Winter maintenance

[Bridget]

Having been waiting for about 3 weeks for a windless, frostless, rainless day I decided conditions though breezy and about 8 degrees were not going to improve any so I did the oxyalic acid thing, and gave the bees some fondant. YouTube is amazing help if you don't know what to do. I was full of confidence after watching several clips of how to apply the dose and was in and out again in just a few minutes. Having not been in the hive since end of October it was a great relief to see all was well inside, lots of bees and lots of stores though the ones away from the bees not touched. Gave them the fondant anyway and positioned it over the seams with the bees in. I did a quick visual check about 30 mins later and was surprised to see a few flying in and out. They must be hardy.
Can anyone tell me when the queen will start producing eggs again? I've read February but that seems awfully soon in the cold climate of the Highland.

[gavin]

A few may fly anyway about 8C but after disturbance you will see more. Sounds like a hive in good shape for the approaching spring. When will there be some forage for them? Here snowdrops give a boost in February or March then the willows are next to get them excited before the cherries and plums get going to fill the gap until the oilseed rape, sycamore and dandelions are out. Maybe things will be quieter on the edge of a pine forest?

The colony will already be sensing the lengthening days and the queen will be getting encouraged to lay some small patches of eggs now-ish. By March, as long as they sense that there are enough stores, it will be full steam ahead.

[Jon]

Most of my colonies have some brood by February.

[susbees]

One of mine's spitting out bits of larvae still a week after OA :( in the balmy Welsh hills...

[Bridget]

Oh Susbees- what does that mean and why are they doing it. Sorry still only 6 months into beekeeping so it's pretty much a mystery.

[Bridget]

Gavin I have no idea what forage there will be. Our first spring here but I think unlikely there will be snowdrops but I did plant lots of crocus. We have lots of good wild cherry trees around about but in between I've no Idea - I don't even think there is much OSR. It's all pine forests and marshland. I shall have to get planting for next year.

[susbees]

Oh Susbees- what does that mean and why are they doing it. Sorry still only 6 months into beekeeping so it's pretty much a mystery.

It means that this colony (which was a local lateish prime swarm with the only marked queen of the year) had not stopped feeding the queen so she had not stopped laying (and is unlikely to now the days are getting longer). Oxalic acid causes the workers to hoik out unsealed brood which can sadly be killed by oxalic acid. This colony had the biggest mite drop of all after thymol treatment in September so needed doing. And for the records our worst drop after oxalic acid was a hive that had a four week total drop in single figures after thymol. No rhyme nor reason.

[Rosie]

A lot of people claim that queens never stop laying throughout the winter. I know that mine do because I look. I would guess that your swarm probably has some exotic origin. Susbees, do you have an opinion as to its background.

[susbees]

They aren't blacks or near-blacks, looking pretty much like the standard carni-type mongrels around here. A round brood pattern not wall-to-wall and were very industrious...went from nothing in mid July to filling a commercial box and a super and are filling the commercial now...mind not many bees clustering much here.

[Bridget]

Had a look at the bees yesterday ( Friday) to see if there was any varroa fall after the OA trickle on Wednesday. Nothing that I could see -was I looking too soon?
Interesting pattern of debris will try to upload a pic.

[Bridget]

907
This is the photo of the tray after OA trickle. Nothing that I could see but pretty pattern of what I presume is debris

[gavin]

Hi Bridget

That looks like a nice, healthy colony. The bees are on six seams as you can see from the pattern on the board. The whitish stuff is pieces of solidified honey - sugar crystals - which they sometimes discard rather than use. The brown stuff is likely to be cappings or cocoons and suggests to me that they are preparing for brood raising. There are one or two dark brown dots in there that might be Varroa but it isn't easy to tell. What is clear is that you don't have a heavy fall of Varroa.

I was just curious about what you might have around you for the bees. You can see pasture, rough ground, pine trees, and quite large areas of what looks to be heather - probably quite a good area for bees but one that might give you most honey in August when the heather flowers, and maybe in sometimes in July when there would be clover and possibly bell heather (the dark purple one). Bees will fly quite far for forage on a good day so if there is anything for them in those fields to the S and SW of Kingussie they should go there too.

If I was you I might remove the Google Maps link as most people don't want to risk showing everyone where their bees are. Up to you though, just a suggestion. The pages here are open to all for viewing, you don't need to sign up and log on to see the links.

I think that I need to update the map here - there are bees in the centre after all! But here is a question - are your bees Varroa-free or not? Have you had them long and did you get them locally or not? Pictures of Varroa here too.

http://www.sbai.org.uk/varroamapping/

Gavin

[Jimbo]

Hi Bridget,

To help you see the varroa when there is a lot of material on the the floor. If you scrape all the material into a honey jar. Take it home and add a good measure of alcohol eg Meths or if you can get some Ethanol even better. Give it a good shake and let it settle. All the material will sink and the varroa will float. Pour off the alcohol through a filter eg a coffee filter or paper towel. Let it air dry for a few hours and look for the dark red spots with a magnifying glass. You can re-use the alcohol to give a second or third wash if you are trying to get an accurate varroa count

[Bridget]

Thanks Jimbo that's really helpful. I will try that in a few days to check exactly whether I have varroa.

[Bridget]

Gavin I had no idea I had made that location link on my post. Removed it, thanks.
Thanks also for the info re the photo. I knew there were about 6 seams but hadn't made the link.
Yes we have loads of heather up until the beginning of October. Of course there will be some broom and we have about anacre of rough land which has lots of clover, thistles, those little yellow flowers like mini snap dragons (veitch?), ragwort which I am pulling up at first opportunity though I gather bees like it. I am also busy planting things like lavender, buddleia and some earlier flowering heathers thought they pretty much ignored them last year. I know of one old chap who had bees in this area for many years so there must be something for them earlier on. but the farmers here mainly have sheep and cows and very little in the way of crops like OSR or fruit trees. We will see how it goes but I shall have to maybe top them up with syrup.
The bees came from Daviot near Inverness (Highland Bees). We only got them at the end of July so very much beginners. I will use Jimbos method to check the varroa and let you know what I find.

[gavin]

Hi Bridget

Could be meadow vetchling - or maybe toadflax? The bees do like ragwort but it taints your honey so you are best without it. Buddleia is great for bumble bees and butterflies but honeybees usually can't reach the nectaries at the base of the tube.

If you got your bees from HBS then you will have Varroa I think. Jimbo was probably suggesting the meths method if you ever have a thick pile of detritus to look through. When you have a thin layer as in your photo I wouldn't bother. It is worth having a close look though just to check whether you have some Varroa.

Enjoy the season ahead - from that floor insert I think that it will go well as long as they have food in spring, natural or supplied.

Gavin

[susbees]

If you want bees to access buddleia you need one of the orange-ball flowered ones (B. globosa)...if you pollinate the bog standard B. davidii with it either deliberately or accidentally the crosses are honey bee friendly. The (often expensive) Buddleia x weyeriana is also popular with honey bees but available "off the peg". toadflax is mostly found in stone walls, often in the most unlikely places.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Hi Bridget

... The bees do like ragwort but it taints your honey so you are best without it. ...

Gavin

Hi Gavin,

What kind of a 'taint' is that? Taste, smell, colour?

Kitta

[susbees]

"Strong flavour and aroma"...I expect that's being diplomatic and no-one with livestock wants the stuff around as it kills.

[Trog]

Just a wee note re ragwort: when you pull it, use gloves or wash your hands immediately. It's nasty stuff! Oh, and never leave it lying around in case a horse finds it wilted ... bin or burn straight away!

[gavin]

Hi Gavin,

What kind of a 'taint' is that? Taste, smell, colour?

Kitta

All three. The honey doesn't taste nice and you are best not to eat it anyway as there toxins in it. Studies have suggested that it doesn't make honey dangerous, but I still wouldn't want to eat a jar of it. There is a smell too, but I can't describe it. One colony of mine this summer turned much of their wax bright yellow at the same time as they were bringing in orange pollen. I was pretty sure which patch of waste ground they were heading for - quite near my home there is a disused railway station with lots of ragwort on the gravel areas.

The lady whose land has my heather site goes around pulling ragwort on her farm and I'm grateful for that.

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Susbees, Trog and Gavin.

I did not pull the ragwort last summer thinking the bees like it - but I did not have any honey either, so I remained unaware of the tainting issue.

We usually don't have a lot of ragwort at the croft, and we don't have any grazing animals - but I'll make sure I pull them this summer.

Kitta

[Trog]

As the old gardeners used to say, 'one year's seeding, seven years weeding'. There'll be plenty next year if your bees pollinated it well!

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Trog - I'll remember that saying and keep a beady eye on the land for ragwort and pull them out immediately.

[susbees]

As the old gardeners used to say, 'one year's seeding, seven years weeding'. There'll be plenty next year if your bees pollinated it well!

And ragwort seeds have up to 40 years dormancy....that's why there's so many on motorway embankments etc. And it's biennial (pretty sure) so just the rosette first year...

[Bridget]

I was brought up on a farm and we spent many hours pulling ragwort. In those days the roads agency or whatever it was around then, were responsible for disposing of ragwort on the verges so you didn't see so much. Now it's rampant and spreading everywhere as I don't think anyone is responsible any more. Don't worry I burn it all,( and wear gloves) as I know the terrible damage it does to cows and horses, especially when it's lying dead after pulling.

[Neonach]

Ragwort is not poisonous in its immature form. Cattle and horses graze on it in its first year without problems, and in its second year simply avoid it because it smells and tastes unpleasant: nature does usually give a warniing. For that reason cattle and horses only very rarely die from eating live ragwort. Here in the Orasay we have ragwort everywhere (due to lack of people to pull it!) with cattle and horses grazing, and no problems.

What is a serious problem is when the ragwort is caught up in hay. The smell and taste are not so obvious but it has maximum concentration of toxins. In the days of low-intensity farming, and especially when every farm had horses and therefore had to make hay to feed them in winter, and when a hay field would be much more natural and varied than it is now, it was essential to pull out the ragwort, usually during May or June of the 2nd year. This ritual became entrenched, and as it was a job given to children would be well remembered by the next generation!

But the fact is that ragwort is not a hazard when it is in the field, because animals have more sense than we do, but is most dangerous when dry and caught up in hay.

Let's not forget that nature has a place and purpose for ragwort just as it does for every other species, including Man!

[Trog]

There's a helpful ragwort website here: http://www.ragwort.org.uk/ which seems to balance the other sites I found - one saying it was no problem at all and the horse sites which say it is! I pull it (on my own ground) at the flowering stage as it's easiest to get out then. The horse grazes round the rosettes but doesn't touch them. If she was hungry or in a 'starvation paddock' she might. If I saw cinnabar caterpillars I'd leave a plant or two but I've not seen them here, only in Hampshire. I cannot agree with the blanket statement that 'animals have more sense than we do', however; simple observation suggests otherwise.

[susbees]

Several good sites on the issue - and one or two biased ones selling tools to dig it up! Ragwort poisoning is cumulative. For life. And the liver damage irreversible. Landowners in England and Wales can be legally ordered to pull the stuff up as an injurious weed.

There is a University of Liverpool video of a horse with ragwort poisoning. Not nice.

If a horse eats little bits in a big field, who's to know? But I agree hay is a greater risk....but providing seeds for the neighbours' fields isn't going to make anyone many friends. I get little ragwort here (mostly pasture) but it's up and out. I keep llamas and sheep and prefer not to risk it.

www.hackonline.org.uk/ragwort.htm