What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Hive 1. United with strong NUC after checking with test frame..... Sprayed both groups with sugar water and mixed frames from both in new brood box, had spotted queen so watched for a bit to see if there was any trouble!

Hive 2. Was part way through doing a bailey change from standard to 14x12 finally spotted queen working new brood box so took the opportunity to swap floor, then put 14x12 brood ontop, then I shook all remanding bees from old brood into lower box then QX then two drawn supers then crown board with porter bee escape missing then old brood box and finally crown board ontop. Hoping that they will remove any stores from the old frames in a couple of days.

Will keep a real close eye on Hive2 as I am not happy with there mood. Will give them a chance after all they have been through.... Can't take any chances on the allotment.


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Put frame of brood (all stages) into supected Q- hive.

Checked my other double brood very full now with lovely brood pattern needs super but found charged QC (only the one)? So time to get more kit ready for AS going for a topper and Nuc this time.

That will mean every hive i own will have been split this year ...no honey for me then?
 
Sat at lunchtime and watched bees being incredibly busy - loads of foragers, orientation flights, landing board full of bees going in and out all the time. The OSR round here is just starting to go over but the girls are making hay still. And today I was able to mow round the hives without even getting pinged - they've at last recovered their temper after I did an AS four weeks ago, and after all the lousy weather. Hoorah!:)
 
I suddendly remembered how Hot it can get in a bee suit working in the summer Sunshine

looked at a few hives and added a cloak board and grafted Queen Cells from a calm source to split a Commercial over Rose OSB Bailey change that just produced queen cells and swarmed

ran a few emerging queens into stale vgin hives, to see it they will superecede ..

.just wonder which books the bees who produced the queen cells read...as 16 days ago in was minus 1 at night and 9c during the day when they started to make them

glorious day though and ended up in the pub for a refreshing pint
 
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I was building super frames in my kitchen today and I think I got scouted! I had to chase out 3 bees, (all lovely light yellow ones, so clearly not mine) and shut the window. They don't seem to have found the bait hives just round the corner of the house though!
 
Collected a small cast and got it housed - bit of a bodge, but hopefully with a virgin queen to replace the dronelayer who is hanging on!!
 
Second day running spent most of the day collecting swarms.

  • Nice cast swarm on a fence smoked up into a skep
  • Helped two fellow bee keepers collect swarms from their gardens
  • Called to a lovely house or should say mansion to collect a smallish swarm which was clustered in a bush inches off the ground. A little concerned to see tens of bees flat on their backs unable to right themselves. Too early to remove them so will go back tomorrow evening.
  • Went back to pick up the swarm which I had collected earlier from the fence

Not sure I like this swarm collectors diet though, two slices of bread, glass of lemonade and 3 cups of tea with 2 sugars in each. :drool5:
 
Checked 3 out of 5 as one is Q- after swarming and the other was the caught swarm...gave most extra room.
 
Referred yet another to the local BKA in that area, tbh I didn't have the time or inclination to drive over there (too far).
Made another batch of super frames and then inspected 4 hives in an out apiary to see if / when they will cap the honey ready for extraction.
OSR still strong, 3 of the 4 needed a 3rd super and the 4th already had 3rd super last inspection and are busy drawing out the foundation.

Just did a quick count and realised I have 26 supers on 13 hives now!
I hope that they start capping some soon as I'm almost out of supers!

Finally checked (visual inspection from outside) the swarm I hived this morning, almost all inside but still busy when I left at 9pm!
 
collected a swarm from a garden, gave them to a nice chap who lost both his colonies overwinter, just in from putting them into his hive
 
Spent couple of hours early evening with a lady who has 3 hives who is in her third year. When I got to her she had 5 hives (+ 2 swarms) and wanted me to help her do an AS on the remainding one that hadnt.
Hmmm, she hadnt checked any of her original 3 hives for over a month but had housed 2 swarms of unknown origin. 3 hives had feeders on and she was feeding syrup daily, these hives also had 2 supers each.
After chat she has seen 5 swarms in her garden but only managed to take 2, the others drifted off.
Anyway had a look through the hive that she wanted to do an AS on and found 6 capped queen cells and couple emerged. As luck would have it found 2 virgins on the same frame so quickly stuffed it into a nuc box I had with me. Removed all queen cells, pulled two and put into cages just in case. Ran 1 virgin back into this hive and put the other in her AS hive with some brood, stores and bees, so a split not an AS. Next was to check another hive that had no brood a month ago........... still none so put a virgin from a cage in, laid a frame on top covered with bees and laid the cage on top, after a few minutes opened it and couple of workers went in, no problem, queen came out and the licking started, so closed them up. Last hive was her biggest and nastiest, wish she had said that earlier as would of done it first, anyway, pussy cats and not big at all,(big swarm in garden yesterday that she missed) loads of sealed queen cells but all queens dead inside so presume virgin on the loose, only sealed brood, mostly drone, removed all queen cells and removed couple of frames with bees, stores and bit of brood to my nuc, put other spare queen in using the same hap hazard method which seemed to work. Dummied it down as a reserve in case incumbant virgin not successful. Removed all feeders and told her to stop feeding.
Closed up cleaned up drank tea and told her I would be back in 10 - 14 days ( call me) and we can check on the new queens progress.
Hoping that I have done some good. She only wants 3 easy to manage hives and if all 6 + nuc she now has are successful she wants me to take the spare bees away, said we should unite but she doesnt like big colonies as they are daunting to inspect. Did my best. :drool5:
Will do my own beekeeping tonight.
Pete D
 
Its not jam we want........ !

Up to 16 hives / Nuc's with bees in at the moment. Got 4 spare complete hives and 4 nucs still to go......

Still on track for my original 2nd year plan except my honey target.

Remains to be seen of course how good / bad my beekeeping / husbandry skills are when I know that all the above colonies are viable

Cheers

Pete D
 
lost a swarm last night, brushed the bees into a nuc, set it down on some steps , put crown board on leaving gaps, waited 5 miniutes, then it erupted and flew off, oh well.
 
Inspected my three hives. The hived swarm from late April now needs a super, their donor hive is queenless - they swarmed in the foul weather four weeks ago and I guess the virgin hasn't mated. I put in a frame of eggs from hive 3 to see what happens there. My final (and original) hive has two supers full but uncapped and almost ready for harvest (its OSR for miles round here), I'lll stick on a third super before I take them off. And I got stung on the palm after I was out of my suit and one of the silly bees went into my hair (which is short and thinning) My Friday evening is going to be making up shallow frames...
 
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Operation bethel Bees

Took a swarming call early this morning - from Turkey! Bob777 is on holiday and his daughter had told him his bees may be swarming, (I've been checking his hive and suspect it had swarmed last week) so popped up to speak to his in-laws, I think it may have been a cast swarm or maybe the bees just seeing a virgin queen away on her mating flight (one lot returned to hive). I'm sue rob will tell all when he comes back.
Then up to the chapel to check on the trapping cone (it went on last night) everything seems fine - bees exiting and not getting back in and starting to explore the hive which has a mix of foundation and drawn comb in - fingers crossed. Knocked up a couple of spare broods (in case of more swarm calls) and some super frames ready for inspecting my hives this afternoon.
 
Nice photos of trap out!

I have been trying to avoid the apiary near the shops. One of the association swarms we put there this week absconded yesterday. I'm keeping my head down.
 
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