- Joined
- Jul 23, 2013
- Messages
- 1,778
- Reaction score
- 603
- Location
- East Midlands
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- some + a few more
Coming to the end of my first 12 months with bees and I have noticed a huge difference between the 3 sites I have.
At Home in a medium sized village.
A swarm caught this summer expanded well and even now are pulling pollen in by the truck load. Regularly get a cloud of excited bees around the hive and watch them fly off to their new found forage. Very busy bringing in a variety of colours of pollen from brilliant white to dark purple almost black.
Farm site 1
This is an area next to some grazing land and farmland on the outskirts of a small village. The bees here have done well, healthy colonies that built up well and have been steadily bringing in forage through the summer. All the splits worked well and all queens mated quickly.
A couple got a little fiery but have calmed down now.
Now they seem to be a little low on forage and have needed light feeding.
The honey on the frames was pale yellow to dark brown in colour.
Generally happy with this site.
Farm site 2 ( bees i only look after)
These bees are in the front garden of a large farm a mile or so from the nearest village. Parent colony and AS from that.
Did great on the OSR but as soon as that finished wow.
These bees have been the worst for health problems and forage but have been exposed to the most sprays.
They have been slow to build up and generally very poor but they have always been nice to work with.
No summer crop at all and have had to be fed for about 3 weeks now.
After feeding thymolated syrup they have both picked up nicely and now have a decent chance of building up for winter imho.
Waiting to see if when the ivy flowers they fill the box with stores as they have a lot of ivy not too far away.
The difference between the sites is huge.
By far the worst site is the ones exposed to crop sprays and monoculture of modern farming. Without help both these colonies would have died out, they may still but fingers crossed.
Has anyone else noticed a dramatic difference in their apiary sites ?
At Home in a medium sized village.
A swarm caught this summer expanded well and even now are pulling pollen in by the truck load. Regularly get a cloud of excited bees around the hive and watch them fly off to their new found forage. Very busy bringing in a variety of colours of pollen from brilliant white to dark purple almost black.
Farm site 1
This is an area next to some grazing land and farmland on the outskirts of a small village. The bees here have done well, healthy colonies that built up well and have been steadily bringing in forage through the summer. All the splits worked well and all queens mated quickly.
A couple got a little fiery but have calmed down now.
Now they seem to be a little low on forage and have needed light feeding.
The honey on the frames was pale yellow to dark brown in colour.
Generally happy with this site.
Farm site 2 ( bees i only look after)
These bees are in the front garden of a large farm a mile or so from the nearest village. Parent colony and AS from that.
Did great on the OSR but as soon as that finished wow.
These bees have been the worst for health problems and forage but have been exposed to the most sprays.
They have been slow to build up and generally very poor but they have always been nice to work with.
No summer crop at all and have had to be fed for about 3 weeks now.
After feeding thymolated syrup they have both picked up nicely and now have a decent chance of building up for winter imho.
Waiting to see if when the ivy flowers they fill the box with stores as they have a lot of ivy not too far away.
The difference between the sites is huge.
By far the worst site is the ones exposed to crop sprays and monoculture of modern farming. Without help both these colonies would have died out, they may still but fingers crossed.
Has anyone else noticed a dramatic difference in their apiary sites ?