todays news

[Neils]

Fingers crossed BM. Have they got any space on the combs with stores for the queen to lay?

[brothermoo]

Oh aye one frame is full but there are 2 half frames of stores so she can lay there. Here's hoping!
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[Jon]

Nice one.
Bound to be the first cut out in NI this year.
Did you drive it home with the siren on?

[brothermoo]

if only I was allowed to put one in my car!!

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[Neils]

Today I've been in optimistic mode, putting together supers and making up frames. For once I've actually got too many super frames and not enough supers made up to keep an empty one on top of each hive as is my preference so it's been mostly putting supers together. There is a sense of satisfaction watching the big pile of unassembled kit in the box in the garden starting to go down though, I might even get to a stage where I can move some stuff out of the shed and get to the freezer again

This year I've decided to ditch nails and use screws instead. Far easier to take things apart again if something goes wrong. I'm still using wood glue anyway as it only takes a sharp smack with a mallet to break the glue seal. despite drilling, countersinking and then screwing (with a single drill) it still feels like a lot less work that using nails, bonus all round.

First, lone bee patrolling the garden looking for forage also spotted, just in time for the rain to come back again

[The Drone Ranger]

We Had Sleet ....again !!
More tea vicar

[EmsE]

Another beautiful day here (sorry DR ) & the bees were flying well, bringing in lots of pollen. One of my hives is in a sun trap so we managed to get the queens clipped & marked. The hives are in the brick base remains of an old green house ( about waist height) with the ground surrounding the hives covered black weed membrane and you could feel the warmth from it. In combination it really makes a big difference to the apiary in the corner of the turf field where it was too cool to open the hives.

If anything, we could do with a bit of midnight rain just to ensure the trees have enough juice for the spring flow

Edit: and we spotted our first bumble queen in my garden today

[Bridget]

Edit: and we spotted our first bumble queen in my garden today

I saw an enormous bumblebee yesterday when my bees were out and about in the sun. ( Snowed all day today). How do you identify a queen bumble bee Emse

[wee willy]

Queen bumbles are huge in comparison with the workers , Drones are smaller than workers !
WW


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[mazza]

I saw an enormous bumblebee yesterday when my bees were out and about in the sun. ( Snowed all day today). How do you identify a queen bumble bee Emse

At this time of year it's only the queens that will be going about, as they have been hibernating over the winter and are only just starting to look for suitable nest sites. You won't see workers until at least June as the queens are still the primary worker for the colony until then; and once the workers are numerous enough to be able to forage the queen will stay in the nest and concentrate on laying brood. The workers and males are a lot smaller, and a lot of the species' males have yellow tufts on their heads. There is a lot of information available (including id guides) on the bumblebee conservation trust website