What did you do in the Apiary today?

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Adding new genes to his gene pool I would suspect.
 
Checked supers after a week of HB flow and they have done well, no heather honey though, although they see to be heading up the hill to the heather in Ynystawe. One swarm I collected in a nuc box is now is laying some good worker brood after a shaky start.
 
Today was my first inspection of my new colony. The weather has not been great since I moved them home last week but I had to get in and check to make sure all was well before I put on some MACS strips later this week.

What was a placid colony turned out to be a "little" bit angry and as soon as I located the queen I decided to call it a day.
It was at that point I was stung on the finger followed by a bee crawling over my face, got tagged again on the head. Not sure how it got in but I suspect a loose zip.

Hive back together in record time and beat a hasty retreat.

I'm hoping the bad mood was down to protecting stocks, weather, all bees being home.
Spent the evening painting some other hive parts.
 
malx said:
Today was my first inspection of my new colony. The weather has not been great since I moved them home last week but I had to get in and check to make sure all was well before I put on some MACS strips later this week.

What was a placid colony turned out to be a "little" bit angry and as soon as I located the queen I decided to call it a day.
It was at that point I was stung on the finger followed by a bee crawling over my face, got tagged again on the head. Not sure how it got in but I suspect a loose zip.

Hive back together in record time and beat a hasty retreat.

I'm hoping the bad mood was down to protecting stocks, weather, all bees being home.
Spent the evening painting some other hive parts.
Click to expand...

Most likely the strong wind today. ment they prob wernt flying much.
 
Yeah, it was a bit breezy. One of those "Should I or shouldn't I?" days.
Normally I'd leave them alone but wanted to make sure all was well before the MAQS went on.
 
ichbinpaul said:
ichbinpaul said:
Thursday I was called to a farm to remove excessively stingy bees from a corrogated asbesteos barn where roofers had been repeatedly tagged!

Picture attached hopefully
Click to expand...

The original post in error said extraction was thursday, thats because I was looking at a July calendar 17th was a thursday it should say Sunday 17th too many Tramadols!!!
Click to expand...
 
youngyoungs said:
Great picture ichbinpaul. What are your plans for the bees?
Click to expand...

Really good question! they were horendously aggressive foul language an all, but now they are complete sweeties its weird! I need to establish if I have infact got the queen! and if she is viable havn spotted her yet I trying not to upset them at the moment, I estimate about 4-4.5lbs bee hoovered 1lb expired so I have put 1 mixed frame of young eggs and larvae in with them, But I fully expect needing a mated queen, I really dont get the change of temperament! the farmer reckons they were often attacking people?.
 
A day of extreme disappointment. I was able to raise a beautiful post-swarm Q but could NOT make increase this year no matter what.

I went with great hopes to my 2-storey nuc where HM should have emerged downstairs on 1 or 2 August and be well under way, to be greeted by this obscene 3 cm long QC. What's that all about?

There was also a bunch of sealed EQCs on the frame of sealed brood I had popped in the upstairs a week ago to provide some nurse bees. Again knocked them back to 2 and united with another nuc where a Q might or might not (the cell looked torn down, not emerged) have emerged on 7 or 8 August.

I am away for 3 weeks and strongly expect both remaining Q? nucs are going to have to go back into the mother hives then: I'm only keeping going on the glimmer of a hope I got a viable virgin on 7/8 and she has got mated before this turn in the weather (no brood and I wouldn't know a polished cell if I were locked in one but maybe they looked a bit shiny; here's hoping).
 
Checked mite drops after first 5 days of trement.

Maximum drop was (unsurprisingly) from largest hive : 95 or 18.5 per day.

Lowest was 25 or 5/day


Seems OK so far...despite some bees in nuc decamping to live under the varroa floor... Just left them to get on with it...
 
Rough day here
Every hive I opened went at me,took a sting to every limb and my ear looks like a bright red cauliflower after taking 3/4 hits through the veil
Carried on regardless
Maqs on two of the big colonies,the third is requeening itself ATM
2nucs are up and laying
All supers only part filled I need 3/4 good weeks weather and forage to hopefully finish them off
Rang a member of local assoc.to see if the members are finding this a good year
He said if you didn't GET honey this year you are not a beekeeper so now I have proof!
Top bar hive put together in June now has 16 combs from top to bottom drawn,wasn't brave enough to go through that one today,tomorrow is a new day
Have two hives 2 miles away,they seem happier,plenty of flights supers being drawn and filled so I'm hopeful I'll bee a beekeeper down there
At the parents house two hives with untouched supers but queen+so maybe they'll do something yet
I'm planning on holding out to the middle of sept to extract if I need to!!!
 
Great joy!

The EQCs in the combined colony have been torn down, so I have some sort of Q, almost certainly the virgin who emerged 7/8 August. I know I shouldn't have peeked but that's where the "Trying" bit comes from...

It's a long shot but she may already have had a chance to mate, and the weather's not completely a lost cause. So hopefully I can lift one frame when I get back, see sealed worker brood and leave them for the winter.
 
Wanted to check a few hives but conditions weren't right and I had 'work' to do, so i just sat observing the entrances of a few of the hives - looks like they've found the balsam! evening noises of the hives seem to indicate some honey ripening going on. Looks like there will be a busy round three of extractions!
 
Stood and counted all the dead bees after using MAQS......sure had a clear out of the weak ....bring out your dead....bring out your dead........about 50 bees from one hive and about 30 from the other hive. Virtual silence the first evening of treatment....had my ear glued to the side of the hives to even hear the bees humming. Usually you can hear their feet pattering up and down the inside of the hive just standing nearby the hives and in the evening the usual air conditioning was turned down to low. I only hope the varroa are feeling really poorly right now.
On the up side...loads of bees working the balsam today. Nuc bees forming a queue to get in and out!
Had serious words about Inspector coming to visit...best behaviour and p and q's etc. told those girls to keep their tails tucked in and to smile nicely.
 
Found loads of queen cells in hive 2 pre holiday check. (Thursday 7th August) so split hive and left one open cell charged with a grub in, in each half (just for a bit of insurance as getting on in the season).
Checked hives on Sunday 17th August, both cells have emerged. Still have a number of drones around in all of my hives so fingers crossed for good mating opportunities. Will leave alone for a few weeks now.
Checked on a hive I newspaper united pre holiday. All gone well.
Rest of the hives are doing well plenty of BIAS and stores going in.
Survived a very windy holiday in a tent near St Ives
 
House is not under siege this morning, had a very late night extracting on Sat/Sun am up until 3am extracting...I didn't put the extracted wet supers in the shed/garage because SHMBO, wanted to get in the garage first thing, e.g. 8am, and I wanted a lie in, due to up late......

So I left the 3 supers outside the porch, full coverboards (no holes) on base and top!

The number of bees outside the front door of the house on Sunday 8am, was unbelievable!!!! trying to get into the supers...

I had to get suited up, and leave the back door, and dump the supers on my barrow, and wheel up the garden, and the bees followed!!!!

later that evening, after dark, moved the supers, and sealed up wet for storage in the shed!

I think that's what becomes, of taking stranglers from my extraction room back to the hive, that evening.....they told the rest of the bees, where to find their honey, that was missing....

live and learn...
 
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