What did you do in the Apiary today?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Years ago I bought my wife a lady sized spade for her birthday. She must have been unimpressed as within a couple uf weeks she broke it

She was probably a bit miffed that you didn't buy her a shiny new hoover

 

[Obee1]

The new Paynes Poly Hive arrived this afternoon after I had left for work (Groan ....) I suspect I will get the third degree when I get up in the morning ... Huge box sat in the hallway - arrived a day early bless them !! I have a few hours to think of a defence ....It's her birthday in a couple of weeks .. a surprise present for her ???

have a big enough row that she doesn't speak to you for more than a couple of weeks. That way you can ignore her birthday and not have to buy a pressie. A ploy my father in law uses frequently around Xmas and peeps birthdays!

 

[jonnybeegood]

Nightmare morning, i tried to put my swarm into a new hive by throwing them onto a sheet up a ramp. I did this & sat down to watch, they crawled up on the front of the hive & about half the bees went in, great to watch, then they started coming out again & swarming on the front, Dammit! I was thinking of scooping them up & putting them inside when i spotted the virgin Queen on the front of the hive amongst 30,000 bees , she just appeared on the surface. I grabbed her, took her in doors & put her in a Q cage & blocked the end with a lump of hard fondant, i put the cage in the hive & now they are all going back in , phew! Now, do i put a Q X on the front to stop her getting out for a day in case they go again or leave it open?

so am I ok doing this, just concerned if she hasn't mated yet, will it be ok until tomorrow, i'm guessing yes?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

She was probably a bit miffed that you didn't buy her a shiny new hoover

That would have been frowned upon by other husbands as excessively generous. One guy I know bought his wife a pair of slippers but gave them to her one at a time.

 

[pargyle]

have a big enough row that she doesn't speak to you for more than a couple of weeks. That way you can ignore her birthday and not have to buy a pressie. A ploy my father in law uses frequently around Xmas and peeps birthdays!

Great idea ... very appealing .. downside is that it's MY birthday a few weeks after hers .....

The boxes were noted this morning and I suspect the 'why do you need another hive' question will be forthcoming .. I've removed the evidence and painted the hive so perhaps I can try the ... it's an old one I was given for just the carriage cost ploy ??? Again ...

 

[Dishmop]

Great idea ... very appealing .. downside is that it's MY birthday a few weeks after hers .....

The boxes were noted this morning and I suspect the 'why do you need another hive' question will be forthcoming .. I've removed the evidence and painted the hive so perhaps I can try the ... it's an old one I was given for just the carriage cost ploy ??? Again ...

Its a split and if you hadnt done it they would have swarmed...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Great idea ... very appealing .. downside is that it's MY birthday a few weeks after hers .....

The boxes were noted this morning and I suspect the 'why do you need another hive' question will be forthcoming .. I've removed the evidence and painted the hive so perhaps I can try the ... it's an old one I was given for just the carriage cost ploy ??? Again ...

Whenever she looks askance at anotherpercieved purchase I just pointedly trip over (another) pair of her shoes - even her girl friends call her Imelda

That would have been frowned upon by other husbands as excessively generous. One guy I know bought his wife a pair of slippers but gave them to her one at a time.

Yes, but you are in Yorkshire!

 

[Tremyfro]

Great idea ... very appealing .. downside is that it's MY birthday a few weeks after hers .....

The boxes were noted this morning and I suspect the 'why do you need another hive' question will be forthcoming .. I've removed the evidence and painted the hive so perhaps I can try the ... it's an old one I was given for just the carriage cost ploy ??? Again ...

Just be totally honest...say it is another hive....replacements are sometimes necessary. She won't believe you anyway as she will be well used to your evasions....and save the box. Start to collect lots of little pressies.....scented tissues, hand cream, socks, chocolates, sporty clothes for the gym, gardening stuff, a mat for the beach, sun cream, anything she has admired in the last 6 months etc. that way you will come out of it with Honour. AND you can look forward to your Birthday present....just make sure you get rid of the box or you may find the new hive wrapped up for you!

 

[Goran]

Trees of heaven and wild blackberries are filling supers really nicelly
Early splits needed new box, I let them spread through 2 boxes with luxury stores of real honey - they earn this. Plenty of pollen in the hives ( again wild blackberries and trees of heaven).

I have a problem.. don't have any free barrel..
Have to search to buy them somewhere.

 

[Falesh]

After a thorough inspection of both hives we find that the original queen has died. There were capped queen cells and no visible uncapped brood so she must have popped her clogs at least a few days ago.

I've ordered a new queen which will arrive in two or three days time. When she turns up I plan to go through the queenless hive, kill any emerged queens and destroy any remaining queen cells and introduce the new queen in her cage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5JUpjGDYMg

 

[einsteinagogo]

All 6 bait hives in the County, have lots of activity, and the two bait hives in my garden, have lots of attention again, oddly, it's always the same time of year, first 7 days in June, in the same spot they turn up! LEY LINES! ?

I'll wait and see, making more BB frames this evening.

Bees at the apiary are foraging well, on OSR - hopefully this was the day, the virgin queen got out and mate from the apidea.

Hot at 21 degrees C today. First hot weather we've had.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The new Paynes Poly Hive arrived this afternoon after I had left for work (Groan ....) I suspect I will get the third degree when I get up in the morning ... Huge box sat in the hallway - arrived a day early bless them !! I have a few hours to think of a defence ....It's her birthday in a couple of weeks .. a surprise present for her ???

You wuss!!!!
Tell her it's a beehive and that you've ordered another three

 

[maddydog]

Had to performed an AS on a colony I'd already split in April. The q+ half has managed to fill a 14*12 with bees and 3 supers of honey. Osr amazing stuff but definitely keeps us beeks on our toes! Triple checked the frame HM was on as I don't want a repeat of last weeks fiasco

 

[Cellectronic]

All 6 bait hives in the County, have lots of activity, and the two bait hives in my garden, have lots of attention again, oddly, it's always the same time of year, first 7 days in June, in the same spot they turn up! LEY LINES! ?

I have an Aunt and Uncle that live on the middle of the South Shropshire hills.
Every year for the last 30 years swarms have nested in his loft ,
You go upstairs in his place and all you can smell is honey, you bang on the ceiling and you can hear the bees.Uncle mentioned Ley Lines and also said the birds use them because the birds mostly follow the same path as if they were flying in a tunnel which is invisible to humans, I put a bait hive hive up there so lets see.
Good luck with yours.

 

[bpmurray]

The new Paynes Poly Hive arrived this afternoon after I had left for work (Groan ....) I suspect I will get the third degree when I get up in the morning ... Huge box sat in the hallway - arrived a day early bless them !! I have a few hours to think of a defence ....It's her birthday in a couple of weeks .. a surprise present for her ???

I picked one up from a dealer only 4 miles from me: really, really dangerous - it's OK when it's Paynes at the end of a web site, but another thing entirely when a nearby shop has stuff stocked to the rafters. Except there's a delay with restocking frames, ouch!

She saw the hive, but not the apideas, feeders, etc. so I survived, at least this time, with comments about the cost of this particular hobby - she has no idea how much my fishing gear is worth.

I painted it blue, but was much less careful with this one compared to its predecessors: the goal is to provide UV protection, not create a work of art.

 

[youngyoungs]

Put wet empty supers back on the hives. Checked the bait box, some signs of activity.

Beautiful sunny day so called HWMBO on my way to work and said "if ever there were a day when you would likely have a swarm, it would be today".

Less than an hour later............I was on my way back from work as there was a swarm.

They settled in the bait hive, so tonight i ran them into a nuc. Big swarm with a lovely unmarked golden queen. Wonder where they came from........

 

[pargyle]

You wuss!!!!

Yes ... that's me ... but ... what with beekeeping, woodturning, allotments etc etc. I find there's an almost continuous procession of parcels arriving ... mostly small and not really attracting much attention but Paynes boxes you could LIVE IN .... indeed ... I may need to if the beekeeping continues to grow at it's present rate !

Anyway .. Today I put a super on one of the hives I split from the LDH .. the bees had already filled the 14 x 12 and half of them were hanging about on the landing board. No queen cells in the hive so I think I'm safe for a few days. Peeked through the clear crownboard a few minutes ago and they are busy building comb in the super ... great news.

The swarm in the Nuc had emptied the feeder again so I have them another feeder full - there's only a small amount of the original 2 litres left now so over the weekend I'll have a look at them and then they go into the new hive on Monday if she's laying.

 

[steve56616]

Just done inspections on three hives. All looking good and so far no swarms.
Good amount of capped honey so clearing 4 supers for tomorrow or Monday.
Hopefully it will be a better year than last yr. Not so much rape around these parts this year...so that's a bonus. Last year was all crystalized buy now and constant AS'ing
Ive also never done a single varoa treatment and this is my third year with great numbers and no winter loses. Probably get slated for it but I cant justify pouring in chemicals while they are doing well by themselves

 

[jonnybeegood]

Just checked the large swarm i hived yesterday, i thought they hadnt released the Queen when i seen a bee inside but they had, she was just cleaning up fondant scraps. They have taken a litre of syrup since last night so i gave them another as they have a lot of 14x12 foundation to draw.
My other hives which all have virgin queens are bringing in pollen which i a good sign, i will give them another week & have a look in.

 

[pargyle]

Just been round to give the swarm the last of their syrup .. had a peep through the clear crownboards at all the other colonies (Lots to look at now I'm a FIVE HIVE OWNER !).

Don't you just love that soft hum they make at night when they are working on the honey ... and the smell in the apiary ... I can see some capped frames in the supers so might need to have a look and see if some of the colonies need another one yet.

The dog disturbed one of our local foxes ... fox ran round the lawn in a circle .. the dog (our 10 year old 75lb Labrador) tried to match the foxes turning circle, no chance - I'm sure the fox was just having a game - the dog could never catch it. After about three circuits of the lawn the fox gave up, ran straight up one of our 6' fences and off into the neighbours - our stupid dog just crashed into the fence and then looked very pleased that the intruder had been seen off !!

It's no wonder the urban fox population is expanding .. it would need a very quick dog to catch one.