todays news

[RDMW]

Good news. Any wisdom on the longest you would wait before assuming the queen has failed to mate and uniting?? Also if there is a queen present but one who has failed to mate will this prevent the bees making qc if presented with eggs from another hive?
The cold wet weather has abated here in Ullapool so I am still hoping that one or two of my breeding colonies will produce a viable queen.


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[Jambo]

I'm a bit new to this to be sharing anything that could be termed wisdom, but as with Neils and Lindsay these colonies have taken the best part of six weeks from finding well developed cells and taking action to having a new queen laying. Hopefully there is still just time to build them up for the mental heather flow we're going to get from all this rain....!?

I'm not just sure what the bees would do with a test frame in the presence of a poorly mated queen, but I am glad I gave most of mine test frames last weekend as one of them drew a bunch of cells so something went awry with their previous attempt and the others started laying.

[Feckless Drone]

Geez - been busy few days. This season was purring along, strong colonies, easy splits and got a good crop from bees north of Dundee, then found two of my strongest colonies starving last week, and so been emergency feeding everything in dreary conditions. Ran out of feeders. These two colonies lost alot of bees but seem to have recovered now. They need a careful inspection. Nucs are fine because I left them with frames of stores but I overestimated the ability of colonies with lots of flyers to look after themselves. Old Qs slowed right down and new Qs not laying yet.

[lindsay s]

We are averaging about one good foraging day a week here at the moment. Queens are off the lay and several beekeepers I spoke to are having to feed their colonies. I’ve a few hives bursting with bees that need to be split. Their supers are empty and there’s a lot of sealed brood to hatch but they aren’t keen on making Q cells! We don’t normally have a June gap here but we’re still waiting for the fields of white clover. Everything is down to the weather🌧🌧💨💨🌧🌧 and there is no sign of it improving. A local shop asked me today if I could supply them with honey this year, I said ask again in September.☹️

[Bridget]

I’ve been feeding mine for about 10 days now. So emergency I didn’t dare delay 24 hrs and take the supers off. Not that it matters as there will be no blossom honey here and I can have a sort out before the heather starts. It’s a little weird cos you are always told no eggs, no queen and then you suddenly realise no eggs cos there are no stores and the Q is on strike. Some of the colonies were moving around like they were drugged but I’m happier now they seem to have perked up a bit and two colonies stopped taking down feed.


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[RDMW]

I’ve been feeding mine for about 10 days now. So emergency I didn’t dare delay 24 hrs and take the supers off. Not that it matters as there will be no blossom honey here and I can have a sort out before the heather starts. It’s a little weird cos you are always told no eggs, no queen and then you suddenly realise no eggs cos there are no stores and the Q is on strike. Some of the colonies were moving around like they were drugged but I’m happier now they seem to have perked up a bit and two colonies stopped taking down feed.


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Same here in Ullapool. I gave one strong but storeless hive a gallon of syrup yesterday having found it empty of food. Hoping for a lime flow fingers crossed


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[alancooper]

Hi all,
Posts from 16th and 17th mirror the story in my west Fermanagh apiary - great start to the season, now empty brood frames, feeding, cross bees (usually pussycats), Qs off lay and Apidea virgins not mated. Cold comfort that I am not the only one trying to cope with difficult conditions.
Alan.

[fatshark]

But here in balmy Fife it's ... exactly the same :(

Some colonies are managing to bring in a bit of nectar but it's very patchy. It also doesn't seem to be related to the size of the colony (or maybe the strong ones are just scoffing it down as soon as it arrives). I'm extracting at the moment and there are a few frames I've left with the hives as they didn't pass the shake test.

I stockpile frames of sealed stores and am busily using them now rather than feed syrup.

Spring honey yield is probably 30% what it was last year ... but last year was pretty exceptional.

[fatshark]

I underestimated ... just finished extracting ... a bit under 50% of last season. It might have helped if I'd taken the supers off 7-10 days ago :(
Colonies I went through this evening still have unmated queens ... or no sign whatsoever of her :(
On a more positive note, I fitted casters to the extractor and it's been a revelation :)

[Mellifera Crofter]

...
On a more positive note, I fitted casters to the extractor and it's been a revelation :)

Three or four castors, Fatshark?

Somebody told me some years ago an extractor needs three castors (or ballbearings) - like washing machines.

I fixed mine to an old dolly I had with two swivel castors and two fixed ones. I thought that probably works a bit like having only three castors (?). It’s now working a lot better than when I had it fixed to the pallet on which it arrived. Then I could hardly set it higher than 7 or it would hop around frighteningly. Now a 10 is easy.

[fatshark]

Casters? Castors?

Three ... because my extractor has three legs ;) I simply bolted them to the end of the legs using an M10 bolt and one of those plastic threaded locking nuts. Seems pretty secure and makes it easier to move it around the building as well.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Castors. And Supersedure. I'm a zealot when it comes to spelling - but I only see other people's mistakes, not my own of which there are many.

I think I'll follow your example, and free my dolly for other uses.

Kitta

[fatshark]

Hi Kitta
Casters and castors are probably both acceptable ... the etymology in OED shows that both have been used historically, including in (British) English publications.
2981
I've always liked etymology (my school Latin has to be useful for something) which is perhaps surprising as my spelling is so poor.
I've got a dolly I could use for stacking supers on and wheeling them about. 'Could' because my house is on about 3 different levels with 2-3 steps to negotiate :(

PS Weird behaviour with attachments ... smaller screenshot was uploaded first and then I realised the larger one would be better. ...

[wee willy]

Castors. And Supersedure. I'm a zealot when it comes to spelling - but I only see other people's mistakes, not my own of which there are many.

I think I'll follow your example, and free my dolly for other uses.

Kitta

Where I live a castor is a small articulated wheel.
A caster is a small maggot bred on fish for the use of anglers .
Correction a caster is an advanced chrysalis that readily floats on water !



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[Neils]

Well the brambles are coming. Already out in the lowlands but still thinking about here in the Mendips.

I’ve stopped feeding and added supers to the two bigger colonies, more in hope than expectation at the moment and resisting the urge to combine them into one big double brood hive.

This year is about getting going again. I’ve not been through the 14x12 Nucs yet but hope the first should be nearly ready to transfer to a full size hive in the next week or two but will decide what to do with them once I’ve had a chance to go through them properly.

[wee willy]

Well the brambles are coming. Already out in the lowlands but still thinking about here in the Mendips.

I’ve stopped feeding and added supers to the two bigger colonies, more in hope than expectation at the moment and resisting the urge to combine them into one big double brood hive.

This year is about getting going again. I’ve not been through the 14x12 Nucs yet but hope the first should be nearly ready to transfer to a full size hive in the next week or two but will decide what to do with them once I’ve had a chance to go through them properly.

Out here in the northwest
Dog roses being hammered !


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[Mellifera Crofter]

Hi Kitta
Casters and castors are probably both acceptable ... the etymology in OED shows that both have been used historically, including in (British) English publications. ...

Where I live a castor is a small articulated wheel.
A caster is a small maggot bred on fish for the use of anglers .
Correction a caster is an advanced chrysalis that readily floats on water !


I see, Fatshark - it can be either (but I prefer 'castor'). I've even found a new definition: the pelt of a beaver, or medicine made from a beaver's perineal sacs; and a hat made from beaver fur.

As for 'caster' also being a small maggot ... I shouldn't want to literally translate my own surname with that: a pot maggot (a foundryman, I think - somebody who casts pots).
Kitta

[RDMW]

I’m having real trouble with queen rearing this year.
None of my spilts has produced a mated queen after two months and even a swarm I collected three weeks ago has no eggs. I’m down to three queens and no queen cells in any of my queen right colonies. That will larn me for selling a nuc last autumn and a colony this spring! I’m blaming the weather but maybe it is the beekeeper!


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[fatshark]

I'm in good company then ... my notes are full of comments like Polished cells but no eggs. Give them another week then unite. However, I'm hopeful we're just turning the corner. Colonies are starting to fill supers again, starting to draw comb and the temperature nearly reached 19C this afternoon.

I was also called to collect a swarm from round the corner. They're definitely not my bees ... are the yours Gavin? Very pale, beautiful temper ;)

[RDMW]

[emoji847]


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[madasafish]

Three or four castors, Fatshark?

Somebody told me some years ago an extractor needs three castors (or ballbearings) - like washing machines.

I fixed mine to an old dolly I had with two swivel castors and two fixed ones. I thought that probably works a bit like having only three castors (?). It’s now working a lot better than when I had it fixed to the pallet on which it arrived. Then I could hardly set it higher than 7 or it would hop around frighteningly. Now a 10 is easy.

I have three legged extractor with castors... it does hardly vibrate...(I ignore the spelling politzei :-)

[greengumbo]

I see, Fatshark - it can be either (but I prefer 'castor'). I've even found a new definition: the pelt of a beaver, or medicine made from a beaver's perineal sacs; and a hat made from beaver fur.

As for 'caster' also being a small maggot ... I shouldn't want to literally translate my own surname with that: a pot maggot (a foundryman, I think - somebody who casts pots).
Kitta

Being associated with the drinks industry we get booze related notices sometimes.....your reply reminded me of this !

http://tamworthdistilling.com/spirits/house-of-tamworth-eau-de-musc/

[fatshark]

Charming!

I'm "associated with the drinks industry" .... but only on Friday and Saturday nights ... hic!

What a filthy afternoon. Raining hard in St Andrews and a few peals of thunder. I have 14 wet supers to return to colonies and I've forgotten my welly boots. D'oh!

[Feckless Drone]

An article in the American Bee Journal is quoting colony losses in the USA at around 40% in the last year.

https://mailchi.mp/dadant.com/abj-extra-june-20-2019-us-beekeepers-lost-over-40-of-colonies-during-the-last-year

[Jambo]

Lovely day here yesterday, some nectar finally visible in hives and the queen I've got in an Apidea had the mating sign visible - a first for me!

[Adam]

I’m having real trouble with queen rearing this year.
None of my spilts has produced a mated queen after two months and even a swarm I collected three weeks ago has no eggs. I’m down to three queens and no queen cells in any of my queen right colonies. That will larn me for selling a nuc last autumn and a colony this spring! I’m blaming the weather but maybe it is the beekeeper!


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Hopefully your queens will all come good in a rush and your nerves will be calmed!

[RDMW]

Hurrah. All three of my hives I had given up on have laying queens!! One was from a split I did in that last week of April.


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[lindsay s]

Hi RDMW
Did the queen in the nuc that you thought had laying workers come good in the end or did the bees replace her. I’ve only managed two splits so far due to the weather and colony strengths. It could be August before the queens are mated and laying. I’m off to try a few more splits today in our cool windy weather.

[RDMW]

Hello Lindsay
I ended up shaking out the laying worker nuc and most of the workers found homes in other hives. I was not sure what else to do. It was definitely a laying worker. Lots of drone brood in random pattern. And several eggs per cell on the walls.


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[Neils]

Looking good at the moment.

Of the Four Nucs bought in, the first of the combined brood Nationals (came in on nationals, want half on 14x12 so split half the nucs by transferring the brood into the other) is drawing comb in supers and packing in the nectar. the later Colony is thinking about it but is three weeks behind brood wise. Might be getting ahead of myself, but I like to start them out on Standard spacing and move to wide spacing as the comb gets drawn and the super filled, so contemplating getting another super + frames out of storage to start moving things around.

The 14x12 Nucs where I used one frame of brood + queen are now coming along nicely. Don't think they'll get into full sized hives this year, but they're strong enough, drawing comb nicely, building up and also packing in the stores.

[Jambo]

Lovely day here yesterday, some nectar finally visible in hives and the queen I've got in an Apidea had the mating sign visible - a first for me!

So that was seen on 26th June, when I checked 7 days later on 3 July, was surprised to find no eggs. Queen still looking like a scrawny virgin as well. Is this just how long it takes does anyone know? Or maybe she fancies another mating flight and there hasn't been suitable weather since. Could also be related to complete lack of nectar flow? Saw Murray on Twitter mentioning the impact it was having on his - rather bigger than mine - queen rearing operation.

I'm starting to agree with the view that Apideas and such are a waste of time for the average hobbyist! Two frames of brood including a queen cell into a Payne's nuc seems every bit as effective, a lot less hassle and makes subsequent introductions an awful lot easier.

[RDMW]

I agree Jambo. I experimented with mating nucs two years ago and struggled to get them to draw comb , bees stick in the fondant and then the faff of transferring them later.
I use Payne’s nucs as well. I put three frames of bees, an undrawn frame and a dummy board. Do you find two frames better (this will use less bees and deplete the parent colony less)



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[Jambo]

Do you find two frames better (this will use less bees and deplete the parent colony less)


Yes in the sense that they use less of everything as you say and still work fine, though I am sure a 3 frame would build up faster. My understanding is 1 frame of brood = 3 frames of bees, so if you put two frames of sealed brood into a 6 frame nuc, it will be full on emergence of that brood. One of my nucs started in this way this time last year is now in a double brood national with 18 frames laid up :D

[Jambo]

...can also keep them busy doing something useful for me such as drawing full size frames of foundation with a steady feed while waiting on queen mating etc.

[RDMW]

[emoji106]


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[Neils]

Didn’t think the colonies would need double brood this year but I turned up to one of the hives trying to swarm.

Naturally I hadn’t done a full inspection last week because swarming’s done for the year....

Clipped Queen so they came back while I was going through it to confirm that was what was going on, given them another super of frames to play with in the meantime.

A nice little welcome treat from the bees to welcome me back!

[Neils]

Well swarm aside it’s all looking rather good. The two nationals have packed 3 supers so far and each have another one to keep them busy as the brambles are really opening up now. I’ve added a second brood box to the one that’s a few weeks behind the swarmy hive just in case so they’ve got plenty of room and space to play with and not averse to extracting a few deep frames if it comes to it.

First of the 14x12 nucs in the other apiary is now in a full size hive and hope the other can stay in the nuc over winter.

[fatshark]

Swarming's not done for the year up here ... one arrived in a bait hive yesterday and there are scouts looking closely at another this morning. With the forecast for the next couple of days set fair I wouldn't be surprised if more turn up.

My first of the season was the 30th of April ... unusually early in my limited experience for Scotland.

I've also got at least one colony giving the impression it's going for a late season supercedure already.

I blame it on the weather ;)

[fatshark]

And a huge one today in a bait hive. There's some sloppy swarm control in Fife ;)

[Neils]

They’re not making it easy for me!

Hive that swarmed still has the Queen, found her running around in the supers when that capped honey looked a bit broodish.

New queen would only have emerged last week so I was a bit surprised to say the least and wasn’t looking forward to going through 3 supers looking for an unmarked Queen. But sure enough once I found some eggs she was close by still clipped and marked and not in the grass as I’d assumed.

Checked the brood box and the cell I left is empty so presume she emerged, it’s still busy enough that I don’t think they’ve swarmed so I’m hoping the incumbent has polished her off.

But lacking in spares right now so didn’t have much choice but to put queenie back below the QE and we’ll see what happens.

If I had the spares I’d have put the marked Queen in a nuc to see what transpires in the main hive.

So scratching my head a bit to figure out what’s happened tell truth. From the quantity of brood she’s not been laying long but must have been there last week and I didn’t spot as there’s sealed brood.

Any chance that when they slimmed her down to swarm that she got into the supers and somehow missed the signal to go?

[Adam]

I recall once that I put a caged queen in a hive without realizing that there was still a queencell in there. One of my many beekeeping mistakes. The virgin from the queencell left in a swarm - I guess she thought that the caged queen was the remaining 'queencell queen' and so had the all-clear for takeoff.

In your case, the virgin left knowing there was queen in the hive she couldn't kill.

[Jambo]

Is everyone else having a shocking success rate of queen matings this year? Very frustrating! The good news is the bigger colonies are finally putting some honey away, they seem to be all over the willowherb.

[Feckless Drone]

Jambo Jambo - I set up for 17 new Qs and got 14 which mostly seem fine so far. One looks a bit runty, one runs everywhere. They were due to start mating flights when we had some bad weather and I was concerned but they just took their time. The shortest period between estimated emergence and laying has been 3 weeks, most were 4 or 5.

June gap was pronounced here in Tayside, slowed down the old Qs and may have contributed to the slowness of the newer ones so colonies seemed a bit on the weak side for the main flow. I've been uniting to get strength for the heather. Only picked up 3 swarms this year; called out to two that ultimately were Q-less or I missed her and the only good-un was my own when I missed a Q cell after ignoring my carefully made notes. Nothing in my bait hives, which I've now taken down. I'm guessing there will be swarming in tropical Fife deep into Sept!

[lindsay s]

It was all doom and gloom for me here in June.☹️ I was hoping to make up eight nucs but only managed to do four and I also bumped off three old queens. With hungry colonies, high levels of chalk brood and poor weather I was just about ready to write off this years beekeeping.
Four weeks later there has been a big improvement in the weather and in the state of my colonies. Two new queens in full size hives were mated and laying within two weeks of hatching which is pretty good for up here. Two of my poly nucs have laying queens and I’m hoping the others will start shortly. Queens that went off the lay in June are making up for lost time at the moment and a few hives are wall to wall with brood but it’s too late for anymore splits. The downside is that l’ll have hives bursting with bees when the forage is coming to an end and they might require extra space when I should be feeding.
Plenty of queen cells are also being made because nobody has told the bees it’s getting too late in the season for swarming. With the weather being so mild I’ve been managing to keep on top of things and haven’t lost any yet! Other beekeepers here have had swarms in the last few weeks. (E Mcarthur in July’s Scottish Beekeeper hit the nail on head when he wrote about late swarming due to unfavourable weather earlier in the summer).
On the plus side there has been a flow on and the bees are bringing in plenty of pollen. If I time things right I might even get some surplus honey this season.🙂 I’ve never known a beekeeping year like this and its not over yet!

[Jambo]

Maybe I have had an unusually good success rate in previous years with queen matings, and it is only my third season... But have had a couple of cases now this year of colonies failing to produce a mated queen evidenced when giving them a test frame. I have enough nucs to cover myself though which is nice. Nucs are awesome.

It's all good though - a proper summer flow on here and without wanting to jinx things completely I think it could be year of the lime here. Checked a colony last night which has packed a super in 9 days with lovely minty tasting honey - first time I've tried it, deliciously bizarre!

Now if I could just get them cleared in time to put them on the ling!?

[fatshark]

Nothing in my bait hives, which I've now taken down. I'm guessing there will be swarming in tropical Fife deep into Sept!

No ... I think it's all over bar the shouting in the balmy South. Queens are still laying OK, but there's not the frenzied activity of earlier in the season. Strong colonies are still bringing something in. The rest are just ticking over. I've still got a queen or two who's not mated (or not laying) and will shortly start uniting colonies so I have fewer mouths to feed for the winter. Delaying taking supers off in the hope that a few more frames will be filled ... will I ever learn?!

[RDMW]

We have had a lovely latter part of July. Hot and sunny but with enough moisture in the ground. Two of my colonies under the lime trees had a bonanza after the cold wet June and early July when I had to feed. Hoping for some heather in my Ullapool hives but they have eaten all the honey they made in May so I may just leave it on the hives. However all my queens mated eventually so I am going into the winter with strong colonies with new queens. All set for the best season ever - next year!


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[Jambo]

No ... I think it's all over bar the shouting in the balmy South.
...
Delaying taking supers off in the hope that a few more frames will be filled ... will I ever learn?!

:D It's definitely over up here now apart from the heather - home bees are taking an interest in buddleia and fuschia which in previous years I've been delighted to see but later learned it to be a sure sign of nothing else going on. Clover/bramble/RBWH yields have been pretty mediocre but as per RDMW hives with access to lime have done quite nicely indeed.

First time trying the heather this year and hives up there are looking promising!

Clearer boards on the hives which are still at home and soon time to pillage brood boxes, add foundation, treat and feed. Boo.

[RDMW]

The willow herb is still flowering here. Interesting comment about the buddlia. Ours had lots of bumbles honeybees as well as the painted ladies.
May I ask what you are treating with? I would be interested to know. Thank you


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[Jambo]

Yeah the willowherb is still flowering here and the fields are still white with clover but I’m fairly convinced neither is producing much.

I find Amitraz strips effective, easy to use and can be applied at the same time as using a top feeder. Never tried anything else though and only my third season so I’d treat my opinion with caution...!

[RDMW]

Amitraz is what I planned to use as well. I also sublimate any broodless colonies (swarms, queenless colonies and all colonies in deep midwinter). I find the oxalic acid sublimation very effective at keeping mute numbers low


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[Feckless Drone]

The weather really not helping us this past week, plus late in the season. There is nothing coming in and lots of unripe stores and grumpy bees looking to rob. And, disaster - cheapest sugar I can find is 55p per kilo.

[madasafish]

The weather really not helping us this past week, plus late in the season. There is nothing coming in and lots of unripe stores and grumpy bees looking to rob. And, disaster - cheapest sugar I can find is 55p per kilo.

Farmfoods 50p per Kg and £2 off is you spend £25 - (voucher on internet)
B&M 50p/Kg

[Calluna4u]

Farmfoods 50p per Kg and £2 off is you spend £25 - (voucher on internet)
B&M 50p/Kg

Get your sugar/syrup/fondant bought early.
There is a significant price rise coming down the pipe as the new contract rates kick in from autumn.

The price had dropped to a non viable rate leading to sugar plant closures in Europe, now capacity and demand are more in balance and a world price rise on top too means that traded rates are £100 a tonne up on the same time last year (and still rising).

Reliance on retailers and cash and carry warehouses running loss leaders might become a bit more chancy going forward.

[Adam]

Booker allows BBKA members to get sugar from them. Not sure if similar applies in Scotland. Currently they are doing 50 kg for £22.

[fatshark]

Has anyone else noticed that queenless (or queenright but poorly/un-mated and pretty-clearly substandard Q's) colonies don't appear to reject drones in the autumn? I've been through lots of colonies over the last couple of days and the two with iffy queens both had loads of drones. I don't think it's colony strength as I looked at weaker queenright colonies which had very few drones.

I should add that the queens weren't drone layers!

[Adam]

The short answer is yes.

Turning it around, I guess it's a way of identifying queens that might be ready to fail that we would not notice until too late - if you want to unite two colonies before winter, then you remove the queen that has lots of drones in her hive as she will be the duff one.

Autumn is fast approaching - comparing where I live and Aberdeen as an example, Aberdeen has longer days than me - just - but is losing a minute a day more in daylight so the nights will be drawing in very noticeably and the bees responding accordingly... It's getting late for a colony to start a sucessful supercedure.

[lindsay s]

I’m about to start extracting this years honey and here’s a photo of my set up for removing excess moisture from unsealed combs. Any combs less than 60% sealed that failed the shake test were placed in my airing cupboard with a dehumidifier. I left it on overnight and there was about 220ml of water in the container this morning. I’ve a refractor so I can check the moisture content. This works well for me and I’ve done it for many years. My other half likes the honey smell that lingers on in the cupboard for the next few days. Be careful and don’t overuse the dehumidifier, one night is usually enough. I once evaporated it down to 16% and the honey became very viscous and difficult to extract.
Sorry I’ve not figured out how to rotate the photo from files!

[fatshark]

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to tell whether the iffy queens were iffy or not as I did exactly what Adam suggested ... they're now MIA :( and the colonies are united with other strong boxes.

Lyndsay ... does your humidifier just dry out the top layer of honey in the cell or the entire cell contents? I've always thought the bees moved the unripe nectar around to expose the bits that remained too 'wet'. Warmed honey (34C) at 16% (not heather mind you) extracts perfectly well ... but I bet you have heather honey.

[lindsay s]

Lyndsay ... does your humidifier just dry out the top layer of honey in the cell or the entire cell contents? I've always thought the bees moved the unripe nectar around to expose the bits that remained too 'wet'. Warmed honey (34C) at 16% (not heather mind you) extracts perfectly well ... but I bet you have heather honey.
Hi Fatshark I’ve no idea. I usually break down a few cells to get a decent sample for the refractor so I assume all of that honey has been reduced to the same percentage. The dehumidifier in a small cupboard is maybe too efficient! Capped honey on the same comb can often give a different reading. I play with my honey refractor far too much. I once sampled sealed honey at 20% and I think it might have come from a large patch of borage that was grown nearby. Wouldn’t it be nice if the bees always capped at the magic 18%.
My honey comes from two town and one rural apiary. The main source at the rural apiary is clover which is blended with my town honey. It never tastes the same two years running. I might get a few cells of heather honey but I don’t keep my bees near any major source.
You’re right the warmed honey would have extracted perfectly. But my other half reclaimed the airing cupboard and due to my laziness I left it in the kitchen for a few days before I extracted it at about 18c. I have learned my lesson.

[lindsay s]

I’ve been waiting for an iffy queen to start laying in one of my poly nucs for the last few weeks. She’s little bit small but I was hoping she’d fill out. The bees have got rid of most of their drones and there have been no Q cells made on the bar of open brood they were given. Today was going to be her last chance for eggs or she was for the chop. She’s not laying yet!
On arrival today there was a lot of robbing going on nearby. The owner of the other hives hasn’t been feeding his bees yet and they are in robbing mode. I’ve been feeding all of my nucs and they have narrowed entrances and should be able to defend themselves. On inspecting the nuc I found the bees were balling the queen. After I had separated the ball the queen took to the air and landed on the front of the nuc and re-entered. I found her on another frame and the bees were starting to ball her again. I shut the nuc and have left them to their own devices. Could the queen not yet be laying because of all the robbing going on or is she just duff anyway and it might have been her own bees balling her. I’m going to sort them out once and for all next weekend. I welcome all opinions.
Ps I’ve come across queens being balled before and feared the worst, only to find them running about fine on the next inspection.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Lindsay, I've heard that the disruption to the hive sometimes cause the bees to ball the queen. I've discovered a new queen being balled when inspecting a hive, and despite saving her from the ball, she disappeared. Perhaps, shutting the nuc and returning it to normal might have been your best move, as it seems you've managed before!

[Mellifera Crofter]

Saturday's news: We (the ADBKA) had a another excellent afternoon on the heather with Murray - and we did not need any umbrellas!

Despite my many attempts to capture the beauty of a comb of heather held against the sun - this was my best effort.

Kitta

2989

[fatshark]

Held up against the sun all bees look dark :)

[Mellifera Crofter]

I should remember that, Fatshark, when I bemoan the influx of yellow bees in my colonies!

[Adam]

I've seen balling a few times but not for years. It was always with young queens, so maybe I used to be too keen to go inside and see if the queens were laying or accepted. In those occasions I smoked and pulled the bees off and caged the queens with candy and the queens were OK a week later once released with me out of the way and interfering with the smooth running of the colony.
If it's the only queen they've got, it would be unusual for the bees to do that. But if she's duff anyway..... they might have diffferent ideas.

[lindsay s]

I’ve been waiting for an iffy queen to start laying in one of my poly nucs for the last few weeks. She’s little bit small but I was hoping she’d fill out. The bees have got rid of most of their drones and there have been no Q cells made on the bar of open brood they were given. Today was going to be her last chance for eggs or she was for the chop. She’s not laying yet!
On arrival today there was a lot of robbing going on nearby. The owner of the other hives hasn’t been feeding his bees yet and they are in robbing mode. I’ve been feeding all of my nucs and they have narrowed entrances and should be able to defend themselves. On inspecting the nuc I found the bees were balling the queen. After I had separated the ball the queen took to the air and landed on the front of the nuc and re-entered. I found her on another frame and the bees were starting to ball her again. I shut the nuc and have left them to their own devices. Could the queen not yet be laying because of all the robbing going on or is she just duff anyway and it might have been her own bees balling her. I’m going to sort them out once and for all next weekend. I welcome all opinions.
Ps I’ve come across queens being balled before and feared the worst, only to find them running about fine on the next inspection.
Well I looked at the queen a week later and she was moving about quite happily despite the mauling she got last time I saw her. She was still not laying but because I was waiting for some brood to hatch out on a test frame l delayed in giving her the chop and uniting the nuc. Today I was intending to cull her and unite the bees, but on inspecting the colony I saw her and found a small patch of eggs and larvae on one frame. It was in a nice pattern and I think she started laying about the middle of last week, she’s not duff after all.
I decided to give the poly nuc a frame with some sealed brood for a boost because it had enough bees to keep it warm. It wasn’t that easy and I was on my third hive before I found a half suitable frame. Because of queens cutting back on laying and heavy feeding what little brood there was, was on the bottom third of the frames. It’s unusual for me to see that because I’m not usually in hives at this time of year. The poly nuc has plenty of stores and is warm so I hope the queen keeps laying for a few weeks yet. Although I would like a look in couple of weeks time I’m going to leave it alone because there is nothing more l can do. Here’s hoping they make it through the winter.

[Mellifera Crofter]

That was a lucky queen, Lindsay - having escaped being balled and being squashed. I hope she she does well.
Kitta

[lindsay s]

Thanks Kitta.
Excellent weather here today sunny, still and 16-17c. I’ve been tidying up a couple of town apiaries and all the hives are busy and pollen is still coming in. The temptation was to much so I ended up checking out the poly nuc. The queen is now laying well and there’s eggs and larvae on both sides of the frame. This is the latest I’ve ever had a queen come into lay and she should be OK. Apart from topping up feed, I definitely won’t be back in the nuc until Spring!!!

[lindsay s]

It’s all over for me this year. Feeding finished a few weeks ago and my hives have extra bricks on their roofs and are now ready for the winter. I’m using ex storage heater bricks, they are heavy and they look much nicer than stones. I got loads of them in exchange for a few jars of honey last year.
It was a very mixed summer here and if June’s weather had carried on there would have been no honey for me at all. July’s was a massive improvement and the bees made up for some of their lost time. I averaged 30lbs of honey per hive, down a third on last years average. The feedback on my honey is good and it will soon be sold out. To sum this year up l’ve the same amount of hives to over winter as last year but I would have liked to have had more nucs. Although my honey is down a third I’m delighted with what I’ve got because I had written off this year in June! Would anyone else like to say how their year has been?

[Feckless Drone]

Hi - its been a really good year from my perspective (good yields and learning lots) despite the fact that in Tayside we had a horrendous June gap. Early season weather and hence crop was good, and I worked on getting freshly drawn comb to replace old stuff and help with chalkbrood. That gave me a good start and so also ran with a few colonies on double brood for awhile. Almost lost a couple of strong colonies in June after taking off the OSR honey but emergency feeding saved the day. My swarm control this year was exclusively the nucleus method of removing the old Q. Pretty sure that only 1 swarm emanated from my colonies in May - and I caught it in the apiary. Got 16/20 mated Qs from end May to end June that look OK despite poor weather when Qs were first due to fly. Qs did take along time to get going this year, with most starting laying 4-5 weeks after emergence. Nothing appeared in bait hives, called to two swarms, 1 Q-less and I missed the Q in other.

I thought the colonies looked a bit on the weak side for the heather but again, they did well in the Angus glens where the bell heather went on for at least 5-6 weeks. Colonies going into winter look strong so fingers crossed. All but 1 colony seems very well behaved. The one that is a concern is full of runners, did not do much re honey and the Q is unmarked and not clipped cause she out sprinted me every time. The running makes it really difficult to inspect - so that Q will not be bred from next year. A pity because they are the darker bee that I prefer,

Difficult to be accurate with honey yield because I am not that efficient at extraction, try to get alot of sections and cut comb. Some of the honey this year was too high in water content, and has been fed back to the bees. Overall I am somewhere close to 40 lbs per hive actually extracted and kept. Sold most of it but still a few buckets tucked away. Forage and conditions seemed to work out pretty well for OSR, sycamore, lime and bramble. Little willowherb as judged by only small amounts of that distinctive pollen.

Big lessons - stick with nucleus method of swarm control, make sure there is lots of fully drawn fresh comb available (no Q-cells tucked into eaten away corners makes life a bit easier), pay more attention to level of stores in large colonies.

[RDMW]

Hello Lindsey
I would agree it has been an unusual year. It started with a very hot dry spring here in Ullapool and the bees got off to a flying start built up very quickly and then started swarm preparation really at the end of April and in early May. This was followed by a good blossom harvest which was rapidly consumed in the awful June weather when it was cold wet and windy for several weeks. All the spring stores were consumed and I had to resort to feeding some colonies which is something I have never ever done in the middle of the year.
Then late July and August are hot and sunny.I got a good harvest from the lime trees with beautiful clear slightly citrus flavoured honey. Despite keeping these for over 20 years I don’t actually like honey all that much, I just love keeping these. However the lime honey is really quite delicious.I then went on to get a modest harvest from the Heather.
I started of the year with three good colonies, Sold a colony, reared enough Queens to supply a local beekeeper with three Queens and have ended up with seven strong colonies headed up by either a 2018 or 2019 Queen. I also bought a queen from Andrew Abrahams in Colonsay both for interest and also to see if I could improve the genetic diversity of my bees.
I live in Ullapool in the Northwest Highlands and when the weather is good the beekeeping is good and when the weather is poor it’s very challenging.
Richard


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[lindsay s]

I live in Ullapool in the Northwest Highlands and when the weather is good the beekeeping is good and when the weather is poor it’s very challenging.
Richard
Hello Richard, I once spent nearly a week in Ullapool on a school trip over 40 years ago. I think the sun came out for a few hours on one day. The highlight of our trip was not the weather, it was watching a chip shop or cafe burn down near to where we were staying!
I think beekeeping on the west coast or the Islands of Scotland will always be challenging and up here it is even more so. Our beekeeping calendar is about a month behind in Spring / early Summer and everything comes to an end in early August. Sometimes the window for the bees to produce a surplus can be as little as 3-4 weeks. It is possible to get a decent harvest here if the weather’s good but you have to work at it. I’ve also put in a lot of time and effort for very little reward. Some beginners find it difficult in their first few years because our bees aren’t doing what it says in the books. I’ve kept bees for nearly 40 years and I’m still having to adapt.
Also carriage charges for equipment can be expensive and even more so for jars and fondant. One glass company wanted to charge me £20 extra per box of jars on top of their normal charges to send them up here.
At the moment we are still varroa free and are managing to discourage any imports of bees, so we just have to work with what we have got. I think if there was a poll on the most challenging place to keep bees in Scotland we would be pretty near the top. Just about every year my partner hears me threatening to pack in my hobby (with lots of foul language) because things are going wrong. I’ve not finished yet because there’s nothing better than working with bees on nice warm days when everything is going right (although they are as rare as hens teeth). Liking honey helps too.

[fatshark]

It's not been a great year here south of the Tay (though that's not really anything to do with the bees). Yields overall were a fraction over 50% of last season, though last season was pretty exceptional. I don't have yields per hive as one of my apiaries has very variable colony numbers as they're used for the day job and I tend to move supers around. Overall I ended up with over 130 kg this year (cf. 260 kg last).

One of my apiaries is always in range of OSR for the spring honey. I have four production colonies there and last year got over 50 lb each from them (by early June, with more summer honey later). The big difference this year was that both the main apiaries had OSR in range and both did significantly worse :(

Only a couple of things to say about the summer honey. The first is that a few buckets are exceptionally tasty and I definitely got some lime this year. Secondly, my central Fife apiary (with the four production colonies) did very much worse than the apiary on the coast. Partly this was due to the really marked June gap (same as FD) which shut the queens down and probably meant the colonies were understrength for the summer flows.

Of course, the other interpretation of the last statement could be ... poor beekeeping and the failure to provide stimulative feeding during a very obvious June gap meant the colonies were weaker than they should have been and the beekeeper deserves a slap.

Swarm control was really nailed on. Well, almost. I was feeling rather proud of myself until I found (late in the season):

a large swarm underneath a hive - the clipped Q had crawled back up the leg of the hive stand
a colony that attempted but failed to swarm because the beekeeper (ahem, me) had split the double brood with a QE in the hope of finding the Q and left her in the upper box
a very obviously swarmed nuc which had outgrown its box


So, only the last one was lost (result!) but I wasn't exactly in total control.

I got three swarms to bait hives, one in late April, then two in successive days in July (moved and replaced with a fresh box). I'd like to thank the donors ... all prime swarms, nice bees, low mite levels, well behaved and in one case a real box full :) I think I also collected a swarm or two in April, but it feels like a lifetime ago and could have been last year.

The other notable thing is that Varroa levels are markedly up on last season. Some of my colonies have been very strong and I'm pretty sure got mites from robbing weak colonies nearby. However, we've also seen high mite levels in lots of other colonies I've looked at in other parts of Scotland, so wonder if it's a more general thing. Mite levels are up, but not worryingly high and I think I'm mostly in control.

As always, I've learnt a lot. As always, I've done far less than I'd intended - no active queen rearing (again), still haven't got rid of pesky chalk brood in some of the bees, kept too many colonies etc.

It's been manic at work this year and beekeeping has provided a real and very welcome escape. I've given quite a few talks - including one yesterday to enthusiastic 6-11 year olds which ended with a spectacularly sticky honey tasting session.

In the next 2-3 years I hope to start with some bees on the west coast in a Varroa-free area. I won't be taking any bees from Fife. Not only is the area mite-free but it's also apparently honey bee-free ... I've not seen one all season. However, there are loads of bumbles so I'm ever-hopeful.

It's an area that lacks the fleshpots and flaming chippies of Ullapool, but has many other things to commend it ... not least of which is the price the local beekeepers sell their honey at :)

Finally, I've lost yet more hive tools :( and met some very friendly and helpful beekeepers from all sorts of places :)

[Bridget]

It was a funny old year. I learnt a massive amount mainly from our association apiary where everything that could go wrong did yet we still have three strong hives but lost two and got some honey.
I rely 75% I would say on heather and our heather was as poor as last years. Brown again in no time.
Only just caught the June starvation in time but some hives did not recover enough in time for our blossom which is mainly early July. Was optimistic about the heather - all that rain, but they didn’t fill the second super put on for the heather and I was left with a mass of half filled and half capped frames.
So from 8 hives only 80lbs of honey [emoji3525]
I know we are marginal (height) as we don't get any good flows in may and June to help them build up but was hoping for more.
Swarms - a couple both mine as no other beekeepers near enough.
Varroa - never had much before but this year, especially in the beehouse, I have a lot and still treating.
Wasps - bloody hell is all I can say and Thornes fancy wasp defying entrances are not confusing the Wasps.
So roll on next year! [emoji322][emoji322][emoji322]


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[fatshark]

Hi Bridget
We're always hoping for more ... !
Was it the Thorne's Wasp Out (https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=wasp&product_id=7433) that's not been working? We've had a huge number of wasps here this autumn was well but they've not really troubled the bees. The colonies are strong and I reduced the entrances to a 2cm gap. Those in the bee shed only have a 2cm hole to defend anyway. However, keeping the stripey blighters away from cleared supers was a real pain.
My Varroa levels in the bee house were possibly higher than colonies outside ... however, this could be because the Varroa trays on the floors there are particularly well designed (NOT by me - they are from Pete Little) and nothing blows away or is stolen by critters.

[Adam]

AS usual I didn't have enough time to attend the number of colonies I keep (a lesson I have yet to learn) so a couple of swarms that shouldn't have been. A couple of colonies got CBPV which eventually righted itself but only after a lot of dead bees. Honey was 'fair' this year compared to last which was exceptional. Varroa not too much of a problem. Wasps neither. I was expecting a lot of wasps after a very mild winter with only one frost, but they didn't really appear. Mating was quite reasonable too. I have had the odd year where queens would be superceded soon after mating or the weather was too poor and the queens went to waste, this summer things went quite well. No chalk brood to speak of this year. It definitely follows the queens. A colony riddled with it will sort itself out with a new queen. Transfer a chalk-brood queen to another colony and the chalk-brood follows her. And I am going into winter with more colonies than I should have.

[greengumbo]

Its been a decent year up here. Blossom was not as crazy as last years mega haul but at least I managed a good heather harvest. I reduced my hive numbers a bit this year which has helped and got a few nice shiny pieces of equipment that has speeded up extraction and soft setting. Still need to build a bigger warming cabinet but that can wait till winter...although I said that last year...and the year before.

Hives all fed, treated and tucked up now.

[madasafish]

A tale of two halves:
early half loads of honey .. extracted bottled and sold.

Seconds half : LOTS of frequent and heavy rain, colonies inspected too late, loads of swarms as a result..
Yields bottled 25% down on last but as I left approx 20% of my 2018 harvest over winter to feed, down 45% overall.

Had to feed bees heavily for winter.(125kg so far).
Average yield 55lbs per hive: all local, no heather. Very good taste - some lime?

Raised 18 queens - used incubator as first batch in nucs failed due to cold June nights (5C or less).. Found it gave more consistent results.. Incuabtor blew up end Q raising (it was DIY for quail eggs) and being rebuilt with modern electronics control system STC1000.. Vast total outlay £18...

Stopped feeding hives, still feeding nucs..

Sold all honey - Facebook Marketplace .. could have sold double the amount..

SHould do better 2020 if weather OK...!

No expansion, minimise new spend are main aims. Sell bees to anyone who wants..

[Neils]

Well I finally got around to getting a nail gun for my Frame making, I love that bit of kit already.

Bees looking good right now, all 4 came through winter including the one blown over for a couple of days in the storms.

[Mellifera Crofter]

I’m glad your toppled colony is fine, Neils.

[Neils]

Tale of two apiaries. few hundred feet of elevation and about a mile between them. Lower apiary is going great guns. now on double brood national and a super apiece. Upper apiary flow now started but only on 5 14x12 frames.

[Adam]

A good illustration that local conditions can vary enormously. I had 5 hives knocked over a couple of years ago, I lost one queen as a result and many of the bees from one hive found their way into another as it had been moved so far.

[Neils]

A good illustration that local conditions can vary enormously. I had 5 hives knocked over a couple of years ago, I lost one queen as a result and many of the bees from one hive found their way into another as it had been moved so far.

It's interesting, the 14x12 site is great, landowner is really interested but they just don't do that well there. I'm thinking it's my queen rearing apiary. Other site can easily support a few more hives and they are packing in the nectar at the moment. In theory their range area overlaps, but I've seen colonies on the 14x12 site starve in sight of OSR.

[Mellifera Crofter]

For the past few days I’ve noticed my bees, lots of bumble bees and butterflies foraging on our purpurea willows. It’s the first time I’ve seen that.

I used to think they’re great trees for bushy windbreaks, and the deer don’t eat them, but just a pity the bees don’t like them. Not any more! Did I just not look at the right time previously, or do they take a time to mature and become palatable (like ivy)?

The other willows’ catkins aren’t out yet.

Kitta

[Neils]

possibly swarming eve round these parts. lots of interest in a few boxes of spares that I have in the garden. been building up steadily over the past 3 days.

[Bridget]

For the past few days I’ve noticed my bees, lots of bumble bees and butterflies foraging on our purpurea willows. It’s the first time I’ve seen that.

I used to think they’re great trees for bushy windbreaks, and the deer don’t eat them, but just a pity the bees don’t like them. Not any more! Did I just not look at the right time previously, or do they take a time to mature and become palatable (like ivy)?

The other willows’ catkins aren’t out yet.

Kitta

Kitta we planted lots of willows a few years back. The deer ate them and the bees ignored them. It wasn’t until last year they began to have proper pollen catkins so maybe it does take a while. Too tall for the deer now and the bees are on them but not as much as I had hoped. We have a neighbour with a very mature early willow - about 3 weeks ahead of mine and is more silvery. They absolutely love that one.




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[fatshark]

My willows are only 2 feet high and not yet interesting enough for either the bees or the deer. Mine are goat willow Salix caprea I think.

The local bumble bees are hammering the native willows (species unknown) up on the hill behind the house. I've taken some cuttings from these local trees as well ... lots of little 12" sticks which self-root very easily (but need fencing against the deer).

I've also taken half a dozen 8-10 foot branches, driven them into the ground and staked them for support. The bees have already browsed the low level stuff off them, but they cannot reach the growing tips :) They should root reasonably well. If you find a tree that's been pruned it often sends out relatively straight new shoots which can reach 8 feet quickly. Chop these off and you have a ready-made tree, but it will need staking.

In Fife there's some willow near me that flowers really well but is always too early for the bees.

[RDMW]

Great minds thinking alike. We have just planted 500 willow sticks as a hedge round my new apiary. Here is one shooting
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200426/2ff62770a5b27ffb8bccd03dc2c4f06b.jpg


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[Mellifera Crofter]

Which willow did you choose, RDMW? And Bridget - does your neighbour know what kind of silvery willow they have? Did you do all your replanting of willow sticks in Ardnamurchan, Fatshark, or Fife?
Kitta

[RDMW]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200426/6dc78287fc46a9edc77175e10b7fd894.jpg


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[RDMW]

Hi Kitta
This is the willow we used. Richard


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[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Richard. I have a few of those - but looking at pictures of them, I think I should coppice or pollard them to become a bit more bushy.

[prakel]

....
If, six weeks ago, anyone had told me that I'd be grateful for more rain after such a wet winter I'd have thought them mad.....but the last two days have come as a real relief. Can't remember the colonies being so far forward as a group in April. Looks like the large stands of wild mustard we have access to will be a bit of a lifesaver this year (if it all comes through) as the colonies are easily two cycles ahead of last year and the stunted, beetle infested osr has already gone over.

[Adam]

My bees were small colonies towards the end of winter but are now on double brood boxes, with OSR flowering - it's got as little way to go before it finishes. There's a field of OSR right opposite my out apiary which was hammered by pigeons and rabbits, and that is now just starting to flower, although rather feebly. Welcome rain in the past few days - before that I was watering 150 metres of native hedging I had put in as it was so dry. Lots of dandelions in the grass too which is nice to see.

[fatshark]

Hi Kitta

I've put about 50 goat willow 'whips' in (purchased @ 30cm or so high) and am in the process of putting in about the same number of sprouted sticks over the next week or so.

All these are in Ardnamurchan. I've also planted lots of alder and hazel and hawthorn. All but the hawthorn are seemingly doing OK.

Last winter I planted 100 willow whips around my Fife apiary and some of them are 5-6 feet tall now.

Some aren't :( ... so I'll have to go back and fill some of the gaps in due course.

[fatshark]

I meant to add ... the weather in Ardnamurchan has been outrageous. 4-5 hours of videoconferencing a day with the sun beaming down outside ... it's killing me ;)

[Neils]

First swarm collection today. Was actually offered money to pick them up, that makes a change!

Almost perfect swarm except they were determined to be on the tree trunk. "so you're just scooping them up in your hands and lobbing them at the skep?" was a pretty good question and description of events.

They're in a Nuc (really? where's my prime swarm?) and we'll see. If they can do everything else as well as they did being a swarm they might be nice.

[Adam]

I've had a small swarm - from a chimney and a cut-out this year so far.
The cut-out was very messy and sticky although the bees were thankfully very well-behaved. I taped some of the comb to empty frames with insulation tape which I can remove later when the bees have joined everything together. Note: Masking tape is better as the bees remove that themselves; unfortunately I didn't have any at the time.

[Neils]

Second swarm. To my shame one of mine, going from a 14x12 only half drawn. Clipped queen so small pile of bees on the grass. Tried a skep, put them in a nuc. Came back following day, clearly she was still in the grass. Spotted her! Picked up, in the nuc. Straight back into the grass again. More poking about, found her again, CoT onto a frame of foundation to keep her in place, back into the nuc. Back in the evening, small number of bees now in place stragglers still outside.

Feed on the nuc, either they last until the weekend or they don’t. If they do will decide if worth trying to boost them back up. I’ve seen at least as ‘hopeless’ hives come on when left to it but never on foundation. Have some scabby comb I might press back into service just to get some food to ‘em and take that pressure off them and I’m prepared to give them a go knowing full well they’ll supersede almost immediately.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Oh, do give them that scabby comb, Neils, and perhaps another little treat from one of your other hives? Let us know how they progressed (or not).
Kitta

[Neils]

Well, not good news there I’m afraid. I wasn’t too hopeful but queens gone as far as I can see and a sad few bees remain.

But the hive she came from already has a laying queen! I think that’s a record for me, they were sealed cells last week. Superseding hive also has a queen, found her sat on the crow board as I was closing up but not laying yet.

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Mellifera Crofter
Dangerous practice donating 'scabby comb' to colonies . Preferred action sterilise using Glacial Acetic acid or 85% formic acid - kill sl pathogend except AFB! Beginners beware!

Eric McArthur

[Mellifera Crofter]

Yes, I know, Eric. They were combs from Neils’ own apiary. I didn’t think using them trying to save a colony would be a risk.

[Eric McArthur]

Whatever!! Default sterilisation of spare brood comb is good practice.

[Neils]

Whatever!! Default sterilisation of spare brood comb is good practice.

Eric, do not disagree with you at all.

Was a situation where circumstance ran away a bit, so forward planning ran out the window. I don't keep brood comb, just had some available. in the end I let them do what they wanted to. That turned out to be not to survive as a colony.

As advice I'd have said let it go, but I had to try.

[lindsay s]

Hi all it’s make or break time for my bees up here. After one of the best spring build ups in many years I had nine colonies at full strength by early June and was looking forward to a bumper honey crop. I had even managed six splits into poly nucs earlier than expected. But alas we are now enduring our fourth week of poor weather. It has been mostly cool rainy and dull with temperatures in the 11-14c range and with the odd warmer day. The poly nucs are ok because they got two good frames of stores when they were made up but it’s a different picture with my hives. Their stores are getting used up and they are just ticking over. The worst thing of the lot is watching the fields full of white clover slowly turning brown and thinking what if !!!

[Bridget]

I’ve been feeding 4 of mine. Stopped a couple of days ago as thought weather was improving. Just hoping I can keep them strong till the heather starts in a couple of weeks or more. Heather not looking like it will be early but it must be in good nick with all this rain. Do you get heather? I had some blossom from a hive that built up well but never get much as our start is so late. I was hoping to get some more blossom before the heather but supers are pretty light. Gosh we must be such optimists to keep bees!


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[lindsay s]

Hello Bridget
This morning I checked three hives at my clover site and it was only 13c and overcast. If I hadn’t been wearing thick gloves and using cover clothes it would have been very difficult. 90% of the bees were home but they didn’t want a visitor. The hives were wall to wall with brood but with very little pollen and honey. Everything coming in at the moment is being used to maintain their brood nests . My hives are in the town and an area of mainly pasture so there’s no heather nearby. My main crop comes from the clover which should last for another month. Most of the Orkney mainland is actively farmed pasture. The heather honey here is more often a supplement rather than a main crop because it so variable due to our climate. The last person I helped at the heather was my mentor and that was over 20 years ago.

[lindsay s]

I checked a few hives today and and it looks like my honey yield is going to be well down this year. Although there’s a flow on at the moment and a good forecast for the next few days it’s too little too late. I think most of what’s coming in will stay in the brood boxes because they are quite light at the moment.
I’m used to seeing drones getting thrown out of the hives but one of my colonies is doing things differently this year. Outside of their hive I noticed a few dozen drone pupa on the grass at the front and on the inside I could see where they were uncapping more. They aren’t short of stores and there is plenty of worker eggs and larvae in the hive. I know bees will sometimes remove brood if they are starving or under stress but this is not the case. This is the first time that I have come across this!
On the plus side I have six queens mated and laying well in poly nucs but I might need to use a couple of them to replace failing queens. What with a late swarm and quacking queens I have certainly had a very varied beekeeping year and it’s not over yet!

[greengumbo]

Hi everyone - has been a while since I checked in so hope everyone is well and bees have had a productive season.

My hives are now mostly all up on the moors since a few weeks ago. Going to the heather early is the new norm for me as otherwise its too late. They are piling in the honey so far given the warm and wet season so it should be a good year for it. A couple of problem hives mind. Came across a hopelessly queenless hive (dont know how they got to that stage tbh). Was planning on adding eggs to get them to raise a new queen but a hive or two later I found a few queen cells on the verge of emerging.....so much so you could here them scrabbling around in the cells. So I used a technique I describe as the "grenade method of introduction" whereby one (carefully) rolls said QC in via the entrance of the queenless hive without having to dismantle ridiculously heavy angry boxes for the third time that day. Anyone else used this method ? I spoke to one other beekeeper who had some experience of it. I will check this week if anything has changed in the hive.

Queen raising was hit and miss as usual, July was a dreadful time for queen mating. Early grafts did better though.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Nice to hear from you with the update about your heather bees, greengumbo. As I remember, we're near neighbours on the heather. I also took four colonies early - and then three of them, to my surprise, got swarming fever. One did swarm (and unfortunately before I've added a bait hive). I hope I managed to stop the other two from swarming. Will see. I hoped I would get some bell heather, but I don't think I did.

Please let us know if the colony accepted the grenade method of giving them a queen cell!
Kitta

[Adam]

I've not tried the 'grenade' method. If I have an introduced queencell that falls off and finishes up on the floor, it usually doesn't survive. However with your queen grenade, if the queen is just ready to emerge, then it could work. let us know if it does!

[wee willy]

I've not tried the 'grenade' method. If I have an introduced queencell that falls off and finishes up on the floor, it usually doesn't survive. However with your queen grenade, if the queen is just ready to emerge, then it could work. let us know if it does!

Queen cells are surprisingly tough !
I once put some swarm cells in a bucket along with other bits of wax.
In the morning I remembered I’d left the bucket in the apiary only to find three had hatched and were chasing each other around the bucket !



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[Jambo]

So I used a technique I describe as the "grenade method of introduction" whereby one (carefully) rolls said QC in via the entrance of the queenless hive without having to dismantle ridiculously heavy angry boxes for the third time that day. Anyone else used this method ? I spoke to one other beekeeper who had some experience of it. I will check this week if anything has changed in the hive.


I'm looking forward to finding out what happened in the hive of mine that we tried the grenade method on - it'll be interesting to know if the smoke for effect and the yelling of 'FIRE IN THE HOLE' before making a hasty retreat made a difference ;).

Colony in question was horrible so I dispatched the queen and then tried to re-queen by merging in a nuc. They killed the queen, and then did the same a couple of weeks later with another lovely nuc...! Two nuc's queens now, throwing up emergency cells afterwards apparently having realised their mistake. Hopefully they are more receptive to a grenade virgin, and hopefully she can mate on the moor.

Also got that one daft colony which I merged a 2020 queen into and it's been in swarm mode ever since. Queen clipped, squishing cells and giving space hoping they snap out of it soon...!!

And I've never had such poor success with queen matings, I have shaken out a few nucs and a large colony this season for drone layers :(

[Adam]

Also got that one daft colony which I merged a 2020 queen into and it's been in swarm mode ever since. Queen clipped, squishing cells and giving space hoping they snap out of it soon...!!

:(

It's the right time of the year for supercedure?

[Jambo]

It's the right time of the year for supercedure?

Indeed - but this colony is producing large numbers of cells often at the bottom of frames, which I’ve always understood to be swarm cells?

Perhaps I’ll find differently in the spring!

[Mellifera Crofter]

I had a swarm today! I don't yet know from which colony, but I'm sure it must have come from one of mine. Fortunately my husband saw the commotion, or I would have lost them.

[fatshark]

:D

Any spare queens to head the swarmed colony or are you hoping for a miracle mid-September queen mating?

[wee willy]

I had a swarm today! I don't yet know from which colony, but I'm sure it must have come from one of mine. Fortunately my husband saw the commotion, or I would have lost them.

Swarm in September!
One to remember!



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[Mellifera Crofter]

Yes, she might be a virgin! I hadn't thought of that. I think I'll leave them for a few weeks and see what happens. If a problem, I do have a tiny queen I was going to leave in a double-decker Apidea for winter. I might use her. Or, Jon might still be sending me a couple of queens - depends on the weather.

Thanks, Wee Willy - I'll remember the swam, and the date!

[Mellifera Crofter]

Oh, no! It's a September swarm that wasn't. Thinking there might be a virgin queen in there, I turned the excluder from QX to fully open - and now they're gone. Just a handful of bees on a frame that has some honey in it. They did behave strangely yesterday - as though they couldn't decide whether to go into the nuc or not - but the branch on which they had gathered were empty of bees - so, the queen wasn't on there anymore. Eventually they all went into the nuc. If it was a queen on a mating flight, then I hope she found her way back to the hive from which she came (the swarm wasn't big - but bigger than a handful or two).

In another apiary a bait hive got occupied - but in that case I'm fairly sure it was a virgin queen returning from a mating flight, and missed her hive. There was none of that frantic comb-building one sees in a swarm, and the hive next to her is now queenless.

[Bridget]

Goodness they are keeping you busy


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[lindsay s]

The heather honey here is more often a supplement rather than a main crop because it so variable due to our climate. The last person I helped at the heather was my mentor and that was over 20 years ago.
I take it all back for the first time in many years a lot of my hives have some heather honey. Other beekeepers here are reporting the same thing. Unfortunately it is in a lot of my frames that contain clover / wildflower honey. In a normal season my supers fill up with clover / wildflower honey before the heather starts. This year very little honey came in mid summer and the heather flowered early and was the best in years so the bees made the most of it. Personally I don’t like the taste of heather honey. Some of the heather honey is getting mixed in with my normal honey while I’ve been extracting it. Any left in the frames will go back to the bees to clean up. As this is the first time I have dealt with this I have a few questions.
Is it OK to sell a wildflower heather blend and is there any demand for it.
My normal honey sets slowly in the jars, will the heather affect how it sets and its appearance.
And lastly should I just give the whole lot away.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Yes, Lindsay, you can sell a heather blend. That’s what I did. Last Year was my first year on the heather and, to my surprise after extracting it, found it smelled like heather, but did not behave like heather. I then found out that the bees had also been foraging on Himalayan balsam, as they were near a steam. The blend tastes delicious! So, definitely keep your honey. The clover/heather mix might be similarly delicious. It tones down the strong heather taste.

[Adam]

Oh, no! It's a September swarm that wasn't. Thinking there might be a virgin queen in there, I turned the excluder from QX to fully open - and now they're gone. Just a handful of bees on a frame that has some honey in it. They did behave strangely yesterday - as though they couldn't decide whether to go into the nuc or not - but the branch on which they had gathered were empty of bees - so, the queen wasn't on there anymore. Eventually they all went into the nuc. If it was a queen on a mating flight, then I hope she found her way back to the hive from which she came (the swarm wasn't big - but bigger than a handful or two).

In another apiary a bait hive got occupied - but in that case I'm fairly sure it was a virgin queen returning from a mating flight, and missed her hive. There was none of that frantic comb-building one sees in a swarm, and the hive next to her is now queenless.

I've lost 3 or 4 small colonies from mini-nucs this year.... They just go on a hot day.

I have not neen many mating swarms but did see one mating swarm this year from a full-sized colony. It returned OK although the queen only laid up one frame of brood before the colony superceded her so it's now rather small as it had been queenless for a long time.

[fatshark]

I watched a mini-nuc abscond a few years ago. It was a diffuse cloud about a metre in diameter. It rose from the bottom of the hedge (where the nuc was) and then just disappeared over the fence at a fast walking pace. All very controlled. It was a hot day.

I assume these colonies don't know where they're going. I don't think they've scouted out an alternate venue. If anyone knows differently I'd be interested.

My colonies on the west coast are bringing in loads of bright yellow pollen. I presume this is ragwort ... one of the few yellow things still flowering.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Yellow things flowering near my bees: OSR made a come-back next to my apiary by the Deveron - just a thin scattering of flowers all over the fields. I went there on sunny Thursday - but I think the bees were more interested in the Himalayan balsam growing next to the river than the OSR. Lots of white bees returning to their hives.

[lindsay s]

I’ve managed to carry out a first quick inspection of all of my hives in the last week. The good news is that they are all queen right and have brood in all stages. But in more detail things aren’t so rosy. At my main apiary which is quite exposed all hives bar one were low on stores, had used up their candy and have very little pollen coming in. I’m now feeding them syrup. At my smaller apiary which is very sheltered and in the middle of town the amount of stores and pollen is much better and they don’t need feeding. Most of my hives have only three to four bars with brood and some were damp with mouldy combs (more about that in a different post). My polly nucs were also short of stores but at least they are warm and dry.
The weather here has been cool for some time and even on a sunny day the bees are only flying between 10:00 and 16:30. We had very strong northerly winds with snow starting about the 5th of April and it lasted for the rest of the week. As a result of that, most of the early flowers and shrubs got battered and frosted. I was speaking to local gardeners about this they said things have been set back by a few weeks. You’ll see my photo of a flowering currant that was scorched by the wind. It’s a pity because my bees really depend on the early flowers for pollen coming in.

I like using this forum but it is very quiet at the moment. It’s free to use and we aren’t asked for contributions. But with over one thousand members posting nothing how long do you expect the SBA to keep funding it. It’s a case of use it or we might LOSE it.

[wee willy]

I’ve managed to carry out a first quick inspection of all of my hives in the last week. The good news is that they are all queen right and have brood in all stages. But in more detail things aren’t so rosy. At my main apiary which is quite exposed all hives bar one were low on stores, had used up their candy and have very little pollen coming in. I’m now feeding them syrup. At my smaller apiary which is very sheltered and in the middle of town the amount of stores and pollen is much better and they don’t need feeding. Most of my hives have only three to four bars with brood and some were damp with mouldy combs (more about that in a different post). My polly nucs were also short of stores but at least they are warm and dry.
The weather here has been cool for some time and even on a sunny day the bees are only flying between 10:00 and 16:30. We had very strong northerly winds with snow starting about the 5th of April and it lasted for the rest of the week. As a result of that, most of the early flowers and shrubs got battered and frosted. I was speaking to local gardeners about this they said things have been set back by a few weeks. You’ll see my photo of a flowering currant that was scorched by the wind. It’s a pity because my bees really depend on the early flowers for pollen coming in.

I like using this forum but it is very quiet at the moment. It’s free to use and we aren’t asked for contributions. But with over one thousand members posting nothing how long do you expect the SBA to keep funding it. It’s a case of use it or we might LOSE it.

Britishbeekeepers.co.uk have stopped using Tapatalk quoting security issues.


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[fatshark]

Britishbeekeepers.co.uk have stopped using Tapatalk quoting security issues.


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The forum runs on software called vBulletin ... tapatalk is something separate as far as I understand. It's a 'front end' that runs on the web, phones and tablets that provides a common (and relatively easy to use) interface to a variety of different forum types. There may be security issues with it (I don't know) as you have to provide it with your login details to the various forums.

With the web shifting to more secure https connections (rather than http) this forum will need an SSL certificate in due course to avoid the 'Not secure' warning in the browser.

I'll write separately about beekeeping in response to Lindsay ... as that's much more interesting ;)

[wee willy]

The forum runs on software called vBulletin ... tapatalk is something separate as far as I understand. It's a 'front end' that runs on the web, phones and tablets that provides a common (and relatively easy to use) interface to a variety of different forum types. There may be security issues with it (I don't know) as you have to provide it with your login details to the various forums.

With the web shifting to more secure https connections (rather than http) this forum will need an SSL certificate in due course to avoid the 'Not secure' warning in the browser.

I'll write separately about beekeeping in response to Lindsay ... as that's much more interesting ;)

British Beekeeping forum having changed its software from V bulletin is no long available via Tapatalk!


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[Adam]

Some browsers don't allow access to non-secure websites, http as so last season! :)
(Is this why people are reluctant to get on this forum?)

[Adam]

Britishbeekeepers.co.uk have stopped using Tapatalk quoting security issues.


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it's bbkaforum.co.uk now - with the https bit in front.

[wee willy]

it's bbkaforum.co.uk now - with the https bit in front.

Thank you Adam ! Britishbeekeeping forum has no connection with the bbka !


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[greengumbo]

Not posted on here for ages - hope you are all doing well ?

How has the season been going ? Slow start with the cold spring but its been non-stop since. About to move the bees to heather in the next few days so will get some respite from weekly checks :)

[lindsay s]

I’ve had contact with quite a few beekeepers here this year so here’s a general picture of what it has been like so far.
Everything has been running late this year. It started with a much cooler than average April and May which set back the forage available and subsequently the colonies building up. Extra and later Spring feeding was required to keep a lot of hives going. I only added my first supers at the end of May and a few other beekeepers were the same. Just when the white clover started to flower in early June we had a couple of weeks of low cloud and haar which kept most of the bees in and I thought we were going to have a very poor season. Since then we’ve had one of the best flowering periods of clover here for many years and it has coincided with a nice spell of weather so a lot of us are getting a bumper crop at the moment. We’ve had no heat waves and it has been much dryer than average but it suited the bees so I was wrong with my doom and gloom. Most of our swarming only started at the beginning of this month and there has been a lot more than usual. Finally a lot of us are still waiting for our queens to be mated. As I said at the start everything is LATE this year!!!