todays news

[Jon]

Unless you had AFB they should be fine to reuse as the acetic acid will have killed any pathogens present.

[GRIZZLY]

Getting bees in mid-may ! I have my combs from last years hive that have capped honey and a bit of uncapped - they and the hive have been acetic acid fumigated. Should I just chuck em out or re-use ? Prob not worth the risk I thought.[/QUOTE]



They should be o.k. if they've been fumigated. Beware
unsealed honey tho'- could ferment and cause disentry.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks for the link, Finno. I've now also learned about 'lazy beds' and watched a few videos of people making them using spades. The loy or chrom looks so much easier.
Kitta

[prakel]

Been interesting to see over the last few days the dramatic difference between colonies on the coast and those a few miles inland. A month between them at the moment.

[Jon]

Which part of the UK is that prakel?
Mine are at least 2 months behind where they were last year - brood rearing only really started in April.
I doubt if I will need to get out the supers until the end of May at the earliest.

[gavin]

I presume that you mean that the coastal ones are more advanced? There are signs here that those nearer the east coast wintered less well than those further inland - but if mine are anything to go by low-lying and sheltered means that they are off to a better spring than some others.

[prakel]

Which part of the UK is that prakel?
Mine are at least 2 months behind where they were last year - brood rearing only really started in April.
I doubt if I will need to get out the supers until the end of May at the earliest.

Jon, Dorset. Mine are still (on average) behind what we've come to expect for this time of year but I think that may be where some of the problem lies -we've become accustomed to the bees getting an undue head start from the amazing Springs that we've had over the last few years. The good colonies are probably well placed for a build up which is in tune with the local 'wild' forage. I've been pleasantly surprised this week (having seen the position of the others last week) with most having 5-8 md combs of brood, with drone rearing well advanced and showing very strong pollen collection.


I presume that you mean that the coastal ones are more advanced? There are signs here that those nearer the east coast wintered less well than those further inland - but if mine are anything to go by low-lying and sheltered means that they are off to a better spring than some others.

Gavin, no! It's actually the inland colonies with perhaps a more stable climate (spared the constant sea wind) which are well ahead of the others. The colonies close to the sea have in most cases only started laying in the last two weeks. There's one (only the one) which hasn't even started yet even though the colony 'feels' right and the queen looks right. Not very scientific. I'm pretty sure that a little syrup will kickstart her....failing that I've got spare overwintered queens waiting for a new home.

[susbees]

Not sure that mine are going to be that different to last year on the home apiary (650 feet). I don't stimulate with syrup, just add fondant anytime after Dec if needed. But getting into the bees at all would be good! Can see us torching boxes and scraping top bars, changing out combs, swarm collecting and (theoretically) queen rearing all at the same time at the rate of progress. Damson and cherry just breaking bud and blackthorn still sulking. Bit of movement on the sycamore and hawthorn leaves at last...

[prakel]

Not sure that mine are going to be that different to last year on the home apiary (650 feet). I don't stimulate with syrup, just add fondant anytime after Dec if needed. But getting into the bees at all would be good! Can see us torching boxes and scraping top bars, changing out combs, swarm collecting and (theoretically) queen rearing all at the same time at the rate of progress. Damson and cherry just breaking bud and blackthorn still sulking. Bit of movement on the sycamore and hawthorn leaves at last...

Hi, for clarity... I'm not normally into adding syrup at this time of year either but in this case it's an expediant to see if I can jump start what I still believe to be a good queen but if not then it's curtains.

The copious blackthorn on Portland is also just breaking bud but again, inland it's showing good flower. I reckon that the May should be out for June...

On the bright side of things, I notice that the willowherb is 6" tall now.

[Bumble]

I presume that you mean that the coastal ones are more advanced? There are signs here that those nearer the east coast wintered less well than those further inland - but if mine are anything to go by low-lying and sheltered means that they are off to a better spring than some others.


Gavin, no! It's actually the inland colonies with perhaps a more stable climate (spared the constant sea wind) which are well ahead of the others. The colonies close to the sea have in most cases only started laying in the last two weeks. There's one (only the one) which hasn't even started yet even though the colony 'feels' right and the queen looks right. Not very scientific. I'm pretty sure that a little syrup will kickstart her....failing that I've got spare overwintered queens waiting for a new home.

I've spent the last week or so driving backwards and forwards along and near the south coast, and visiting a few apiaries on the way. Those towards the south east are further ahead than those in the mid-south coast, those to the west of the Isle of Wight are slightly better again. Trees and hedges mark the difference too, hawthorn hedges were in leaf in Sussex a fortnight ago, still to get leaves near Southampton. Some oaks near Bournemouth getting leaves this week, none in Southampton. Further north they're much further ahead with poplars in leaf north of Winchester, and roadside apples coming into flower - after that I gave up looking and concentrated more on driving!

I don't know if the pattern follows soil type, with chalk doing better because it's better drained. There's a lot of clay around Southampton, the countryside still looks waterlogged.

[prakel]

Bumble, an interesting comparative. The comment about things being much better further North (within reason) bears well with what I'm hearing from others. Not sure it's so much to do with drainage; doesn't take long for Portland to take on the appearance of a desert -albeit somewhat windswept.

As a small divergence from this topic, I have a well sheltered apiary on the side of a pond (used for growing tench for selling on) which is always further ahead, in the Spring, than any other no matter what. I've always put this down to the easy access to water 'on the doorstep' failing that, I just can't explain the difference. Definate micro environment which is unduly good for Spring build up.

[GRIZZLY]

Just managed at last to "go thro" my bees yesterday. I got quite a shock at the number of dead bees in the bottoms of the boxes. The colonies are very small - all alive and with live queens. The queens seem to have only just begun to lay with some colonies stuffed with sealed stores from last year. I needn't have put candy on any of them , but had chosen to do so to be on the safe side. It was warm enough to manage to hive change them all into my poly hives with Apivar on them all to pick off any mites. I will have to remove a lot of their sealed stores to give the queens some laying room. The bees obviously suffered from the excessive bad weather - with being buried in deep snow adding to the problems.
Flowers and fruit tree blossom is now starting to look as tho' it might be showing - with hedges just starting to show some leaf at last. The grass isn't growing yet and with most of the local farmers struggling to make their silage eke out.
The bees on the apiary site I acquired from one of our ex ass'n members are further forward than at home - they are at an elevation some 400 feet lower than at home and are at a much more normal state of development for the time of year. All have queens which I found and marked with quite extensive brood on about 6 to 8 frames. They are also the most gentle bees I have ever come across - the don't run on the frames, don't harass you when you've got them open and are as black as soot. I will have to find someone who can do a wing test on them to see if they are A.M.M. They could be worth breeding from.

[Jon]

Send me some samples and I will do the morphometry for you.
Ideally about 50 bees.

[GRIZZLY]

Send me some samples and I will do the morphometry for you.
Ideally about 50 bees.

thanks Jon P.M. me your address and I will do so.

[Bumble]

Bumble, an interesting comparative. The comment about things being much better further North (within reason) bears well with what I'm hearing from others. Not sure it's so much to do with drainage; doesn't take long for Portland to take on the appearance of a desert -albeit somewhat windswept.

As a small divergence from this topic, I have a well sheltered apiary on the side of a pond (used for growing tench for selling on) which is always further ahead, in the Spring, than any other no matter what. I've always put this down to the easy access to water 'on the doorstep' failing that, I just can't explain the difference. Definate micro environment which is unduly good for Spring build up.

I don't know if there's a link soil type and drainage and plants waking up, but our garden is well behind those of friends who are on chalk or sand. It's still so wet that we're using pallets over the worst parts. The only thing that's beginning to show any leaves is a weeping willow, which is unusual because Elders are normally coming into leaf at the same time. Nothing else is showing.

Even though they're in dampish place, the bees seem to have come through. There's only been one day that would have been warm enough to open them, and I wasn't near the house that day. This week there have been heavy showers with sleet and hail.

[Bridget]

Heard my first cuckoo this morning, Lots of sunshine, but rain forecast by lunch and ice on the birdbath with a freezing wind so still unlikely to do my first inspection today. :(

[Jon]

Mine were all over my gooseberry bushes earlier on this evening

1506

[Neils]

Just a call from a neighbour to say that the hive that looked fine the other week is now showing signs of dysentery on the front of the hive. There were no signs at all the other week. Granted I didn't spend a huge amount of time with the hive open, it's still relatively nippy, but there was no sign of any problems at all. I took all the other hives away and they've been sat in the garden getting a good dose of Acetic acid since.

I'm going to wait until Friday until getting too down over it, there's always a chance it's a mistake but I'll be taking a bottle of thymol Syrup up with me just in case and if it doesn't look good then I might shook swarm them at the same time which would be a real blow to this year's aims.

[The Drone Ranger]

Would they survive a shook swarm Neils it's a bit drastic this early
Mind you your weather is probably better than up here

[Jon]

Hang in there Neil and don't get discouraged.
This is a bad winter.
I know about 20 beekeepers who have lost all their bees and the majority of them are people who know what they are doing.

The most important thing at the moment is to reduce space in the small colonies using dummy boards.

[Neils]

Not sure if they're strong enough yet to cope with a shook swarm, they're a week away from 5-6 frames of brood emerging based on the only inspection I've managed so far. I'm can't do anything before friday but I've plenty of spare kit ready and made up and there is also a chance that it might not be my hive that has the problem, either way we need to sort it out before it does become a wider problem. It'll be two weeks since the last inspection and there was no sign at all of any problem in the hive, they were building up nicely, had plenty of brood, a flow was just starting and they were the bright spot in a miserable day of beekeeping (it's the hive in the photos I posted the other week).

None of the hives I cleared away showed any signs of robbing though one of them was packed with (open) stores, though if other hives close by have had siimilar problems I guess it's possible they might have robbed a neighbouring hive and bought it in?

[The Drone Ranger]

I have split hives too early in the past years and lost both halves
It's a tough call
Let's hope for a warm spell and a nectar flow

If the hive is building up well that doesn't tie in with them having serious nosema infection so they may well ride it out

[fatshark]

Just wandered down to the field to put another half litre of thin syrup onto the Bailey comb changes. Stunning evening, warm at last, not a breath of wind ... bees still active, with overloaded foragers crashing into the landing board.

At last :D

[Trog]

I had bees going mad on the dandelions yesterday - sunny but coldish wind. Today is so cold I didn't even bother moving the plants I'm hardening off out of the greenhouse ... and chucking it down. Still, the bees have something to keep them occupied after a good day's foraging yesterday. Still haven't done a full spring inspection - just glanced at 3 colonies last week.

[marion.orca]

Same here Trog. Forecast not looking good for the next couple of days either - just itching to get a good look and my first inspection done - peace of mind is a wonderful thing !!

[Bridget]

Same here Trog. Forecast not looking good for the next couple of days either - just itching to get a good look and my first inspection done - peace of mind is a wonderful thing !!

Same here - still no first inspection done and it's blowing a gale, rain forecast and temps of about 9 degrees. Have not seen them out since Monday. Makes me even more determined to get a bee house built this summer. I have been promised, most of the wood is here but HWMBO still on crutches after an ankle fusion op. Plus he has plans to build himself a pizza oven!


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[Mellifera Crofter]

... Have not seen them out since Monday. Makes me even more determined to get a bee house built this summer. ...

I wanted a bee house when I first started with bees, particularly because I live on such an exposed site. It may allow you time to inspect the hives when the weather is bad - but are you going to keep your colonies limited to just the few colonies that would fit inside the bee house with enough space for artificial swarms when necessary? This is my second year of moving my colonies in spring. Yesterday I took five hives to a sheltered place by OSR fields - but same here: I haven't yet had a peek inside (apart from two hives).
Kitta

[The Drone Ranger]

I want a bee house
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObfKiuMm_wY
I love this chaps videos very amusing but not very PC

[GRIZZLY]

I want a bee house
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObfKiuMm_wY
I love this chaps videos very amusing but not very PC

Sorry DR but the page refuses to come up

[madasafish]

Sorry DR but the page refuses to come up


Works with me: Chrome/W7

[The Drone Ranger]

Sorry DR but the page refuses to come up

weird -- it comes up for me when I click it even in your post
Sorry about that grizzly if you search youtube for hedgerowpete and bees he has 41 videos to pick from
Makes me smile :)
having a rain spell but just got spuds in the ground before it started
one job done 40,000 to go

[wee willy]

And me, chrome and mini iPad!
WW


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[GRIZZLY]

Came up in the end DR. I suspect its a glitch with our server. H. Pete is quite the comic isn't he ? Down to earth stuff tho'. Sunday looks as tho' its going to be non-stop beekeeping !.

[greengumbo]

Picked up a copy of "honeybee democracy" on Saturday and have built Seeleys Bait hive for putting out soon. The wife was a bit concerned with lemongrass oil arriving in the post....I think she thought I had gone a bit loopy.

Incidently it is a fantastic book. Anyone else read it ?

[Jon]

I was lucky enough to see him do a presentation on his work about how bees chose a new home a couple of years ago when he was in NI.
Best speaker I have heard.
Must get a copy of the book. It's pretty expensive isn't it.

[Dark Bee]

Not read it yet. But I have read "The Wisdom of the Hive", it made me wiser!. Seriously, I found it to be an excellent book and compulsive reading, my copy is now several years old. I don't know if it has been updated and republished or not.
I don't suppose there were any revolutionary innovations in the design of the bait hive?

Just discovered that "Honeybee Democracy" is available as an ebook, can't get a connection at present however.:(

[fatshark]

I think "Wisdom of the hive" is out of print ... I've been trying to get hold of a copy but they tend to be frighteningly expensive. Honeybee Democracy is excellent (and excellent value at about £12).

[greengumbo]

Not read it yet. But I have read "The Wisdom of the Hive", it made me wiser!. Seriously, I found it to be an excellent book and compulsive reading, my copy is now several years old. I don't know if it has been updated and republished or not.
I don't suppose there were any revolutionary innovations in the design of the bait hive?

Just discovered that "Honeybee Democracy" is available as an ebook, can't get a connection at present however.:(

I don't think there were any magic innovations on the bait hives. A box about 15" square with a 32mm circular entrance near the bottom, a nail across the entrance to stop birds getting access. Stick it up a tree 3-5m and add few drops of lemongrass oil.

I think I got my copy for about £16.

[Dark Bee]

Thanks for reply, I shall use some national brood boxes as usual then! I keep intending to get lemongrass oil, one wonders if the local chemist (pharmacist) will have much in stock?;). There would one assumes, be limited demand for it in a small village :cool:

[Black Comb]

Holland & Barrett sell it.

[greengumbo]

Thanks for reply, I shall use some national brood boxes as usual then! I keep intending to get lemongrass oil, one wonders if the local chemist (pharmacist) will have much in stock?;). There would one assumes, be limited demand for it in a small village :cool:

I got mine from ebay, lots of sellers and it goes for about £2.

Anyone know what is in those "swarm lure" tubes that lots of people are selling on ebay ?

[marion.orca]

Would the crushed fresh leaves from the lemongrass in the garden work just as well ? Thinking along the lines that it is far more natural than something that has gone through a process to extract the oils.

[Neils]

Not read it yet. But I have read "The Wisdom of the Hive", it made me wiser!. Seriously, I found it to be an excellent book and compulsive reading, my copy is now several years old. I don't know if it has been updated and republished or not.
I don't suppose there were any revolutionary innovations in the design of the bait hive?

Just discovered that "Honeybee Democracy" is available as an ebook, can't get a connection at present however.:(
£24 in hardback from IBRA for those boycotting amazon ;)
On offer for a shade under £16 from amazon in hardback or £12.33 as a kindle version.

It is an excellent book for both Beekeepers and those just interested in bees.

[Dark Bee]

I went to the local village, chemist was closed, I forgot it was a bank holiday. I've just been reading on t'internet that lemongrass oil and citronella oil are one and the same.
Marion has asked if crushing the lemon grass in her garden would yield oil. There are apparently several dozen varieties of lemongrass, that which provides the oil may be different from the ornamental type. Malting barley and feeding barley look similar but the former will yield far more alcohol than the latter:p . Heat is also likely to be required in the production of lemongrass oil.

[Neils]

Had another quick look up at allotment apiary. I ran a full inspection on Friday and reports of dysentery look to be from the neighbours hive relieving themselves on mine. At least, there were no overt signs of problems inside and they seem to be building up nicely. We given every hive on site a dose of thymol syrup to be on the safe side as they're all pretty much a week or so away from needing supers. No drones yet though the first of the drone brood is being laid up.

From the disappointment of the other week I've reverted to inherent optimism that I think you need to keep bees. Finding eggs (and the queen) in the Nuc that had nearly had it is an encouraging sign though it is still weak.

On the nature reserve I had a good clean up and when I changed the floor over and moved the hive onto a higher stand as I felt the chalk brood that has plagued the hive since I moved it there might be down to the wetness of the area and the hive being low on pallets. Now I've managed to have a proper look year seem to be expanding up nicely and ill be swapping out a few grotty old combs for an empty, wired, frame for drones and a new frame of foundation. They're still quite small, covering 6-7 frames in total but they were lovely to inspect for a change and I do wonder if they're just all round healthier and hence happier being on that higher stand.

The dead hives have now had their two weeks of acetic and ill go through them later to see what frames, if any, are salvageable, the rest I'm going to test out my wallpaper stripper on and see if its up to the job of cleaning them out and recovering a bit of wax from, not to mention giving the frames a good steam clean.

The paynes poly I used last year I might have to chuck, it's been chewed and propolised possibly beyond repair and ill try and varnish the other one with something before I try and use it, for now it's somewhere to store spare frames.

I've not seen any drones at all yet which is a shame since moving to thicker gloves I'm not confident enough that I won't squish a queen. I did have a go trying to mark one this afternoon but I gave up in the end. Until I know for sure whether my sting reaction was a one off I'm not quite up to poking around barehanded or in nitrile gloves.

[chris]

Would the crushed fresh leaves from the lemongrass in the garden work just as well ?

I use the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus. I just take a handfull and give the inside of the baithive plus the frames and landing board a good rub with it.It lasts about 4-5 days before needing, a *top up*.
I have a spray of something called "charme abeille" which is supposed to work well, but I never used it after reading on the container; "highly toxic to aquatic life". Doesn't give the composition.

[Black Comb]

Neil's
Why don't you use one of these for queen marking. You never have to touch her. Just pop the tube over her and wait until she climbs up (may need to be a little patient) and then insert the plunger. There is a "stop" at the top which means you can't crush her. You can also clip as well if you like.

http://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/marking?product_id=4414

[Neils]

There's normally a crown of thorns in the shed but it must have got knocked off the shelf. So I thought I'd just pick her up, but the gloves are just that little too thick for me not to be scared that I'll incorrectly hold her and end up damaging her. She's in a Nuc, I can normally find them marked or not, I just thought it was a good opportunity to mark her :)

[Jon]

I have a spray of something called "charme abeille" which is supposed to work well, but I never used it after reading on the container; "highly toxic to aquatic life". Doesn't give the composition.

Probably contained Imidacloprid!

[Bumble]

I've just been reading on t'internet that lemongrass oil and citronella oil are one and the same.

I don't think they are the same. We use citronella as an insect repellent, it doesn't smell the same as the lemongrass oil I put into bait hives. I bought lemongrass oil from Holland and Barrett. http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=486&searchterm=lemongrass&rdcnt=1

I have read, though, that you can use Lemon Balm Melissa officinalis as an attractant, but I've never tried it.

[Bridget]

Just got a new flea/ tick collar for the terrier. Ingredients : imidacloprid and made by Bayer. Luckily he won't be in too close contact with the bees

[Dark Bee]

I was dubious when I read it too. Citronella candles are used to keep insects away at barbecue time!

[Jon]

Just got a new flea/ tick collar for the terrier. Ingredients : imidacloprid and made by Bayer. Luckily he won't be in too close contact with the bees

Have you noticed if the birds fall from the trees as you take him for a walk?

[Neils]

Apparently they had to stop playing fetch because he'd run after the stick but by time he got there the dog had forgotten what it was chasing. :D

[Jon]

If you take him for a run in the car it keeps the windscreen clear of midges.

[Trog]

Hello, the forum's gone all surreal again. Must be something to do with that bright thing up in the sky putting in a rare appearance!

[Jon]

Beautiful day here as well but back to the miserable weather from tomorrow.

[chris]

In French, citronnelle can be an adjective, describing
any plant whose leaves give off a lemony smell when rubbed. It is also a noun which is translated into English as lemon grass.
However, to confuse things, *huile de citronnelle*, comes from an exotic insect repelling plant, and has no lemon smell at all. This is translated as citronella oil. Lemon grass oil which comes from lemon grass (French citronnelle) is called huile de lemon grass in French!!

What is important for the bait hive is the lemon smell. Lemon grass; lemon balm; and lemon verbena all work. Another plant that works well is anise.
My experience though is that the smell of wax/propolis is the most important.

[Trog]

Just got a new flea/ tick collar for the terrier. Ingredients : imidacloprid and made by Bayer. Luckily he won't be in too close contact with the bees

It's somehow appropriate that a product for hounds should be made by Bayer ...

[sits back and waits for a passing pedant to tell me that terriers aren't hounds ...]

[Trog]

That's interesting, Chris. I'd noticed that the commercial swarm lure I've used without success for some time had a vaguely citronella smell and, of course, I'd noticed that smell when hiving a swarm on a still evening with all the bees fanning outside. I shall try rubbing some citrus leaves around the inside of a bait hive.

[Dark Bee]

It's somehow appropriate that a product for hounds should be made by Bayer ...

[sits back and waits for a passing pedant to tell me that terriers aren't hounds ...]

Trog my good fellow, hounds in these green and pleasant islands give tongue, hit off the line, mark to ground, run mute, make hound music and have morning song and evening song. They do not however "bay", that is much too common for such aristocrats. Away, away, over the hills and far away; if you are good at the caintereacht you will know what that note is.
Hounds please.

[Trog]

First spring inspection, summer having arrived today [for one day only .. make the most of it]. Lovely to see them so contented, dancing bees on every comb, brood in all stages, oodles of pollen being brought in. Mostly nice big queens with a couple of small ones who will probably get replaced soonish but meanwhile are better than nothing and laying in the same quantities as the bigger girls. The hives are much drier than usual, which is interesting as we didn't insulate at all this year. There is also less mould on outer combs. Two very good overwintered nucs.1508

[gavin]

Cracking picture. And now we know the colour of pollen loads from the cuckoo flower (Lady's smock, Cardamine pratensis, plur na cubhaig). Do we need an areas for pictures of bees? Bees on forage of the season?

[Jon]

I never saw as much lady's smock as we have at the moment.
I think it likes wet soil so the last 12 months have likely been kind to it.

[Trog]

There's a lovely patch of this on a bank near us. We have it in our boggy meadow but it's usually a month later than this first patch. The dandelions are huge this year and the bees are positively rolling in them! That's the bulk of the pollen but there's also willow still out and the gorse is splendid this year. Not much sign of activity on the blackthorn hedge around the apiary, though, even though that's flowering more fully than I've ever seen it. Too much better stuff around, I suppose!

[Bridget]

First inspection at last. Both hives a bit smaller than I expected - about 4 -5 seams. Very little capped brood, not much brood either and although I'm sure there were eggs I'm rubbish at seeing them. Acres of polished cells. Saw both queens, a first for me to manage to see the unmarked Queen so that was good. One hive had quite a lot of sealed stores, the other not much. If one queen was further ahead with her brood I would say that the other was a poor queen but they are both at the same sort of stage so I think maybe they have only just got started. We have no gorse, dandelions or willow yet, a small ribes bush in the village which had lots of bees on it and bringing in orange pollen from something. I have given both 1/1 syrup. On the plus side they were very well behaved which was good as I never managed to get the smoker going properly - another thing I'm hopeless at. Changed the floors and was quite shocked at the number of dead bees on one of them, but then I didn't know to change them last year. Great piles of granulated sugar too - the fondant I put on in the winter was quite hard so it looks like they were not that keen on it.
1509

[Trog]

I wonder if they'd overwinter better on solid floors and with a mouseguard across the entrance rather than a block with a small hole. Ours definitely prefer solid floors or ones with a very small meshed hole in the centre.

[Bumble]

Talking about mouseguards, which you weren't. If I was go along with the recommendations for keeping Asian Hornets out of hives, and reduce the entrances to 5.5mm high, will that be narrow enough to deter shrews? I relied on shallow entrances this year, didn't get mice, but found droppings suggesting visiting shrews and would like to keep them out next winter. I haven't worked out how to fit metal mouseguards to my hives.

The size is mentioned in one of the links https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/public/News/news.cfm#137 We haven't got the hornets yet, but I think they'll arrive sooner rather than later, and could move quite quickly from the point(s) of entry.

[drumgerry]

What a bleedin disastrous day I've had. On Sunday I moved a tiny cluster with queen from a wooden nuc into an Apidea. I wouldn't normally have bothered but the queen had some genetics I was keen to keep and breed from this summer. Another colony with about 3 frames of bees seemed to be queenless - no eggs, brood, nothing. So today I thought I'd cut my losses and give the Apidea queen to the queenless bees. Shook the Q- lot over a queen excluder into a new brood box just to be sure there was no queen and sure enough there wasn't. Went to the Apidea to get the queen and the beggars had absconded! So in the course of a few days I've gone from 8 units down to 6. I got 10 through the winter but two colonies have gone to pastures new and now these two have done the dirty on me. I think this year is going to be for consolidation rather than the expansion I'd hoped for.

[The Drone Ranger]

hi Drumgerry

Wet and cold here again today
I'm much the same --only lost one during the winter so 14 came through
But with drone layers, no queen/no layers, and chalkbrood now only 6 potentially useful hives
and if we don't get some decent weather soon who knows

[Jimbo]

Managed to check 3 of my colonies last night. First was 2 frames of brood and not very dark but managed to find queen and mark. Second was looking again like a hybrid colony but with 4 frames of brood. The third was nice dark bees very gentle, quite on the comb with 4 frames of brood and some capped drone cells. Did not find the queen but it was starting to get dark and had to give up due to poor light. Not that I am biased but the dark native bees on this site have made better progress than the two hybrid colonies. If the wings look good this is a candidate as a breeder queen.
Forgot to add this colony also had a nice brood pattern

[The Drone Ranger]

Careful Jimbo somebody will nick it if it's doing that well :)

[Jon]

I checked 6 of mine yesterday and they had all made progress from the previous inspection 3 weeks before.
The biggest is 5-6 frames of bees with 3 of brood.
About 4-6 weeks behind where I would expect them to be at this time of year.

DR I am in a similar situation to you with only about half of mine likely to build up sufficiently by July.
I am not expecting a great deal of honey this season but if I can get the bees in better shape for next winter, that will be progress.
Any other season I would consider this a disaster, but I know so many people who have lost all that I am counting my blessings.

I have not bothered about collecting swarms for several years but were I to hear of a stray prime swarm at the moment I would be after it like a shot.
If I get a couple of colonies set up as cell raisers I should be able to rear a few queens but I will be short of bees to fill apideas and make up nucs.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Jon
How does your queen rearing group operate ?
are you re-queening members hives?
could you split their colony over a board and introduce a virgin to the top box

No solutions for beginners without bees though that's a difficult problem

[Jon]

No solutions for beginners without bees though that's a difficult problem

That's the main problem we have.
Even with just one cell raiser you can easily produce about 20 grafted queen cells per fortnight but you need somewhere to put them.
We have already discussed prioritizing the requeening of colonies if we cannot source more bees for making up nucs.
Things might looker better in a few weeks depending upon the speed of colony growth.

[Jimbo]

Hi DR,

They are welcome to try. One of my sites is on MOD land and the site gets checked approx every 30 mins by Men in Black with semi automatics and big dogs. Many a time I have been inside a hive only to have a dog come up to me to have a sniff. From my site I can look down onto Britains nuclear deterent subs on one side and the missile silo's on the other. Might explain why my bees have native wings and glow in the dark!

[GRIZZLY]

Well finally managed to complete the inspection of all my 20 hives. I'm very pleased to have found every queen and have marked the lot. Some I hadn't managed to mark last year and some have had their markings worn away. The largest colony was on 8 1/2 good frames of brood with the smallest on 4. They all have loads of fresh pollen - mostly whins - and a couple had what looked like fresh nectar tho' what they have been foraging on is a bit of a mystery as there is no blossom showing yet due to the very cold past few weeks. All apart from one very weak colony that I expected to lose have come thro' the winter and are now expanding in strength.
Lets hope we have some really good weather soon and the bees can continue to flourish. Very little varoa showing under the colonies treated with Apivar - just one or no mites at all.

[Jon]

That's a good report John compared to a lot of the rest of us.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi DR,

They are welcome to try. One of my sites is on MOD land and the site gets checked approx every 30 mins by Men in Black with semi automatics and big dogs. Many a time I have been inside a hive only to have a dog come up to me to have a sniff. From my site I can look down onto Britains nuclear deterent subs on one side and the missile silo's on the other. Might explain why my bees have native wings and glow in the dark!

Lol!

sounds like they are safe unless there is a nuclear attack
They need big wings to get them the heck out of there at the first sign of trouble

[The Drone Ranger]

Well Jon looks like you'll have to relocate the breeding program to Grizzly's home apiary this season :)

[Jon]

We are near neighbours. Just a stretch of water between us.

[GRIZZLY]

Open invitation for Jon to come over the water and do some queen rearing here. There have been times when the weather is better over there and vice-versa better over here. By and large our weather is very similar.
Haven't heard of other losses in our ass'n so perhaps we've been lucky. We did supply everyone with O.A. at Christmas together with syringes etc and have spread the word about Apivar which most people have used so I think we're getting on top of varroa as an ass'n. We've had 16 of our members studying as a group for the SBA Beemaster part 1 so most of our " beginner" members are singing from the same hymn sheet. Our beginner / study group consists of absolute starters to people who have kept bees for up to 5 years. This year we've got a summer programme which sees us meeting at various apiaries etc. every two weeks ,meaning that we can follow up the winter theory with practical work for our study group and the rest of the membership. We suffer from not having an ass'n apiary but I'm working on our members to try and get across the benefits to our beginners e.t.c.

[greengumbo]

Some great photos of some of our rarer bee species. Have not read the accompanying study but agree with the habitat loss stuff.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2013/may/09/britain-rarest-bees-steep-decline-in-pictures#/?picture=408499953&index=9

[madasafish]

Some great photos of some of our rarer bee species. Have not read the accompanying study but agree with the habitat loss stuff.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2013/may/09/britain-rarest-bees-steep-decline-in-pictures#/?picture=408499953&index=9

I find it ironic that it also blames urban sprawl. The Guardian supported unlimited immigration and supports more housebuilding...

[prakel]

posted by prakel on 09/05/12:


Hi, I'm pretty new to this forum, and to be honest wasn't planning on making many/regular posts simply because it can become too much of a commitment -and on occassions even stressful- to write on these internet forums....

What a difference a year makes! Best try to be quieter in future.

[Jon]

Some of us are worse!

[Bridget]

Actually I do remember reading that post Prakel

[prakel]

Just had a heads-up from an old friend who owns a plot of land next to one of my apiaries to let me know that another local bee(less?)keeper has phoned him requesting permission to site a bait hive on his land! This is a man who started beekeeping with a dozen or so colonies about five years ago; been interesting to see his highly visible hives reducing in number each Spring.

[Jon]

My guess would be he does no varroa control.
Bait hives don't bother me as I clip my queens and check regularly.

[prakel]

Similar. I'm quite relaxed about people putting bait hives out just so long as there's nothing nasty lurking in them -although asking my friend (who's an ex, pre varroa, beekeeper) for permision was perhaps an own goal..... if the chap had come to me direct I could probably have been persuaded to GIVE him a nuc on the grounds that it's better to know what the genetics of his bees are rather than run the risk of him importing something less compatible from outside once the penny drops and he realizes that he's little chance of picking up a swarm from one of my hives.

[Jon]

We had a case of few years ago where a newish beekeeper hid a bait hive in an association apiary which was in an apple orchard. One of the other beekeepers found it a few dozen yards away hidden behind a tree.
He did this surreptitiously without speaking to anyone about it. I would consider that to be pretty crass behaviour.

[prakel]

I always put out some some bait hives in any apiary I have -I just love to see stray swarms take up residence and to watch their progress but I'm not into swarm collections from people's gardens etc -I will if need be but there are usually other people who are keen enough to take the responsibility. As for actively seeking to bait another person's apiary? Not my style at all, but each to their own.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Not today (a few days ago) I did some hives' first spring inspection. This hive was on double brood, but the whole colony was in the top box. In the bottom box I found two combs that they've nibbled like this:

1510 1511

I've never seen combs being nibbled so badly. Those were the only two combs that had two parallel wires rather than the W-shaped wires. It was wired by me, and not very well. I wonder whether that might have been the reason for their nibbling or did they just like the wax?

Kitta

[gavin]

Are you sure there was no mouse or even a shrew in there? Apart from droppings one sign would be larger flakes of wax than the bees usually leave.

[Neils]

No bees for me this weekend but I did run a primer session for the Basic assessment. Last year we had three people in total apply, this year I had 7-8 just on the day with the promise of more to come. I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout and interest.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Are you sure there was no mouse or even a shrew in there? Apart from droppings one sign would be larger flakes of wax than the bees usually leave.

I did not see any droppings inside the hive, Gavin, and I did not take note of the wax flakes. I'll remember about that next time it happens. There was evidence of mice outside the hive. Mouse droppings, and they chewed at the varroa tray which I kept in over winter (because of the strong wind around here) with some holes drilled in them. I think they tried to get into the space between the varroa insert and the floor.

I don't use mouse guards. All the hives have entrances that are about 6mm high which I thought should be mouse-proof. This particular hive was a Modern Beekeeping National hive, and they come with those plastic entrance adjusters that also create openings of about 6mm. Do you think shrews can get in where mice can't?

Kitta

[fatshark]

Kitta
I think the bees do that from boredom (or perhaps spite). In all the lousy weather last summer I had some foundation treated similarly - they chewed the bottom out of the partly or fully drawn cells. I seem to remember it was during a period of protracted bad weather when they were unable to forage much.

Since they're so good at repairing comb - for example after cutting down the sidewalls during grafting or even repairing areas where mature QC's are cut out - I've given the frames back to them this year to mend.

Of course, the weather is still rubbish!

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Fatshark. I hope you're right and that mice or shrews weren't the culprits. I think I'll do the same as you and return the frames to see what happens.
Kitta

[GRIZZLY]

Just got a pleasant surprise , went thro one of my black bee colonies to discover the queen had laid up right across the brood box.
They are on 18 sides of brood and absolutely stuffed with bees. There was one q cell which looked like superceedure. The current queen seems to be laying eggs into every available space. I hope they are going to produce more q cells so that I can take a split. Despite all my efforts ,I haven't been able to get two other colonies to transfer from 16x10 hives to nationals - they are determined to stay put so I'll have to try a more severe strategy. The problem is that they are good sets of bees and I don't want to do anything to damage them. Putting the q down below and doing an artificial swarm hasn't worked and a Baily change will lose too much brood. As a last resort I might have to resort to cutting the brood out from the 16x10 frames and tie it into national frames and transfer the queen down with the new temporary frames - rather like clearing bees from roofs etc. Anybody got any other suggestions ?.

[Dark Bee]

You should not loose brood with the Bailey frame change - are you confusing it with a shook swarm?

[Adam]

A bailey will lose honey - in that the bees will have to work hard to draw the new comb but the brood is retained. After 3 weeks you'll have empty Commercials. You could just start by putting the National on top of the commercial box until some of the frames are used, then put the queen upstairs above an excluder. Why change btw? I quite like the idea of commercials.

[Dark Bee]

A bailey will lose honey - in that the bees will have to work hard to draw the new comb but the brood is retained. After 3 weeks you'll have empty Commercials. You could just start by putting the National on top of the commercial box until some of the frames are used, then put the queen upstairs above an excluder. Why change btw? I quite like the idea of commercials.

If one may suggest it; a first floor entrance will raise the ambiance of the occasion.:cool:

[GRIZZLY]

Adam I've been playing with these bees for six weeks now. I do know what a Baily comb change is also shook swarming. So far nothing has worked - aided I guess by the naff cold and wet weather we've been having. So more harsh methods seem to be required . I'm changing to Nationals with these two colonies as all the rest of my twenty other colonies are on national size hives ( swienty 10 frame poly nationals.) I used to beekeep on 16x10 hives when down south in Warwickshire. The bees would draw them right across but not up here - so I've reverted to nationals.
D.B. I might try an upper entrance to perhaps induce them to work in the upper national chamber, however we shall see.

[Dark Bee]

Remove all the broodless combs in the bottom box, fill the spaces left on either side with dummies/polystyrene/scrunched up newspaper etc. In the topbox install the same no of frames as there are remaining in the bottom box, use drawn comb - borrow a bit from other colonies anif necessary use some foundation, insulate the sides as before. Install a feeder. Find queen or smoke her up, fit Qx and use a few laths to make a top entrance to top box directly over the old entrance which you now close and of course have plenty of insulation over the crown board. That's the gist of it - apologies if you are already familiar with the process.

[Neils]

Down in the tropical south we're where I'd expect to be in April. My nuc has finally given up the ghost and I think I should have moved the final few to an apidea to try and make use of the queen.

One colony I think will be starting to think about swarming next week, if I'm lucky, but still has no drones of its own but now has a good quantity of drone brood ready for action. The other has drones but is still barely filling a 14x12 and unsurprisingly has done nothing in the super I optimistically added last week. I had taken two frames of brood over successive weeks from it to try and boost the Nuc which hasn't helped I'm sure.

My aim for this year is now simply to split the two hives I ave and hopefully have 4 strong colonies going into winter. If we have a good summer I might look to bring the apideas into play later in the year but I just don't have enough bees to do everything so I'm scaling back my ambition for now.

[drumgerry]

I tried to do that (move a tiny cluster+queen to an Apidea) Neil and they absconded within 24 hours so maybe it wouldn't have worked for you anyway. Saw my first drones of 2013 during today's inspections - late or what?! I had great plans to do some queen rearing this summer but it's looking like I'll also have to scale back what I had in mind.

[Neils]

Yesterday was the first time I saw drones. There weren't any last week that I can recall or that I put in my inspection notes (and I have been starting to note things I would otherwise think of as ordinary this year). Jokes about tropical south aside, what I do find interesting is just how closely aligned general behaviour is between Bristol and Scotland. In the grand scheme of things, granted, geographically we're not that far apart but localised weather can be quite distinct yet over the past couple of years I can see maybe a week's 'advantage' in the behaviour of my bees (swarming etc) compared to scotland.

My slightly more carnie mongrels than my other mongrels are now starting to race ahead in terms of brood but they're stlll drone free at the moment and also benefit that in comparison to the other colony never had any brood removed, but were a smaller colony when I eventually managed to start inspections and I'm now only just starting to think that I need to start a weekly inspection routine to watch for swarming.

[Calum]

So the official winter losses for Germany are published now.
From the 7000 beekeepers that responded, of their 88000 colonies 13000 did not make it through the winter. So 15,3% losses.

Very acceptable I'd say... I felt like writting this in the special place, but trolling there has lost its appeal.

8°C here today, even Scotland is warmer.. Lucky most colonies are sitting on a full super - the clement weather we had in early may was profitable for the bees.

[The Drone Ranger]

So the official winter losses for Germany are published now.
From the 7000 beekeepers that responded, of their 88000 colonies 13000 did not make it through the winter. So 15,3% losses.

Very acceptable I'd say... I felt like writting this in the special place, but trolling there has lost its appeal.

8°C here today, even Scotland is warmer.. Lucky most colonies are sitting on a full super - the clement weather we had in early may was profitable for the bees.

Your bees need to be tough Calum
Sometimes folk think Continental weather is all sun and surf :)

[Bridget]

8°C here today, even Scotland is warmer.. Lucky most colonies are sitting on a full super - the clement weather we had in early may was profitable for the bees.

Not this part of Scotland Calum, 8 degrees here today and drizzle, though it was quite balmy over the weekend with a high of 14. However I am still wondering whether I'm being optimistic if I add first supers on the next warmer day

[GRIZZLY]

Best to be optimistic Bridget. Got 8 of mine on the rape and hoping for a little sweetness this year.

[Jon]

Our beginners did their preliminary practical exam this evening.

1530 1531

More in the blog (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/entry.php?630-Preliminary-class-examinations)

[brothermoo]

Post arrived today with some beekeeping items... This was ordered in hope for this season!
__________________
sent via tapatalk

[Jon]

Weather permitting, we can mark a few on Monday evening but they will be getting yellow spots as they are 2012 queens. I found my yellow posca pen the other day.

This gal here needs marked and clipped.

1533 1534

[drumgerry]

Been marking my 2012 queens blue as a moosie ate my yellow Posca pen in the winter. I'd have liked a look at the coupon (face for the non-Glaswegians) on that mouse in the immediate aftermath!

[gavin]

.... as a moosie ate my yellow Posca pen in the winter.

Whatever happened to wee glass nail varnish bottles with nice gentle brushes? (I know what happened to my last one - dropped it!)

Last Saturday I was getting a yellow and a white Posca pen working and the only rigid surfaces available to do that plunging action to get them going were my fingernails (covered by a latex glove). Doing my nails in front of a group of beekeepers .... weird ....

These Buzzy Bee Shop wing snippers are the bees knees. Much easier than dodgy Tesco nail scissors.

[Jon]

Doing my nails in front of a group of beekeepers .... weird ....

..as opposed to doing it in private!!

[gavin]

..as opposed to doing it in private!!

Always more comfortable that way.

I hear that the SBA is putting on a good show at Gardening Scotland. Anyone see any of it?

[The Drone Ranger]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190840537004?var=490151026714&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
ebay good price for posca pen red ?

[fatshark]

Not as cheap as these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POSCA-MARKER-PENS-PC-5M-by-Uni-Ball-/290615082200?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&var=&hash=item43aa023cd8

[The Drone Ranger]

Not as cheap as these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POSCA-MARKER-PENS-PC-5M-by-Uni-Ball-/290615082200?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&var=&hash=item43aa023cd8
Thanks, and well spotted Fatshark ,that's a good deal :)
Some beekeeping operations charge 3 times the price
Sometimes I feel I'm being robbed blind

[Bumble]

Last Saturday I was getting a yellow and a white Posca pen working and the only rigid surfaces available to do that plunging action to get them going were my fingernails (covered by a latex glove). Doing my nails in front of a group of beekeepers .... weird ....
Try dabbing the pen on the toe of your boot. If you're careful you can make a nice pattern. Mine is an orange pen, brighter than red, when that runs out I think I'll try a dayglo colour.

Wing clipping snips - has anybody used fly-tying scissors?

[The Drone Ranger]

Try dabbing the pen on the toe of your boot. If you're careful you can make a nice pattern. Mine is an orange pen, brighter than red, when that runs out I think I'll try a dayglo colour.

Wing clipping snips - has anybody used fly-tying scissors?

Yes I use them for fly tying they are very sharp
wouldn't want to chop off my queens wing though
Bit cruel I would rather she flew away and lived happily ever after in a neighbour's hive
If I lived in a built up are I might feel different :)

[gavin]

Most of my bees are in a rural spot but last year I let swarms loose that caused bother in the big hoosie of the landowner. There are also two cottages within a few hundred yards. I'm now a snipper of dead, dry queen tissue. A bit like nail clipping.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[gavin]

Try dabbing the pen on the toe of your boot. If you're careful you can make a nice pattern. Mine is an orange pen, brighter than red, when that runs out I think I'll try a dayglo colour.



Do remember that it is straightforward to upload pictures onto SBAi or your favourite photo-sharing site...

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[The Drone Ranger]

Most of my bees are in a rural spot but last year I let swarms loose that caused bother in the big hoosie of the landowner. There are also two cottages within a few hundred yards. I'm now a snipper of dead, dry queen tissue. A bit like nail clipping.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

That was a bit unfortunate but somebody might have caught that swarm and been over the moon
But you are right Gavin it does matter where you are
Just remember "those bees don't look like any of mine they must have come from somewhere else "
I remember some poor chap wrote an amusing story (BeeCraft)of a swarm that escaped and ended up in the train station where he caught the train to work
Anyway the misery brigade slated him to death in the next months magazine
Isn't it the case though once the bees get in swarm mode they will just leave with the first virgin available

[Jon]

Bit cruel I would rather she flew away and lived happily ever after in a neighbour's hive


DR. Clipping a queen does not mean you sit back and let them swarm.
You carry out weekly checks in the peak swarming months as usual and take action if you find a charged queen cell.
I look at it as insurance, and with my best queens you can be damned sure I don't want them swarming and getting lost in the grass.
But there again a good queen should be unlikely to swarm anyway.

[gavin]

Isn't it the case though once the bees get in swarm mode they will just leave with the first virgin available

So I hear. Presumably they're OK with the quality of the forage available.

Should I ever inherit a railway company from a long lost relative I've never heard of I think I'll call it Old Queen Trains.


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[The Drone Ranger]

DR. Clipping a queen does not mean you sit back and let them swarm.
You carry out weekly checks in the peak swarming months as usual and take action if you find a charged queen cell.
I look at it as insurance, and with my best queens you can be damned sure I don't want them swarming and getting lost in the grass.
But there again a good queen should be unlikely to swarm anyway.

No I didn't suggest letting them swarm was a good thing :)
Just don't think it justifies the death penalty for the queen
logically If good queens didn't swarm the only bees left in the world would be bad ones

[The Drone Ranger]

So I hear. Presumably they're OK with the quality of the forage available.

Should I ever inherit a railway company from a long lost relative I've never heard of I think I'll call it Old Queen Trains.


Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

Spent a little while choo choo chewing that over before your train of thought became clear :)

[The Drone Ranger]

Not as cheap as these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POSCA-MARKER-PENS-PC-5M-by-Uni-Ball-/290615082200?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&var=&hash=item43aa023cd8

Who sells cedar brood boxes for the best price ?

[fatshark]

Thornes seconds I reckon ... the end of season sale, rather than Christmas or early season. I'm pretty sure I paid £12 each last year and they then went up to £15 in the later sales, but I might be wrong. Credit to Thornes ... when I've ordered in advance and collected a big sealed box from them the cedar seconds they pick and pack are no worse (and often better) than those available to the eager throng pawing through the stacks in the yard. Remember they supply rubbish plastic runners so I buy a job lot of metal ones in the sales as well - you have to factor those into the price as well.

Or was this some sort of trick question? Do we need an "Unlimited beekeeping bargains thread"?

[The Drone Ranger]

Thornes seconds I reckon ... the end of season sale, rather than Christmas or early season. I'm pretty sure I paid £12 each last year and they then went up to £15 in the later sales, but I might be wrong. Credit to Thornes ... when I've ordered in advance and collected a big sealed box from them the cedar seconds they pick and pack are no worse (and often better) than those available to the eager throng pawing through the stacks in the yard. Remember they supply rubbish plastic runners so I buy a job lot of metal ones in the sales as well - you have to factor those into the price as well.

Or was this some sort of trick question? Do we need an "Unlimited beekeeping bargains thread"?

No trick question I'm very grateful for the advice
I have bought stuff in The thornes sale while they were at Tayport but haven't since the move
I was thinking of 10 smith broodboxes some of mine are slightly worse for wear
I did buy some from Stanfordham some years back they were pine and cheapish but they warp a bit
I didn't realise I could order in advance so pickup would be easier
Thanks Fatshark

I would like to see a where to buy and what to pay thread good value needs quality and price

[fatshark]

DR ... all my stuff is Nationals. Not sure if Smiths are included in the sales stuff. I've been pleased enough with the quality. Not up to Hivemakers standards (Pete L.) but reasonably warp and knot free.

And for readers wanting "Todays news" ... it's a lovely day and I'm gong to be grafting. Finally.

[gavin]

Who sells cedar brood boxes for the best price ?

Bear in mind that the bulk of boxes sold are not Western Red Cedar but 'English cedar' which is a cheaper inferior wood. I forget which trees supply that type but it is a stretch to call it cedar. Western Red Cedar is a wonderful wood - naturally durable and very light. Thornes do supply but at a price. We've a couple of such Nationals awaiting assembly at the local association apiary and I thought this was going to be the year to use them but we have so many spare boxes I can't see it.

[nemphlar]

Apidea,s £18.50 derby bee supplies, though I don't have drones in the hive yet so the winter buys will stay in the box

[Neils]

The best laid plans and all that. Checked the nature reserve hive carefully last week as it was getting full, still no drones in the hive though nor signs of active queen cells though there were increasing numbers of play cups. So dutifully lugged down a spare hive yesterday having given them a super a play in last week anticipating

Opened them up yesterday and, sure enough, the buggers have swarmed. I've split what's left into two Nucs anyway in the hope I can get some less swarmy queens into them later in the year but I think this is the straw that breaks the camel's back and I'm going to start clipping queens. I went through this hive in detail last week, opening up all the play cups to be sure so finding several capped queen cells and no eggs is somewhat of a let down of my opinion of myself as an observant beekeeper.

[gavin]

The best laid plans and all that. Checked the nature reserve hive carefully last week as it was getting full, still no drones in the hive though nor signs of active queen cells though there were increasing numbers of play cups. So dutifully lugged down a spare hive yesterday having given them a super a play in last week anticipating

Opened them up yesterday and, sure enough, the buggers have swarmed. I've split what's left into two Nucs anyway in the hope I can get some less swarmy queens into them later in the year but I think this is the straw that breaks the camel's back and I'm going to start clipping queens. I went through this hive in detail last week, opening up all the play cups to be sure so finding several capped queen cells and no eggs is somewhat of a let down of my opinion of myself as an observant beekeeper.

You are not alone Neil. Last Saturday I went through mine with half a dozen one-year beekeepers helping. Today one had swarmed and another was in the act of doing so, and the one I was predicting would be ready to, wasn't. One of the swarmed stocks, the one in the act as we approached, had a virgin on the loose, piping at the remaining cells.

So we split the two swarming stocks (one into four nucs, the other into one box with one sealed cell and one box with several unsealed cells giving me a week to decide what to do with that favoured stock), and I'm still wondering how we managed to miss what would have been a sealed cell in the colony that had a virgin on the loose. The other one could have taken an egg to a sealed cell in the time available.

At least there was lots for Rick and Dave to learn from that lot - how to clip and mark, why not clipping can lead to problems, what swarms in the air look like (!), queen piping, finding unmarked queens in busy colonies .....

Plus the extra boxes are rapidly filling in the unswarmed colonies ... a combination of strong colonies, rain showers, semi-decent weather, and loads of forage makes for rapidly filling boxes .....

My queens are a mix of marked and clipped, and unmarked and unclipped.

[The Drone Ranger]

Apidea,s £18.50 derby bee supplies, though I don't have drones in the hive yet so the winter buys will stay in the box

Hi Nemphlar are they on the web ?

I've started putting in Snelgrove boards over this weekend

[Neils]

You are not alone Neil. Last Saturday I went through mine with half a dozen one-year beekeepers helping. Today one had swarmed and another was in the act of doing so, and the one I was predicting would be ready to, wasn't. One of the swarmed stocks, the one in the act as we approached, had a virgin on the loose, piping at the remaining cells.

So we split the two swarming stocks (one into four nucs, the other into one box with one sealed cell and one box with several unsealed cells giving me a week to decide what to do with that favoured stock), and I'm still wondering how we managed to miss what would have been a sealed cell in the colony that had a virgin on the loose. The other one could have taken an egg to a sealed cell in the time available.

At least there was lots for Rick and Dave to learn from that lot - how to clip and mark, why not clipping can lead to problems, what swarms in the air look like (!), queen piping, finding unmarked queens in busy colonies .....

Plus the extra boxes are rapidly filling in the unswarmed colonies ... a combination of strong colonies, rain showers, semi-decent weather, and loads of forage makes for rapidly filling boxes .....

My queens are a mix of marked and clipped, and unmarked and unclipped.
This particular hive is a PITA to be honest and it isn't the first time it's done this. ON the plus side it builds up very quickly. on the minus, it seems to be able to cap queen cells in about half an hour! Maybe they're african bees :D Having split them anyway, I'd hope they wont get it into their heads to issue casts in case I missed any cells. If someone got them as a swarm, they got a big 'un.

Despite thinking they're a "bit" swarmy I was going to split them anyway, I just really could have done without losing a swarm this year so I was going through them very carefully for that very reason so I'm really annoyed that they've swarmed anyway as I'm definitely not getting any honey from that site this year.

[The Drone Ranger]

My bee craft Sub is due but I think it's going to be on the bench for a while.
Dorian Pritchard has filled a couple of pages with nonsense about his AMM bees
Even making the claim that the honey tastes better

Ps
Neils It took a while for me to work out PITA
Now PITA bred has a whole new meaning for me :)

Gavin
I think the boxes made for the sale days will be not so good quality
Fatshark says"Thornes seconds I reckon ... the end of season sale, rather than Christmas or early season" so thay might be genuine seconds at that sale day

[greengumbo]

Morning all. Been away for a while on child rearing duties but back at the daily grind so thought I'd see whats up. In the meantime I have managed to finally source some bees so my garden is now buzzing with activity :) They are going mad for the gorse and broom at the moment - I don't think they have yet spotted the OSR 1.5km away yet but it won't be long.

Its brilliant to have them again !

[gavin]

My bee craft Sub is due but I think it's going to be on the bench for a while.
Dorian Pritchard has filled a couple of pages with nonsense about his AMM bees
Even making the claim that the honey tastes better

Ps
Neils It took a while for me to work out PITA
Now PITA bred has a whole new meaning for me :)

Gavin
I think the boxes made for the sale days will be not so good quality
Fatshark says"Thornes seconds I reckon ... the end of season sale, rather than Christmas or early season" so thay might be genuine seconds at that sale day

The Thornes budget stuff (and probably similar equipment from other suppliers) isn't Western Red Cedar but they do sell some of the high quality stuff too. Not sure that it differs much in general between sale days and regular times except for the stock marked as seconds (which is often as good as the usual stuff).

Dorian P's article read like one of the better informed Bee Craft pieces I thought, but I will admit that the last two paragraphs on British bees working British flora were a little - ahem - unsubstantiated.

[Dark Bee]

Some years ago I got some Smiths B.B. at a Thornes sale - they were made from genuine western red cedar. They cost £7.50 each! (it was a long time ago).
Does the substitute cedar come from the Thuja tree ? I may well be mistaken, but that tree does grow in the UK and I believe has been named as the source. The probability is that several different but related trees are pressed into service.

[Dark Bee]

[QUOTE=The Drone Ranger;18591]Ps

Neils It took a while for me to work out PITA
.................................................. .................................................. ...

Only because your upbringing was that of a polite young man.

[Black Comb]

I've got Thornes perfect and seconds red cedar. The seconds is an inferior wood, soft with knots.
As ever luck plays its part. Some are OK, some not.
After trying to fit together a langstroth brood box where the finger joints did not match (well out)I resolved not to buy any more.

[Jon]

I have about 25 Thorne seconds nationals. No problem with any other than the odd knot.

[Black Comb]

Their Seconds frames are worth buying.

[Jon]

I second that comment about the seconds. I have used hundreds of them

[nemphlar]

Apologies DR "beeequipped.co.uk" they are in Derbyshire

[The Drone Ranger]

Apologies DR "beeequipped.co.uk" they are in Derbyshire
Thanks Nemphlar
Great price spot
I'll give them a try :)

[gavin]

I second that comment about the seconds. I have used hundreds of them

I'll third that second comment about the seconds. Must be well past my second hundred of them, maybe third.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hundreds of them
What are you doing with them lighting the fire :)

[gavin]

Possibly a spot of poetic licence there ... but no, I've been through half a dozen bundles of 50 in the last few years. And yes, many have ended up lighting a fire rather than being recycled in a nice new shiny frame recycling plant, sadly.

[fatshark]

Their Seconds frames are worth buying.

Funnily enough (considering the earlier comments on brood boxes) ... the 'seconds' frames I've had from Thornes have been poor and a mistake I won't be repeating. Splits, knots, shonky grooving (that's a technical term Gavin, not a dance) and not something I've had either confidence or pleasure in using. The slow deterioration of a box is manageable, the lug snapping of a full brood frame is unpleasant (and sometime unmanageable). A real PITA :mad:

Nemphlar ... nice find on the Apideas. At that price I might even try one instead of Kielers.

[Neils]

Funnily enough (considering the earlier comments on brood boxes) ... the 'seconds' frames I've had from Thornes have been poor and a mistake I won't be repeating. Splits, knots, shonky grooving (that's a technical term Gavin, not a dance) and not something I've had either confidence or pleasure in using. The slow deterioration of a box is manageable, the lug snapping of a full brood frame is unpleasant (and sometime unmanageable). A real PITA :mad:

Nemphlar ... nice find on the Apideas. At that price I might even try one instead of Kielers.

I agree about seconds frames. I'd buy seconds Supers again because if they don't fit right and many of them dont, I can use them for other things.

Seconds brood boxes or frames area a mistake I wont repeat again.

[The Drone Ranger]

I wonder if anyone has a good supplier for frame nails
The ones I'm using (thornes) are over tempered so they snap
That's a nuisance using a hammer, but with the pin pusher it's deadly you stick the tool in your thumb

[Dark Bee]

Nemphlar ... nice find on the Apideas. At that price I might even try one instead of Kielers.

A bee breeding group to which I belonged bought a quantity of Apideas from Swienty. They were able to negotiate a very favourable price - better than from the manufacturers.
If a group or number of groups pool their pennies it might be worth investigating that option.

[Bumble]

I've used Maisemore and Thornes seconds frames. The Thornes were the knottiest, with more casualties, but only about half a dozen all told.

Seconds frames are a good buy, even with breakages. Last autumn I paid £40 for 50 jumbo frames, the current price for the same number of 'first' quality is not far short of £100.

[Jon]

Seconds brood boxes or frames area a mistake I wont repeat again.

I have bought Thorne seconds frames several times and never had to discard more than 1/50 in a batch which usually costs about £28 for 50.
the brood boxes have been absolutely fine, no problems at all.

And no I am not a Thorne shill. They never made me a good enough offer.

[Neils]

I obviously just get unlucky with seconds kit. The couple of quid I saved on the seconds frames was more than swallowed by the amount of time it took to get the frames assembled and the number I ended up throwing away, not to mention having to buy a dremel to be able to fit the side bars onto the top bars.

Likewise I've had brood boxes that wont assemble square or, worse still, into which frames will not fit. Maybe 14x12s are just more prone to show up manufacturing errors that Supers or plain nationals will tolerate.

Like I say, supers I don't mind too much, but I spend too much time with Frames and Brood boxes to tolerate to any degree kit which isn't up to snuff.

[Jon]

They must try and shift all the really bad stuff in the Bristol area!
All my gear is National so maybe the 14 by 12 stuff is dodgy.

[drumgerry]

Queenright cell raiser set up this afternoon. First round of grafting tomorrow. Game on!

[brothermoo]

Queenright cell raiser set up this afternoon. First round of grafting tomorrow. Game on!

Thought for a second I was on Facebook and tried to 'like' this! Good stuff

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[drumgerry]

Watch it B'Moo you'll be raising the ugly spectre of the SBA Facebook page that never was!;)

[GRIZZLY]

Hundreds of them
What are you doing with them lighting the fire :)

I lit a fire with some crappy 2nds frames I got from Thornes. A swift phone call to Jill Smith soon sorted it out and they replaced the 200 REALY crappy rubbish out of the 500 they had sent. Strangely Jill told me that I was the second complainant that day. The same goes for buying 2nds supers. They were made from English cedar but with cracks , splits and warped boards, also from boards that were nearly all bark. Out of 20 ordered I managed to assemble 11 and sent the other 9 back. Once again Jill intervened and I got replacements - also seconds but in a whole different league of manufacture. I normally make my own wooden gear from purchased thro' and thro' 8in x 1in Western Red Cedar boards and was only being lazy buying Thornes. I learnt a valuable lesson the hard way and won't be making the same mistake again.

[The Drone Ranger]

Thanks for the heads up grizzly I might mosey along to the end of season sale but I'll skip the frames and sort through the broodboxes
I do think at one time when they were in Tayport the sale stuff was genuine end of season
Now I think that its all just bought in or made for the sale from what people are telling me
Things like feeders etc are the same but cheaper --not so it seems wooden parts and hives

Can you buy Western red cedar I haven't seen any in my online searches etc

[Jon]

Caught a nice swarm in a bait hive in my garden this afternoon.
yellow mongrels and I saw the queen as well.


1541 1542

More in the blog (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/entry.php?633-Swarm-arrived-in-the-bait-hive).

Somebody nursed those through the winter but didn't clip.
I know three beekeepers within a mile of me but all of them lost their bees over winter so I can't think where these came from.

[Dark Bee]

Got a swarm myself this afternoon @4.30, it was very hot and sunny. They were black bees and seem to be quite docile. The 10.50 euros I spent purchasing a small bottle of lemongrass oil on Friday was well spent.:rolleyes:

[Jon]

Good investment. Mine only had a couple of frames of manky brood comb in it.
Was over 20c here today.
I have bait hives at the allotment and at the association apiary as well.
We picked up a large swarm at the association apiary last Thursday.

[The Drone Ranger]

Caught a nice swarm in a bait hive in my garden this afternoon.
yellow mongrels and I saw the queen as well.


1541 1542

More in the blog (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/entry.php?633-Swarm-arrived-in-the-bait-hive).

Somebody nursed those through the winter but didn't clip.
I know three beekeepers within a mile of me but all of them lost their bees over winter so I can't think where these came from.

There are no mongrel bees they are all apis mellifera
Lucky for the queen she wasn't clipped otherwise she would be dead
I'm sure there will be loads of people who would be less sniffy and happy to have that swarm
So there :)

[The Drone Ranger]

Got a swarm myself this afternoon @4.30, it was very hot and sunny. They were black bees and seem to be quite docile. The 10.50 euros I spent purchasing a small bottle of lemongrass oil on Friday was well spent.:rolleyes:

why do they like lemon grass oil ?

[Jon]

There are no mongrel bees they are all apis mellifera
Lucky for the queen she wasn't clipped otherwise she would be dead
I'm sure there will be loads of people who would be less sniffy and happy to have that swarm
So there :)

Not sniffy at all. In fact very happy. I can requeen it or use it to fill about 30 apideas or stick a couple of supers on to get honey. Spoiled for choice.

But yes they are mongrels. You can't breed from stock like that as the results are completely unpredictable.
There is another part which comes after apis mellifera which is mellifera, carnica, ligustica etc.

[The Drone Ranger]

Not sniffy at all. In fact very happy. I can requeen it or use it to fill about 30 apideas or stick a couple of supers on to get honey. Spoiled for choice.
I've talked you round to loving the British black/yellow/brown bee ? :)

[fatshark]

I was hoping for a swarm today ... high temperature, high pressure, full sun and two bait hives getting loads of attention from scouts. Didn't happen.

Do scouts scout before the swarm leaves the hive, or only after they've settled on a nearby bush/tree/fence? Seeley did all his work with artificial swarms, so recreating the cluster tha have left the hive. Because of the attention my bait hives have been receiving and the weather we've had here I strongly suspect the scouts are doing their work before the swarm leaves.

So, fingers crossed for Thursday which is supposed to be a belter here.

[GRIZZLY]

why do they like lemon grass oil ?

I heard it's supposed to resemble the nasenov smell.

D.R. you get W.R.Cedar from Timbmet Wycoma timber co just off the M8 in Glasgow , Its wettish so you have to stack it a while to dry out. Makes really lovely hives. As I've changed over to plastic hives I just make supers now for myself but , full hives for our ass'n members etc.

[The Drone Ranger]

I was hoping for a swarm today ... high temperature, high pressure, full sun and two bait hives getting loads of attention from scouts. Didn't happen.

Do scouts scout before the swarm leaves the hive, or only after they've settled on a nearby bush/tree/fence? Seeley did all his work with artificial swarms, so recreating the cluster tha have left the hive. Because of the attention my bait hives have been receiving and the weather we've had here I strongly suspect the scouts are doing their work before the swarm leaves.

So, fingers crossed for Thursday which is supposed to be a belter here.

I think they start checking out likely spots well before they actually swarm

[The Drone Ranger]

I heard it's supposed to resemble the nasenov smell.

D.R. you get W.R.Cedar from Timbmet Wycoma timber co just off the M8 in Glasgow , Its wettish so you have to stack it a while to dry out. Makes really lovely hives. As I've changed over to plastic hives I just make supers now for myself but , full hives for our ass'n members etc.

thanks Grizzly that's a great bit of information :)
the swarm lure stuff might just be the same then

[Jon]

Do scouts scout before the swarm leaves the hive, or only after they've settled on a nearby bush/tree/fence? Seeley did all his work with artificial swarms, so recreating the cluster tha have left the hive. Because of the attention my bait hives have been receiving and the weather we've had here I strongly suspect the scouts are doing their work before the swarm leaves.


This time last year I had a bait hive in the garden which was visited by hundreds of bees daily for about a week and then the activity stopped dead. That would suggest the scouting started before the swarm was emitted as it beggars belief that a swarm was hanging for a week in good weather.

Either the swarm chose a different destination or the beekeeper got it.

There were literally hundreds of bees casing the joint this afternoon before the swarm arrived and yesterday there were none at all.

Have you seen Tom Seeley's presentation about how swarms chose a new home? I was lucky enough to catch him here a couple of years ago. First class presenter of information.

[GRIZZLY]

thanks Grizzly that's a great bit of information :)
the swarm lure stuff might just be the same then

Quite probably, but our scientific bods ought to be able to tell us.
How did you get on with you punch cells ? I got given a dozen of the original punches a while ago together with the mounting bases and frame. I haven't used them yet but hope to have a go in short order.

[fatshark]

There were literally hundreds of bees casing the joint this afternoon before the swarm arrived and yesterday there were none at all.

Have you seen Tom Seeley's presentation about how swarms chose a new home? I was lucky enough to catch him here a couple of years ago. First class presenter of information.

First swarm I ever saw arriving landed in my garden a few years ago ... occupying a bait hive. There had been loads of activity for a day or two. I was walking past it to the garage and thought to myself "Hmmm, no scouts today" ... at the same time the sky darkened (well, ok, not darkened, but you get the idea) and I was enveloped in a huge swirling mass. I was standing within 1m of the bait hive at the time. A fantastic sight.

Having subsequently read "Honeybee democracy" I now realise that the scouts vacated the 'target' to lead the swarm to the location.

I've not heard Tom Seeley speak ... on my list of things to catch in the future. His books are excellent.

[The Drone Ranger]

Quite probably, but our scientific bods ought to be able to tell us.
How did you get on with you punch cells ? I got given a dozen of the original punches a while ago together with the mounting bases and frame. I haven't used them yet but hope to have a go in short order.

Cell punching is good when the comb is new
On old comb its not good-- grafting is easier then

I use Snelgrove boards so getting the queen cells is easier that way

Of 5 punches on a bar last week I had 1 queen cell sealed that's gone in a hive today
I did 5 more today I think they will all be accepted this time

I haven't really got a need for them though so I try not to just do them for the sake of it :)

[Jon]

Having subsequently read "Honeybee democracy" I now realise that the scouts vacated the 'target' to lead the swarm to the location.

I've not heard Tom Seeley speak ... on my list of things to catch in the future. His books are excellent.

I haven't read his books yet but intend to.
He covered all that stuff about scouts leading the swarm in his lecture.

There was a definite lull of about 15 minutes before the air went black at about 5.30.

Seeley had one slide which showed how the dozen or so initial sites being evaluated via the dances of returning scouts were whittled down to just two and then the final choice before the swarm took off.
The graphic is likely in the book as well.

[gavin]

There was a definite lull of about 15 minutes before the air went black at about 5.30.


That'll be while the workers that know, the decisive workers, the leaders of the team, go back to the parent colony to head-butt dissenters to shut them up. Then tell all to get airborne. There's a lot to do when you're a swarm.

[Jon]

I remember the headbutting. He has a wee video clip of it.
It was like shut the F*** up, we know what we are doing pointing at this better site.

[gavin]

Yup. Sadly, I can't find the videos on Science Friday any more. The last step while the swarm is parked is the buzz run, where workers in the know career over their nest mates, flapping wildly and buzzing as they go. I saw that today in that swarm I'd chased out or a cavity wall with smoke. I guess that bee thought they should all take off, but the others weren't listening. Lots of interesting behaviour in a swarm forced out of its chosen home. They were also running in a mass from one place to another, like a swarm does when thrown onto a sheet leading up to a hive entrance - only this time with no great end-point. I suspect they were moving to an alternative hole in the wall, thinking conditions would be better there. I looked hard for the queen leading or in that mass - no luck.

Yes, shut the flip up, that is what that head-butting and peeping was for. Luckily I have a downloaded copy of the video for the bee communication roadshow, wherever that goes next.

[brothermoo]

Today I was playing with bees in a cavity wall too... Trying to reduce the number of entrances to one. One that is near a flat roof so I can pop the box on top when I trap them out.

I did fill a load of holes last week and left them a big one I widened.. however they have created some new entrances rather than the one I provided, typical!

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[Jon]

Whereabouts is this one Mr Moo?
Did it overwinter or has it recently taken up residence.
Get the bait hives out if you have a few locations to put them.
There seem to be quite a few swarms about.

[brothermoo]

It's just off walkway near Sandown road.. its overwintered in the cavity the gentleman (who had plugged some holes) passed away in December and his wife noticed them again this spring

I was hoping to fumigate some of my gear before putting out bait hives. Tho I am mid construction of some nucs and I have a wee jar of lemongrass oil ;)

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[Jon]

You get your acetic acid yet? I have some if you are stuck.
Makes sense to clean the comb but AFB spores will not be affected. Thankfully AFB is pretty rare around these parts.
Nosema is very susceptible to acetic acid fumes.

[fatshark]

As a follow up to the previous discussion re scouts and when they start scouting. Went to the apiary this evening to find a nice big fat swarm waiting at chest height in a bush (wasn't there yesterday when I went to check on my recent grafts) ... I strongly suspect they're mine (they sure as hell are now) and that it was this lot that sent out the scouts over the last few days. Today was a few degrees cooler than yesterday (or tomorrow is predicted to be). If the activity at my bait hive stops I can assume it was them. Of course, if it continues then I hope to catch another swarm ;)

[fatshark]

Not as cheap as these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POSCA-MARKER-PENS-PC-5M-by-Uni-Ball-/290615082200?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&var=&hash=item43aa023cd8
Quick follow up to this post ... I ordered a couple of these on the 1st and they were delivered today. Both were shrink wrapped. Recommended and nothing to do with the vendor etc. etc. The pale blue is perhaps a bit too pale ... you have been warned. However, being colour blind I can't use the red and green*. Does anyone know if the metallic colours work for marking queens?

* of course I can use the red and green, just can't either differentiate between them or see it particularly well!

[Jon]

If the activity at my bait hive stops I can assume it was them.

Not necessarily. I still have a fair bit of activity around the bait box 24 hours after hiving the swarm yesterday.
I reckon it is the original scouts who are in disbelief that I transferred the swarm to a position about 6 feet away as soon as it was in.

But I would agree that the swarm almost certainly came out of one of your own colonies. They nearly always settle close by before moving on to the final destination.

[fatshark]

But I would agree that the swarm almost certainly came out of one of your own colonies. They nearly always settle close by before moving on to the final destination.

So my selective queen rearing for bees that calmly supersede and never swarm has yet to be totally achieved ... I'm gutted.

[Jon]

Do you not clip the queens?
Cheap insurance.
I have a queen into her 4th season who has never swarmed and she was clipped in June 2010 and it hasn't bugged her to date.
They attempted to supersede her last August but I accidentally removed the supersedure queen when she landed on a fence post with her mating swarm. I found the open supersedure cell in the colony the following day when I was trying to find out where the extraneous queen came from.
I looked in that colony today and her brood pattern is still decent enough but the queen is certainly starting to look her age.

[The Drone Ranger]

I bet she has a scuff mark where her mutilated wing rubs on her back :)
RSPCA

[gavin]

I reckon it is the original scouts who are in disbelief that I transferred the swarm to a position about 6 feet away as soon as it was in.

:D Can't stop chuckling at that one - scouts in disbelief. I believe it.

They certainly remember where they came from. The other day whilst harassing a swarm in a wall the parent colony (now a three-way split using one of them Wedmore boards) had a large number of bees fussing around. I think that they were having second thoughts about choosing the swarm over the original home.

[gavin]

Of course, if it continues then I hope to catch another swarm ;)

Well, you might, and it might still be yours! Sure you didn't miss any cells ...... ?!

[Jon]

I bet she has a scuff mark where her mutilated wing rubs on her back :)
RSPCA

I bet you a fiver I have been on far more animal rights demos than you have!!
I don't even eat them.
what about your chooks? Do you not clip the primary feathers?

[Jon]

:D Can't stop chuckling at that one - scouts in disbelief. I believe it.

a bit of anthropomorphisation never harmed anyone.

[The Drone Ranger]

Quick follow up to this post ... I ordered a couple of these on the 1st and they were delivered today. Both were shrink wrapped. Recommended and nothing to do with the vendor etc. etc. The pale blue is perhaps a bit too pale ... you have been warned. However, being colour blind I can't use the red and green*. Does anyone know if the metallic colours work for marking queens?

* of course I can use the red and green, just can't either differentiate between them or see it particularly well!

Fluorescent might be brightest

haven't tried them though

Posca have about half a dozen colours

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Uni-Ball-POSCA-Marker-Pen-BROAD-Chisel-Tip-30-Colours-SINGLES-OR-6-PACKS-/330854874918?pt=UK_BOI_Office_Office_Supplies_Stat ionery_ET&var=&hash=item4d087cbf26

[drumgerry]

what about your chooks? Do you not clip the primary feathers?

I think that's ducks and geese you're thinking of there Jon! Chooks can't get much of a head of steam up when it comes to flying. Although having said that most of ours roost in trees!

[gavin]

I bet you a fiver I have been on far more animal rights demos than you have!!
I don't even eat them.


Animal rights demos? Or maybe the fivers? :)

[Jon]

The fivers go into my pocket.
The anti bloodsports demos are on my early years CV.
Je ne regrette rien.

[The Drone Ranger]

I bet you a fiver I have been on far more animal rights demos than you have!!
I don't even eat them.
what about your chooks? Do you not clip the primary feathers?
1545
where do you start ?

If god didn't want us to eat animals then why did he make them taste so good

I've never been on a Demo of any kind so you got me there :)

[Jon]

If you don't clip the wings a light breed can easily get over a five foot fence.
I'm not saying a Rhode Island Red can fly over the Empire State Building.

A Hamburg bantam might get up to the 80th floor.
I remember we had one flew over the roof of our two storey house when I was a lad.

[gavin]

Je ne regrette rien.

Je ne regrette manger quelques chose.

[gavin]

I'm not saying a Rhode Island Red can fly over the Empire State Building.

If you clip one wing could it fly round it?

[Jon]

Je ne regrette manger quelques chose.

You will if that includes Jerusalem Artichoke.

[gavin]

:eek:

[fatshark]

Well, you might, and it might still be yours! Sure you didn't miss any cells ...... ?!

I'm pretty sure that apiary only had one unclipped Q in the hives, and I'd removed her to a nuc when I saw the first QCs. I'd knocked off all the cells bar one ... shaking all the frames etc. Ho hum ... :rolleyes:

[GRIZZLY]

Jon - a chicken on Jerusalem artichoke don't need wings.

[The Drone Ranger]

I read somewhere about a beekeeper who clipped a couple of legs off a queen to encourage the bees to supercede
Is that acceptable ?

[gavin]

Call me hypocritical if you like but I find that unacceptable whereas squishing her on a nearby branch as a swarm attractant and replacing her with a nice new one out of an apidea is acceptable.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk

[The Drone Ranger]

Lol

I don't like clipping chopping or squashing in any situation
Drone layers are the exception there is no alternative
and Vicious ones
oh and bad chalkbrood
Belgians ?

[Jon]

Some beekeepers treat their bees like pets. You would think they were tending a box full of Labradors.
I think it is unreasonable to put up with vicious colonies as they are a menace to the beekeeper and the neighbours and they fire out drones which will spread around the bad genetics.
Same goes for colonies which just swarm all the time. Change the genetics.
If you are interested in bee improvement you have to breed from the best queens and cull/change the worst ones.
Otherwise there is no improvement in the stock we are working with.

[The Drone Ranger]

Of 5 punches on a bar last week I had 1 queen cell sealed that's gone in a hive today
I did 5 more today I think they will all be accepted this time


Over Optimistic as usual :)
3 out of 5 accepted

[The Drone Ranger]

Some beekeepers treat their bees like pets. You would think they were tending a box full of Labradors.
I think it is unreasonable to put up with vicious colonies as they are a menace to the beekeeper and the neighbours and they fire out drones which will spread around the bad genetics.
Same goes for colonies which just swarm all the time. Change the genetics.
If you are interested in bee improvement you have to breed from the best queens and cull/change the worst ones.
Otherwise there is no improvement in the stock we are working with.

I'm very interested
Pity you found my bait hive behind the tree

[mbc]

Call me hypocritical if you like but I find that unacceptable whereas squishing her on a nearby branch as a swarm attractant and replacing her with a nice new one out of an apidea is acceptable.


Humane dispatch vs maiming and condemning to a slow death, no hypocrisy there.
I have no qualms about culling queens in their dozens for various reasons, the most unjustifiable being I simply dont like the look of her daughters. They are only insects after all and the emotional attachment I feel towards my good bees is entirely a human construct.

[The Drone Ranger]

Humane dispatch vs maiming and condemning to a slow death, no hypocrisy there.
I have no qualms about culling queens in their dozens for various reasons, the most unjustifiable being I simply dont like the look of her daughters. They are only insects after all and the emotional attachment I feel towards my good bees is entirely a human construct.
There's a lady I saw shopping the other day who could be in some danger as her daughter was frankly repulsive

[drumgerry]

Sycamore practically dripping with nectar here on Speyside this afternoon! Shame most of my colonies not strong enough to fill a super or three of it. Still it'll do them some good.

[Neils]

Watched a swarm issuing from a neighbours hive thus afternoon, I gave some video and photos which I will try and post in a but.

They dutifully settle about 15ft away on a branch of an agreeable height allowing me to christen one of the skeps I got for my birthday.

Textbook swarm, settle and capture for once I'm suitably smug right now, especially as my hive next door worked to predictions and had nice open queen cells today so straightforward artificial swarm with queen and flying bees on the original site and brood plus a queen cell in a nice shiny new hive. I'll recheck them next week to ensure they still only have one queen cell and then leave them to it for a couple of weeks.

[Jimbo]

Started swarm control yesterday. Just over two weeks later than normal. From my hive records from the past 12 years my bees usualy start their queen cells week starting 23rd May
There is also a good flow on with all this good weather. Just put my 3rd super on one hive with most other hives on 2 supers which is good for our area

[Trog]

Watched a swarm issuing from a neighbours hive thus afternoon, I gave some video and photos which I will try and post in a but.

They dutifully settle about 15ft away on a branch of an agreeable height allowing me to christen one of the skeps I got for my birthday.

Textbook swarm, settle and capture for once I'm suitably smug right now, especially as my hive next door worked to predictions and had nice open queen cells today so straightforward artificial swarm with queen and flying bees on the original site and brood plus a queen cell in a nice shiny new hive. I'll recheck them next week to ensure they still only have one queen cell and then leave them to it for a couple of weeks.

Ah, lovely, Neils :)

Our first a/s was 27 May and on checking yesterday all seems to have gone well. Made up a nuc, too, with spare frame and qc. Yesterday one or two more were at it and we were adding supers like nobody's business. Have just put in orders for one more hive and 3 polynucs ... hesitated to do so earlier due to late spring but they've all come through extremely well.

[Neils]

Pics as promised. They picked their resting spot pretty quickly, in fact they pretty much made a beeline right for it and took maybe 10 minutes to form the majority of the cluster and were settled within 15 minutes. We think this is a cast rather than a prime swarm.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/8991799164_1c4bfaa654_o.jpg

Once they'd finished doing their thing I grabbed a Skep from the shed and dutifully scooped them up, before leaving them alone to settle for a few hours so we could eventually put them into a permanent home The skeps just propped up on a bit of wood to give them an entrance.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/8991799518_406c68e026_o.jpg

A variation on marching them up a board, just turn the skep and angle it to the entrance:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8114/8991833568_3d42af8222_h.jpg

[The Drone Ranger]

I have plans for a skep I'm Chopping the bottom off the laundry basket
That's some swarm Neils they will make loads of new combs for you
You could have a caption where the two hives on the right are leaning away
"good grief has that Nuc let another one go "

[Jon]

Just got another huge swarm in a bait hive in the garden.
Nice dark bees as well.
Photos to follow.

[drumgerry]

I have plans for a skep I'm Chopping the bottom off the laundry basket
That's some swarm Neils they will make loads of new combs for you
You could have a caption where the two hives on the right are leaning away
"good grief has that Nuc let another one go "

Great minds think alike DR! I did the very thing last year and taped the rough edge up with duct tape. Worked a treat and still going strong this year. No swarms as yet though here.

[Trog]

Himself is just out to the first swarm call-out. In someone's mother's kitchen, which doesn't sound good. I'd have gone along but the B & Bs are due back so I'd better be here just in case they need me! Swarmy weather here on Mull so the ferals will be at it for a while, I suspect.

[Jon]

fan it on up there boss!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=canBMPvXj1k&feature=youtu.be

Photos in the blog (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/entry.php?636-Another-swarm-arrives)

[Trog]

Greenhouse, not kitchen. Nice easy swarm of dark bees with a big fat queen :)

[The Drone Ranger]

Himself is just out to the first swarm call-out. In someone's mother's kitchen, which doesn't sound good. I'd have gone along but the B & Bs are due back so I'd better be here just in case they need me! Swarmy weather here on Mull so the ferals will be at it for a while, I suspect.

It'll be a race to see who gets them first I suppose

[The Drone Ranger]

Great minds think alike DR! I did the very thing last year and taped the rough edge up with duct tape. Worked a treat and still going strong this year. No swarms as yet though here.

Hope the missus didn't catch you chopping it up :)

[drumgerry]

Cleared it with her first - it was destined for the bin anyway as the cats had been using it as a scratching post!

[The Drone Ranger]

Cleared it with her first - it was destined for the bin anyway as the cats had been using it as a scratching post!
Are you planning any queen raising at the moment ?

[drumgerry]

Checked my cell raiser this avo DR and have 11 (of 20 grafts) sealed queen cells from my finest mutts! Need to find some bees for my apideas now! How about you?

[fatshark]

8/10 accepted grafts and stocked my Kielers this afternoon. For the first time in three years I did this on a dry, warm, sunny afternoon. Still quite a bit of work on your own but at least the bees were good tempered. All eight Kielers are now sounding rather agitated in the garage. I know they don't need to be stocked in advance but the next few days are turning cooler and cloudier, and there's the small issue of the day job to deal with. This way I'll pop the QC's in on Wednesday evening without having to play hooky that afternoon to stock them.

Field beans just coming into flower ... the cell raiser (Ben Harden) now has BB, S, S, S, BB (QC's) and its almost too heavy to lift that lot off for an inspection. Looks like I'll be finished with it just in time for the main flow.

Caught two swarms in the week and treated them with oxalic acid this evening 'just to make sure'. Lots of interest in the bait hive strapped precariously to the greenhouse roof. All in all, a good day :)

[The Drone Ranger]

Checked my cell raiser this avo DR and have 11 (of 20 grafts) sealed queen cells from my finest mutts! Need to find some bees for my apideas now! How about you?
Not as brave as you Drumgerry with your 20 at a time
Or as good as fatshark with 8 out of 10
I just do just 5 at a time 3 queencells sealed (better than 1 out of 5 last lot)
These are for the boxes above the Snelgrove boards on hives where the grumpy biaches live :)
Like fatshark I have some Kielers 6 of them they can be dragged in to service but I am not that keen

By the way fatshark is that beekeeping morse code" BB s s s BB " very mysterious (GCHQ will crack that code though)

[drumgerry]

20 that turn into 10 SQCs that turn into 8 mated queens if I'm lucky DR! Still very much got my L plates on with this stuff. Plan as last year is to take my biggest hybridest colony and split it down into nucs using the queens I produce - a la Mike Palmer. Had mixed results with it after our endless winterspring but still got hopes that this is the best way to up my numbers.

And my cell raiser is set up BB QEx s s BB. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it GCHQ!

[drumgerry]

Been a few bees checking out a bait hive today - well even here you never know. So to give them some encouragement I thought I'd dab a few drops of lemongrass oil near the entrance. My lemongrass oil is pretty old and thick (a bit like me as you'll see!) so I bent down to sniff it at the entrance to see if it was still good. Next thing I know I've got a huge smear of oil on the top lip and it's all I can smell now. It was a a truly Homer Simpson moment!

[gavin]

I'd sleep with my mouth closed tonight if I was you. :)

[drumgerry]

And the windows shut eh Gavin?!

[gavin]

Just pop a veil on, you'll be fine.

[drumgerry]

I was thinking of lying down next to an empty hive tomorrow just on the off chance......;)

[gavin]

Consider this arrangement: BB {Drumgerry} SS QX cb rf. They'll never work that one out Cheltenham way.

[drumgerry]

Or even better I can finally find a use for one of those effin top bar hives I built years ago! Cut me off at the knees and a bit of liposuction and I could fit lengthwise!

[Trog]

and my cell raiser is set up bb qex s s bb. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it gchq!

Ha ha! :D

[gavin]

Now you're getting silly. Surely you don't need liposuction.

Restructure your Top Bars to a Warre and you could stand up and dispense with the amputation. Just think of the Nestduftwärmebindung ..... !

[drumgerry]

Does that mean I'd have to cover my head with some straw, maybe add some ventilation at the bottom (cancel that no shortage there to be honest!) and not look at myself in the mirror from one year's end to the next? And I'm trying hard to think of the Nestblahblahblah but my wee heid runs out of processing power at more than about 10 letters.

[gavin]

Absolutely. Just remember to lock up all the llama dung just in case the missus has been listening to the wrong sort of beekeeper. Imagine the Nestduftwärmebindung!