todays news

[Jon]

No better man for the job!

[Trog]

Pretty amazing pics brothermoo
I am impressed that takes some courage
The advice I got when they went down our much lower chimney was to hang a drawn comb down in the chimney on string
The idea is the queen wants to get laying so she moves onto the comb and you pull the string up with her on the comb
How did you get the queen in the box ?
the bees will follow where she goes next
You could have put a satellite dish up there at the same time

Comb on a string? What a brilliant idea. I'll file that away for future reference.

[gavin]

Heather flit underway. The Ford Focus Estate - sitting outside - now has .....

- seven Swienties, one of them double brood
- eight Paynes poly nucs, two stacked in the front passenger seat
- seven Apideas

And whenever I can crawl out of my pit in the morning they'll be on their way to Glen Clova.

Thanks for your help, Bill!

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[Beefever]

Really? You can sqeeeeeze all that in your car? Where do you sit?

[greengumbo]

Heather flit underway. The Ford Focus Estate - sitting outside - now has .....

- seven Swienties, one of them double brood
- eight Paynes poly nucs, two stacked in the front passenger seat
- seven Apideas

And whenever I can crawl out of my pit in the morning they'll be on their way to Glen Clova.

Thanks for your help, Bill!

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

I dont think my suzuki alto could fit an apidea in never mind the rest Good luck with the move.

[gavin]

Fifteen hives and seven Apideas in a Ford Focus Estate after 7 this morning.



Unpacked up the glen this morning.



Stowaway making a break for it!




It was a bit of a squeeze and we couldn't have got another bee in (or beekeeper to help).

Surprisingly - apart from a few bees clinging to the outside of the ventilation screens of the Apideas, I don't think one bee escaped on the journey. Last year I forgot to nail down the mesh panels that sit in the floor of the Swienties

Funny that - the pics seem to have disappeared. And they're back again.

[Bumble]

Do you expect a decent crop this year?

[gavin]

I always expect a decent crop .

However none of these colonies is really strong - just two more or less filling their first brood box. Past experience says we'll get something of a crop if it is a good year, but nothing if it is average or poor. I'll be happy if the boxes come home bursting with bees, stuffed with winter stores, and with our 7 virgins mated to something other than Italian imports!

These are the association's bees - usually posted under my pseudonym ESBA Apiarist. Tonight six of my own (in wooden Nationals) will be heading for a more westerly glen. They're a bit stronger so I'm more optimistic about them.

PS Beefever - I just sat in the drivers seat

[Trog]

My bees are busy moving themselves around! Swarm and ?mating swarm yesterday, prime swarm today. For a very good reason, bees have not been checked since 24 July and I suspect even the ones we a/s have been at it again as it's that sort of summer! Just going out to make some more b/f up to house the latest swarm. So much for taking things easy; the bees have other ideas for me!

[GRIZZLY]

AFB aside, I have had one of my best honey crops for years. The clover is still going full belt so I'm hoping to get a few more supers off the bees away from my home apiary which is still under the stand still order until the end of this month. It would be lovely to be able to pack some bees off to the heather. Still hopefully there's always next year.