The main beekeeping season is drawing in – like the nights.
There is still plenty to think about at this time of year – feeding, varroa treatment and honey processing for instance.
If you need advice on these things, or anything else bee related, come along for a chat on Wednesday 6th Sept at 7.30pm in the back bar of the Neidpath Inn in Peebles.
As always everyone is welcome – non-beekeepers, potential beekeepers, beginners and old hands. See you there.
Just on my way into town the other day I noticed this pair of bumbleebees at the side of the road.
Mating Bumblebees
I’m pretty sure they are white tailed bumblebees. The male is at the back and he should have some yellow on his face that I think I can just about make out. I didn’t have my good camera with me so these are just snapped by the phone.
They looked locked together and weren’t really moving. My book says that “A pair of bumblebees may remain united for anything up to an hour or more ” (!). So I’m glad I didn’t stay to watch, although I did move them to the edge of the pavement so they didn’t get squished in the act.
A bit different to honeybee mating where it is over in an instant for the male…
Peter.
A fine end of season visit was had to Jock and Wilma’s heather apiary.
View of the apiary
Although it was sunny just half a mile down the valley, it was rather overcast as the first hive was opened.
If you have a coloured folder you’re in charge!
However the bees were happy enough (at first) and we had a good look at how the colonies were faring on the hills.
A brood frame
As usual, young Sam was keen to get involved.
At the heather
The hives were doing well and the honey crop was coming on with some frames fully capped.
A good frame of heather honey
We discovered some unexpected queen cells that might have been supercedure. A quick split into a nuc was demonstrated very proficiently by Wilma.
The bees were getting livelier as we made our way around. Some were doing Nasonov fanning at the entrance.
Nasonov fanning
Others were dancing on the entrance board. Keep an eye on the bee in the centre of the video.
The bees were getting a bit feisty, and that was a problem for the person who had a hole in his veil!
Pesky bees
Time to retire, in time-honoured beekeepers style, for cups of tea, cakes, salad, sausage rolls, biscuits, mead and best of all fresh pancakes with honey straight off the frame.
Honey Picnicers
So all in all an enjoyable day out to end the season.
Many thanks to Wilma and Jock for hosting.
The now traditional PBKA picnic at Jock and Wilma’s heather site in the Manor Valley. Meet 2pm
We will see how the bees are getting on foraging on the heather moor.
It’s a lovely spot so bring a small contribution and with a bit of luck we can enjoy an end of summer picnic.
Contact Mandy for directions if you don’t know the way or want to car share.
Apiary visit 20th August.
Must be holiday time! It was a relief to get some warm dry weather at last, and a chance to go through the hives. Mandy, Claire and Shirley checked out the reduced number we have now (mostly due to relocation, and nucs going out to this year’s beginners), every colony different, so it turned out to be a useful teaching session.
The small nuc near the wall was coming on well, had filled 4 frames, so we put it into a proper hive. An empty hive was placed just in front of it, then Claire and Shirley transferred the frames. The bees were somewhat confused to start with, then settled down. They didn’t seem short of stores (given their size – they’d been fed generously until a fortnight ago) and with the weather forecast to improve, they were safe to forage for themselves without extra feeding.
Hive 1 had created a new queen in late June, after the queen and some frames of bees were removed to create a nuc. We hadn’t seen any brood on the last 2 inspections, and this time no brood again, but lots of drones and scattered drone brood, so we suspected a drone-laying worker (as some were above the queen excluder). In this situation, the colony is effectively a write-off without a queen, but the remaining bees can be used to boost another colony. A frame of eggs and brood was inserted from hive 3, to boost the worker numbers, and attract any remaining workers to a single frame, then the nuc was opened up again, and a “paper marriage” carried out. Paper was laid across the frames in the nuc’s brood box, holes made in the paper, and hive 1 was placed on top. The scent from the 2 colonies should slowly mingle, and the 2 lots of bees should combine without fighting.
This colony (next to the storage unit) will need re-assembling within a week, and fed syrup until the remaining combs in the brood box have been drawn out.
Hive 2 was in a sorry state – no brood was seen in the previous inspection (it needed to make a new queen after frames were removed to create a nuc): this week a full super of honey had gone, still no brood visible, but no drone brood either, so probably the queen is still here. This been a difficult summer, with some colonies running out of food. Hopefully this is what’s happened here – the queen is still present, but not laying due to lack of food. Easily remedied, we hope, with lots of feeding. Syrup was put on the hive – this will need checking within a week, and more syrup added as needed.
Hive 3: had had a very heavy varroa infestation: this had been treated about 3 weeks ago (MAQ strips) with spectacular results – heaviest mite fall I’ve ever seen. This week – with the MAQ strips still present – there was still a mite drop, but probably only a Daily Mite Drop (DMD) of about 4. The strips were left in place. The colony only had 3 frames of stores in the super, so a feeder and syrup was added, to let them get started and help boost the last of this summer’s foraging. The queen was laying well, with plenty of brood, larvae and eggs seen.
The last colony to check was a swarm collected this summer: it was very strong at the last inspection, and this time it had obviously outgrown its five-frame nuc box, so was swiftly transferred to a proper hive. A feeder and syrup was added to help them drawn out the additional 6 frames they now had. As there was only a small amount of syrup left, this colony (closest to the trees) will need feeding again before the weekend.
This visit – with so much variability between only 5 colonies – serves as a reminder not to take anything for granted, to check colonies for stores, look out for robbing by wasps of other bees, check the mite drop and work out the end-of-season varroa treatments.
The heather probably has only a week or so left (it opened 7-10 days early this year), so there will be little forage about except for rosebay willowherb, possibly dandelions if they get a chance of a second flowering, and Himalayan Balsam. The latter is an invasive alien, so probably its only fans are bees who relish the copious nectar, but don’t seem to like the white pollen. When they’ve been working the Himalayan Balsam they come back powdered with white pollen (“ghost bees”) that they don’t bother gathering onto their pollen baskets.
Winter bees: colonies are starting to raise the bees that will take them right through the winter, instead of having the 6-week lifespan of the summer bees. Make sure that all colonies have plenty of food at this stage, to secure the colony strength through the winter and into spring.
This year’s honey crop looks likely to be very poor: it will be interesting to see how much heather honey comes in.
Peeblesshire Beekeepers had a stall at the Peebles Show on Saturday 12th August.
Maybe because we were in the food and drink area, the honey tasting was very popular. Mandy had very kindly donated a frame of comb honey and that proved the most sought after. Many folk ask for local honey and many also like to find honey on the comb. So local beekeepers be assured that if you have some honey to sell this year there will be a ready market.
The “virtual hive” – a set of photos in frames – inside a real hive, was also a good talking point. Kids particularly are intrigued by seeing how the bees live inside the hive. Many of the younger ones are pretty knowledgeable about bees and pollination which is great.
Some wee ones came away with a candle they had made themselves and older ones were able to take away some beeswax for their own hobbies.
Plenty of information, quizzes, odd pieces of equipment and especially enthusiastic beekeepers made the stall a big draw on the day.
Old friends stopped by for a chat and quite a few prospective new beekeepers put their names down for the mailing list – some already quite keen and likely candidates for next years beginners class.
All in all, a good day out at the show. Many thanks to the helpers on the day, Kel, Em, David, Ilkner, Brian, Julie, Wilma, Mandy and Peter.
Photos courtesy of David Ferguson.
Hopefully swarming is (mostly) over for this year and any newly mated queens are coming into lay. There is good forage around for the bees if the weather holds up.
Time to think about harvesting honey and treating for varroa.
If you need advice on these things, or anything else bee related, come along for a chat on Wednesday 2nd August at 7.30pm in the back bar of the Neidpath Inn in Peebles.
Sunday 30th July: apiary visit – although the forecast doesn’t look good so far. If weather permits, we’ll be at the Association apiary 2-4; if we have to cancel I’ll email at 11am, and will try to arrange a midweek visit instead.
As usual, please wear clean beesuits, gloves etc (let me know in advance if you need to borrow one), and perhaps bring some refreshments to share.
Summary of apiary visit 16th July 2017
Apiary 16th July
Hive 1: 16th July was the earliest day we could expect the new queen to lay, but there were no eggs or larvae yet – check again next week. A large number of drones were present; bees seemed calm.
Next time: check for eggs/larvae – if new queen seen, mark her. Check for stores, pollen being brought in. Consider adding a frame of eggs if no sign of a laying queen.
Hive 2: the queen had been removed on 6th June to create a nuc: stores were OK, no eggs or larvae seen yet, bees seemed calm. Check again next week.
Next time: check for eggs/larvae, a laying queen. Consider adding a frame of eggs if no sign of a laying queen.
Hive 3: a high mite drop again; but excellent brood pattern, this hive would be a good source of eggs for hives 1 or 2, if need be – hopefully it won’t be necessary, as that would then mean 3 of our hives were from the same genetic line, which could be a bit risky. Syrup added as stores were running low, and it has a large population to feed.
Next time: Peter Stevenson volunteered to treat the hive with MAQ during the week. Check mitre drop.
Hive 6: at a new location – checked by Peter and David
Doing well – brood at all stages on 7-8 frames. Plenty stores. Bees calm. Primed queen cells noted. Needs to be inspected again soon.
Hive 7: at a new location – checked by Peter and David
No brood apart from 2 sealed and possibly unsealed queen cells noted. 1 sealed cell knocked down to reveal a developing queen. Very puzzling!
2 frames of brood with eggs taken from Hive6 and given to Hive7 on either side of the Queen cell – all marked by pins. Intention to slow down development of hive6 to discourage swarming and to check for queenlessness in Hive 7.
At least one nuc yet to be created from these hives: reserved.
(The empty hive 7 is with AC for cleaning, along with 3 empty nuc boxes)
Swarm 1 was bought and taken away by Duncan on Monday
Swarm 2: put in brood box, and syrup feed added.
Next time: check if ready to go.
Nuc 2: feed added, quite a small colony, only on 2 frames, but sealed worker brood seen, it should continue to build up. Continue to monitor and feed as necessary.
Nuc 3: bought and taken away by Ilknur and Brian.
Kailzie colonies: all doing well, 2 nucs available, a further nuc reserved.
Colonsay native honeybee colonies have been relocated; both have developed chalkbrood, possibly an indication that the previous location had insufficient forage and was too damp.
They seem to be thriving at their new site.
A further nuc at AC’s apiary, ready to go.
One of the nucs has been reserved by Em and Kelly, the other by Fiona MacAuley: this leaves potentially 3 nucs available.
For the next apiary visit: more record sheets needed; syrup needed; feeders have been taken away for cleaning and need to be returned. Syrup needed for small nuc.
There have been many reports from local beekeepers about problems of getting new queens established, and of queenless colonies rejecting both frames of eggs, new queens and even queen cells. For some reason it seems to be taking longer for queens to start laying.
July is often when a local honey crop can be had in the Peebles area. Lime trees will be flowering this month and hopefully providing the bees with good forage.
Keep up to date with the local beekeepers and find out how the season is going.
Some Association nucs have gone to new homes and other colonies may need temporary or permanent homes.
The native bee project is under way.
Lots to discuss on Wednesday 5th July at 7.30pm in the back bar of the Neidpath Inn in Peebles.