How do your bees look at this time of year?

[gwizzie]

Well at this time of the year you would expect your bees to be all cuddled up and not taking up much space in the have ? YES!
WELL NOT these ones! have a look that the picture taken on the 10th december
2793
They have demolished the first block of fondant which I replaced, so after this picture was taken they had two blocks again, I thought that would be the end of it but no they are now on a double brood box as there are that many bees in the hive. I can't get into the bottom box to see what the queen is up to as its too cold yet but it looks like she has forgotten its winter ? Its just an unbelievably strong hive. :eek::eek:

[Mellifera Crofter]

Well, after all that wind and snow, they were out and about today enjoying a windless sunny day.
Kitta

[fatshark]

WELL NOT these ones! have a look that the picture taken on the 10th december


Looks to me they're all busy chewing back the poly walls of that Paradise box so that it's the correct size to take a National frame ;)

[The Drone Ranger]

4 hives blown over in big wind 1 Smith 2 polynucs 1 polyhive
All well strapped and OK
Lost one nuc so far some scattered drone brood (queen died)
lost one hive 2 mice no bees :)
lost one mini nuc died out no sign of queen
Rest OK so far and stores look adequate
Surprised by that though as the mild weather means they have been active a lot of the time
Next Month might be different but so far so good

[fatshark]

I'm not counting any chickens yet ... it's the next couple of months that matter.

[busybeephilip]

Rest OK so far and stores look adequate
Surprised by that though as the mild weather means they have been active a lot of the time
Next Month might be different but so far so good

Here, no big winds but overall the weather has been very good, a bit too good for my liking, the bees are out and about these days and bringing in some pollen and sniffing around my bee shed, a good sign but very early. What worries me is that the mildish weather will continue resulting in a greater than normal loss of field bees leading to very week colonies by the end of march akin to the situation last season. I can already see / find bees resting on bushes, walls of the house etc where it has just got too cold when the sun goes in and they sit there without the energy to fly back to the hives.

[Calluna4u]

Bees very active the last two days. Very few casualties thus far, and those were most likely queenless in autumn (there are always a few and we don't have time to seek them out).

Stores transfer and feed taking (syrup...in poly hives) going on yesterday and today. This morning they were all over my bird table picking up the dust pretending it was pollen. Quite a few bees with nice little white pollen baskets seen entering hives.

Today a few early hazels at one site were heaving with bees, so many that each was only getting a fleck of creamy coloured pollen.

[greengumbo]

Bees very active the last two days. Very few casualties thus far, and those were most likely queenless in autumn (there are always a few and we don't have time to seek them out).

Stores transfer and feed taking (syrup...in poly hives) going on yesterday and today. This morning they were all over my bird table picking up the dust pretending it was pollen. Quite a few bees with nice little white pollen baskets seen entering hives.

Today a few early hazels at one site were heaving with bees, so many that each was only getting a fleck of creamy coloured pollen.

Excellent to see the Hazel catkins starting to yield. Mine are not bringing in pollen but are active on cleansing. Whats "stores transfer" ?

I have some capped frames of syrup spare that I was going to stick in smaller hives as stores instead of giving a lump of fondant if I can do it without disturbing them too much. Is that the kind of thing you mean ?

[fatshark]

Mine were piling in pollen (bright yellow? no clue) late morning but highlight of the quick visit was seeing a red squirrel at the apiary ...

[Calluna4u]

Excellent to see the Hazel catkins starting to yield. Mine are not bringing in pollen but are active on cleansing. Whats "stores transfer" ?

I have some capped frames of syrup spare that I was going to stick in smaller hives as stores instead of giving a lump of fondant if I can do it without disturbing them too much. Is that the kind of thing you mean ?

No, its just the bees moving stores from the outer reaches of the hive to where the active cluster is.........sometimes...especially with little or no brood, the cluster moves to the stores, sometimes they move the stores to the cluster, esp if there is a little patch of brood there to pin them. Many colonies so large this winter at this date (can change radically as we are just at mid winter climatologically) that they do not have scope to move much so just pull in the stores from the fringes.

[Poly Hive]

Mine are clustered against the front RHS junction of the side and front. Something I doubt to see in a timber hive.

PH

[RDMW]

I went into the winter with very heavy hives on a single national brood body per hive. Warm today in the sun. Two out of five hives seem light so added fondant. Bees active no sign of cluster and flying well, real risk of starvation I better buy some more fondant !!


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[fatshark]

I'm not counting any chickens yet ... it's the next couple of months that matter.

Told you so ... lovely day in the apiary today. All but one colony flying well and bringing in the pollen. One suspiciously quiet. Peaked under the lid and there's a just pathetic little cluster left. Didn't have time to do the full CSI analysis. Not starvation as they had ample. Varroa counts v. low after midwinter treatment ... but, importantly, this was the highest infestation of all my colonies mid-autumn.

[greengumbo]

Told you so ... lovely day in the apiary today. All but one colony flying well and bringing in the pollen. One suspiciously quiet. Peaked under the lid and there's a just pathetic little cluster left. Didn't have time to do the full CSI analysis. Not starvation as they had ample. Varroa counts v. low after midwinter treatment ... but, importantly, this was the highest infestation of all my colonies mid-autumn.

Ditto one of mine yesterday. Still a small cluster but not much activity. The rest were flying very well.

I was slow to react late summer with this one, in late August it had a few crippled wing workers. By then DWV levels would already be ridiculous and treatment in autumn probably too late.

[RDMW]

Shame to hear that. I added fondant to another hive at the weekend as they are all flying well. The snowdrops and crocus are flowering well. I have overwintered a nuc in a payn es polynuc with a eke full of polystyrene in addition to the standard roof and they are doing fine. Planning to add some pollen patty at the end of march
I don't think my bees have clustered much at all this year so far. Time yet for some cold weather in February and march before the common heatwave in april


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[lindsay s]

Hi all it’s been a very long time since I last posted but now I’m back.
It was a cold frosty day here last Monday so it was a good day to heft hives and give candy. The biggest down side to this was removing and replacing all the heavy stones from the roofs of 10 hives. This photo will give you some idea what it was like but a least my hives don’t blow away. It was quite a mild end to the year up here so I expected the hives to be a lot lighter than normal, but I was pleasantly surprised to find them all ok. They were all given about a kilo of homemade candy and they can either take it or leave it. I’ve considered using proper bee fondant in the past but the carriage costs make it to prohibitive (anyway my cement like candy toughens up the bees for spring). My colonies then sparked into life when I checked the floors and entrance blocks for debris. So far things are going ok but I won’t count my chickens (sorry I mean bees) for a few months yet.

[RDMW]

Hi
Those are big stones! I switched from breeze blocks to straps this year which are working well
What recipe do you use for your fondant


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[Mellifera Crofter]

... The biggest down side to this was removing and replacing all the heavy stones from the roofs of 10 hives. ...

Spare your back, Lindsay. Strap the hives to their stands, and then weigh down the stands.
Kitta

[lindsay s]

Hi
Those are big stones! I switched from breeze blocks to straps this year which are working well
What recipe do you use for your fondant


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This recipe was given to me a few years ago sorry but I will be using both metric and imperial
6lb sugar
1 pint water
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Boil water, add sugar + cream of tartar, stir until dissolved and continue to boil
When it thickens test on a cold plate for a soft set remember you want it to be like tablet not toffee. (I use a sugar thermometer and bring it up to SOFT BALL about 115c I think it works better)
Cool pot rapidly in a sink of cold water, keep stirring and when it turns white and stiff quickly pour into containers or trays of your choice, remember it might stick to the bottom so they might need to be lined.
I don’t add cream of tartar because I can never find any and I don’t know what difference it makes to the finished candy but my bees still like it. Maybe you cooks out there can tell me why it’s added.
This can be scaled up or down depending on the size of your pan but leave plenty of room for the boiling sugar.
I pour mine into plastic takeaway trays and place over the feed hole in the crown board nearest the brood nest. Don’t believe the rubbish that it will be too far from the bees, when they’re active mine always find it. I will add more if needed and unused candy can made into syrup in the spring.
My candy has never harmed bees but WARNING if you’re a bad cook like me it can make one hell of mess in the kitchen (she’s still waiting for a new jelly pan).

[masterbk]

The cream of tartar (tartaric acid) was used to acid hydrolyse the sucrose to fructose and glucose. However this is not a good idea as also results in HMF which is toxic to bees. To get a fine crystal formation I suggest adding some glucose to the mix. I find adding half a pound of OSR honey works just as well as it has a high proportion of glucose in it.

[gwizzie]

Spare your back, Lindsay. Strap the hives to their stands, and then weigh down the stands.
Kitta

Yep have to agree with you there Kitta!!! strap then down to the stand a lot easier.

[gwizzie]

The cream of tartar (tartaric acid) was used to acid hydrolyse the sucrose to fructose and glucose. However this is not a good idea as also results in HMF which is toxic to bees. To get a fine crystal formation I suggest adding some glucose to the mix. I find adding half a pound of OSR honey works just as well as it has a high proportion of glucose in it.

Hi Masterbk, when you say you add half a pound of OSR honey is that to the recipe above or your own recipe ?

[masterbk]

I usually make up about double the recipe quantities at a time . The amount of OS rape used is not that critical. You could use a smaller amount. I mix it in just before pouring out to provide the crystals as seed for rapid granulation