todays news

**Mellifera Crofter** · 28-07-2015, 08:52 AM

I changed a colony from a Paynes hive to a Bee Hive Supplies hive recently. The BHS hive has a kind of porch entrance rather than a straight walk-into entrance as in a Paynes, and this is a picture of how I found them this morning. I don't know whether it means they just like sitting around outside under the shelter of the porch; or whether they feel they ought to be there to better guard the hive as the actual entrance is now a bit hidden; or whether the entrance became too congested for them all to go inside (and I should be worried). They did not do this in the Paynes.
Kitta
IMG_20150728_080125.jpg

**prakel** · 28-07-2015, 10:12 AM

Suits: aquired a Mann Lake suit (with hat and wire box veil which has always been my personal preference but they do fencing hoods too) earlier this year. Got to say that in my personal oppinion the build quality of the suit is far better than any of the others I've ever purchased in the UK -and yes, I have used both of the 'big' names and been pleased with them in the past. Knew it was going to be quality even before taking it out of the bag simply by the weight of the thing.

edit: this was the one, but they do expensive suits too for those who like to spend as much as they can

**Bridget** · 28-07-2015, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by The Drone Ranger

Looks ok but what about that price ouch!
it still says
"General clothing should be worn under this suit which should not be worn on bare skin."

Tell you what Lindsay because its so wet and the grass is long I bought a pair of Lidl waterproof trousers
I have never been stung through them ( I have jeans on as well I suppose)

My theory is if the surface is slick bees can't get a grip
To sting they cling on and curve the business end round
Anything that gives them a grip like denim etc is a guarantee you will get stung
The mesh idea is good though

http://ultrabreezesuits.com/suit/order_2011.htm

Trouble both those suits have the two zips that meet below the chin, these zips can move apart and are difficult to close properly as you can't see them - this was my downfall. Has anyone tried that mega expensive one? It would be good to here a review.

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**Bridget** · 28-07-2015, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by busybeephilip

need to give the bees somewhere to shelter from the wet, wet and more wet

This is where the bee house is good. In the winter cold it is only a couple or three degrees warmer than outside but it is never damp. I can light cardboard that's been in there for over a year. The hives are about 2 ft above the ground and protected from damp with the shed floor, the platform they sit on above the floor and their hive floor. Several local bee keepers lost colonies in the wet spring yet ours are doing well. Also the hive entrance is set back from the bee house entrance.
May be we were lucky this year of course.

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**Calluna4u** · 29-07-2015, 09:30 AM

As C4U suggested, I've moved the discussion on the risk of starvation to its own thread ('Starvation alert') and will leaving grafting discussion here. So the whole original post is over there. G.

You mention the Apideas, we have been having to feed them weekly now for at least a month, ditto the Kielers. The cell builders stopped doing more than a couple of cells on each graft about two weeks back, only responding better if fed continuously. Have now pulled the plug on all new grafts and cells for the season and winding the unit down for winter, a couple of weeks earlier than planned. The July queens are probably going to be problematical for mating quality and we are finding too many drone layers again, as was the case in May. Not a good season for the project, though the June queens are looking very nice.

**Jon** · 29-07-2015, 10:13 AM

I am still getting grafts started ok, about 90% in queenless starters and around 50% in queenright starters.
The last decent mating day we had here was Sunday 19th July and thankfully a lot of mine flew and mated that day.
It was 19c and sunny all afternoon but that seems like a long time ago now!
I graft a couple of batches per week and the problem is they start to back up in the apideas and the clock is ticking.
In an ideal world you put in a ripe cell which emerges the next day with mating taking place about a week later.
10-14 days after that the queen is ready to remove from the apidea.
If they take 3-4 weeks to start laying it changes all the calculations about what you can get per apidea and there will be a few drone layers as well.
I average about 2.5 per apidea but in theory you could get 4 queens per season if everything was perfect especially the weather.
That's not going to happen in NI.
June was good here, and the first few days of July.
The other problem with mini-nucs in August is the wasps especially if they have to be fed as it attracts them.

**busybeephilip** · 29-07-2015, 10:35 AM

Hi jon,

Wasps are already a problem for me, i've lost a few mini nucs to wasps already and like Calluna4u have stopped any grafting. Also noticed the wasps sniffing around the full size hives trying to get access at the entrance edges. I'm also feeding syrup to some colonies that have no supers and down sizing entrances were practical. Maybe an indian summer come September.

what worries me more is varroa, the levels are higher than this time last year and i cant treat till the supers are off, I'm considering treating with OA gas using a home made sublimox as soon as supers are off. I was quoted a ridiculous amount of Euros to obtain one of these from Italy so there is a new DIY sublimox project brewing as I type

**Jon** · 29-07-2015, 10:56 AM

I had that PHD student from NUIG at my allotment apiary 2 weeks ago and we sampled most of the colonies accurately using icing sugar to dust mites off a measured sample of 300 bees. One of the colonies dropped over 60 mites. It only had a couple of frames of sealed brood so I removed those and treated it with Oxalic trickle the next day. The rest of them will need to be treated by mid August at the latest as mite levels were generally high. I had a 3k tub of Apiguard delivered yesterday and I have Oxalic for anything broodless.

**Kate Atchley** · 29-07-2015, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Bridget

Trouble both those suits have the two zips that meet below the chin, these zips can move apart and are difficult to close properly as you can't see them - this was my downfall. Has anyone tried that mega expensive one? It would be good to here a review.

Began beekeeping 20 years ago with a standard Sherriff suit which, though expensive then, was relatively less so, if you see what I mean. It has lasted brilliantly wel and still in good condition though I had a new mesh fitting by Sherriff last summer when my darned holes began coming apart.

Now I also have a lightweight one from BBWear (fairly expensive but not as per Sherriff: see [URL="http://www.bbwear.co.uk/clothing/fullsuits/rr101.html"]). This is my favourite, by far. An excellent suit in dense but light, soft fabric. Possibly it's not the best choice if you have super-feisty bees trying to sting through clothing ... can't vouch for that either way.

Both have Velcro beneath the zip join in the front of the veil so, if you remember to press the zip ends down, this makes sure no bees can wander in, even if a zip is not quite closed. Both companies offer veil replacement if/when this is necessary.

For committed beekeepers, I think it's a false economy to buy a cheap suit. Those I have tried or witnessed in use generally have clumsy, ill-fitting zips, heavy material and few pockets. They are very hot in sunny weather (even in the Highlands). Having said that, we plan to buy from Simonthebeekeeper for visitor suits for the Amm apiary. Remarkable value and reasonably well made.