowers when in the arboreal stage. I have a Persian Ivy that began flowering a few years ago and that was from a rooted cutting, it's a long wait. Mine flowers later than the native variety and still has buds as well as open flowers.

  5. #3715

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    Queenless in October! Hello I did an end of season inspection today (14 degrees in bright sun) one of my hives is on double brood and has lots of beams and stores but no brood or eggs at all. The bees are quiet and easy to handle. There is no pollen. This hive had a 2017 Queen do bag well 6 weeks ago. Poor weather and work have prevented me looking in since. So either there is a non laying queen or they are queenless. What to do? I don’t really want to unite as I have two other colonies both on double brood so would end up with huge hives. I don’t have easy access to a new queen and am keen to maintain local stock rather than buy in a queen from far away.
    Do I have any other option than to see how they overwinter and assess in the spring? Any advice welcome


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  6. #3716
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    Can you offer a test frame? If it is negative saying there is a queen present then a feed of syrup my bribe her to get going. You have said you have had poor weather so I would wonder about a brood stop myself.

    PH

  7. #3717
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Are you sure they're queenless? I looked through a few boxes recently that had vanishingly low levels of brood, or in one case none whatsoever, but they were all definitely queenright. These were in Aberdeen, not balmy Fife

    Which is no guarantee they'll make it through the winter of course ...

    We took drastic action, culled the non-functioning Q and united the box with another. However, these weren't particularly 'valuable' bees.

    Wasn't there recent discussion about a test frame this late in the season? Here or the BKF? I've never tried. There's zero chance of them rearing one and getting her mated, but I suppose that doesn't mean they wouldn't try.

    You do have time to split the double box, unite each half - over a QE! - with existing hives and then use a clearer board to compress them down into just a double box. If I was confident on my abilities to find the Q and hadn't then that's what I would do.

  8. #3718
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatshark View Post
    Are you sure they're queenless? I looked through a few boxes recently that had vanishingly low levels of brood, or in one case none whatsoever, but they were all definitely queenright. These were in Aberdeen, not balmy Fife
    Same here. Quite a few of my colonies' queens stopped laying when I looked a while back now. But a few days ago, I had to move a nucleus colony to a better hive and didn't see any brood - but I did see the queen, and left well alone. Even if I hadn't seen her, I'd have left them as they were.

    Quote Originally Posted by fatshark View Post
    Wasn't there recent discussion about a test frame this late in the season? Here or the BKF? I've never tried.
    It was here, Fatshark. I asked the question because I was trying to help two people with possible queenless colonies. In both instances they did not make use of the test frames to draw out any queencells, but on a second or third visit to one of the colonies, I saw the queen. For the other one - we'll have to see what happens in spring. Also, a few days after asking the question, one of my colonies tried to supersede a queen. I stopped them, and she's still laying fine.

    So, RDMW, you could try a test frame as Fatshark suggested, but I'll probably just leave them, but perhaps give them some pollen patties as you've said you didn't see any (and syrup or fondant).

    Kitta

  9. #3719
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    In fairness Kitta it was Polyhive who suggested a test frame. I wouldn't do that at this time of year as I'd want my strong(er) colonies to remain that way, and I'd prefer not even to go rummaging through them unless I had to.

    Of course, PH and RDMW wouldn't "rummage". But I would.

  10. #3720
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    Oh, yes - PH. I should pay better attention!


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