2017 06 25 Apiary visit

Only 3 this time: Mandy, Julia and Shirley. Anne had hoped to come, but a puncture en route meant she didn’t make it. Still, a very useful session, lost for the beginners to see, they both handled the bees and had plenty of questions to ask. And many thanks to Shirley for the lovely cake!

Hive 1: no brood, a large number of drones and many queen cells – most open, a couple torn down, and one resealed. Bees were quiet but seemed happy, so assumed they had a queen that was not yet laying: the super beneath the brood box was removed, all the bees brushed gently into the brood box, to which (just in case) a frame of eggs was added from the large well-established swarm. Two old frames were replaced with fresh foundation, then the supers were replaced – one was full, one had drawn comb, and another super was optimistically added on top. (Well, the lime should be starting mid-July – they have enough stores to last till then.)

Next time: no further disturbance for 3 weeks please! Daily mite drop: 0.5

Hive 2: The brood box was not disturbed, as waiting for a new queen to start laying. It had a brood box above the excluder in the hope that this would be drawn out as a supply of drawn comb, but the bees (after 4 weeks) had declined to do this, so it was removed. The super above it was almost full, so another super was added. DMD: 0.8

Next time: check for brood/eggs. Mark queen if seen.

Hive 3: a frame of irregular comb was moved to the edge of the brood box – this should be removed and replaced as soon as the brood has hatched. A queen excluder was added.

DMD: 3.2

Next time: replace malformed brood frame if possible.

Hive 5 and 6 are away from home at the moment – last inspected 17^th June, so looking for volunteers to go out and check them up.

Swarms and nucs:

Swarm 1 on 9 frames (one removed to go into Hive 1): this swarm will go to a new home shortly, prepare for moving.

Swarm 2: needs to go in a brood box next time. Check syrup, add queen excluder and feed.

Sterilise a new brood box and fill with frames, ready for use.

Nucs 2 and 3 – both doing well, but still only on 2 or 3 frames.

Check syrup, replace feeders on both to keep mould-free.

 

… apiary session should be on as usual, weather permitting – if we have to cancel then I’ll email by 11am, so please keep an eye on your emails.

We’re short of mentors for the next couple of weeks, so if anyone is able to come along and help, please let me know asap. I’m volunteering and I’ll be there – but I’ll need a lift,, so if anyone can offer, that would be great!

Guests are welcome of course – if anyone will need a beesuit then please let me know and I’ll bring one. There’ll be time afterwards for a chat, catch up and refreshments, so if you can bring a contribution that would be most welcome.
See you there,
Mandy!

Apiary visit 14/06/2017

Poor weather had postponed the usual Sunday visit to a Wednesday. Mandy Clydesdale with 2 of this year’s beginners (Ilknur, Mark and Mark’s son Benjamin) and turned up for what was hoped to be a brief session. Mark had just taken delivery of his own nuc of bees, so was anxious to get as much hands-on experience as possible.

By now all the colonies had swarmed or had been reduced in strength by creating nucs. However on arrival a quick check of the fir trees by the hives confirmed not just one but 3 swarms!

We had 2 nuc boxes ready on site, so by standing on a small stack of bee boxes, managed to get 2 of the swarms into boxes. (The third had to wait till a third nuc box could be got to the site, and a small team – Mandy, Linda and Wilma) was rounded up to deal with it that evening.

Hive 1: On a super, brood box, queen excluder and 2 supers. The bees were agitated but not aggressive: many drones were found above the excluder, so this might have been the reason for the agitation – the excluder was taken out and all the bees brushed off the supers into the brood box, then the hive was reassembled. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Three queen cells were seen – this was probably the source of at least one of the swarms. 2 queen cells were removed.

Next time: if possible remove the super that is beneath the brood box, or re-locate it to above the excluder.

Hive 2: On Brood box, excluder, super, brood box (to draw out comb – hadn’t obliged yet!)

The lower super was full of honey, but they hadn’t yet been tempted to draw out the comb in the higher brood box – it was left till the next visit. No eggs or young brood seen, but one recently hatched queen cell found at the base of a frame. One of the queen cells from hive 1 added, just in case. It was assumed that the hive had swarmed, and that the new queen was not yet laying.

Several of the sheets of foundation – all 4 of a dull brown colour – had not been touched at all – it seems the bees did not like them, despite some congestion in the hive. These frames were removed and replaced with frames with fresh foundation.

Next time: do not disturb for at least 2 weeks (ie after 1^st July), then check if a new queen is laying.

If the foundation in the upper brood box has been drawn, remove and store for use in nuc/bait hives. (Check if it is the same dull brown foundation that the bees ignored in the lower brood box?) Add another super if needed. Check whether the bees have drawn out the clean foundation in the lower brood box.

Hive 3: the bees covered 7 frames in the brood box; a super was added, but it needs a queen excluder – none were spare at the time. Some frames of the comb were very irregular so were moved to the right hand side of the brood box, with the intention of removing it as soon as feasible (once brood has hatched). Queen not seen, but worker eggs and brood were seen.

Next time: add a queen excluder; remove right hand frame in brood box if possible and replace.

Hive 4: had died out. We were concerned about this colony for some time, but it has now died out (there were some spots of diarrhoea on the frames), with dead bees on the floor. It was next to the colony that succumbed to what we assume was nosema, so may have been infected via drifting. The hive was sealed to prevent bees from other colonies accessing it; the super was taken away to be cleaned, the brood box also needs to be taken away to be emptied and sterilised for re-use. All gloves worn by those handling this hive were immediately changed on site; hive tools had not been used.

There does not seem to be a permitted treatment for nosema, control is recommended to be “hygienic practices and requeening”. We have been very careful not to transfer frames between colonies, and any suspected infected hive is always the last in the list for inspection – hopefully this is an end to the disease.

Next time: bring away hive 4 for cleaning and sterilising.

Hives 5 & 6 have been relocated off-site in advance of the renovation works at the apiary.

Nucs and swarms:

The swarm (next to hive 4) was doing fine, 2 full frames of beautifully regular sealed brood. Same for the swarm in the hive at the front of the apiary: this one was due to go to one of our beginners, so we prepared it for moving with strap and travelling screen, and went over ways of blocking the entrance. Syrup was put on the swarms in their new boxes – they all seemed settled.

Next time: check the swarms have enough syrup, and see if any of them need transferring to a brood box.

The colonies seem to have built up well in the dry weeks of April and May, despite the cold start: it seems to have been a very swarmy year so far.

So this week’s mentored session covered collecting a swarm, transfer of queen cell, reminders about life cycles of all castes in a colony, finding eggs and young brood, checking nucs/swarms are queenright, checking for disease, isolation of a source of disease, preparing hives for moving – not bad!

So the summary for the next visit (due 25^th June)

Hive 1: if possible remove the super that is beneath the brood box, or re-locate it to above the excluder.

Hive 2: DO NOT DISTURB till after 1st July, then check if a new queen is laying.

If the foundation in the upper brood box has been drawn, remove and store for use in nuc/bait hives. (Check if it is the same dull brown foundation that the bees ignored in the lower brood box?) Add another super if needed. Check whether the bees have drawn out the clean foundation in the lower brood box.

Hive 3: add a queen excluder; remove right hand frame in brood box if possible and replace.

Hive 4: bring away hive 4 for cleaning and sterilising.

Swarms and nucs: check whether the swarms in the nuc boxes need more syrup, and have enough room; move to a brood box if needed. Check that there’s a laying queen – in case some of the swarms are casts, headed by a virgin queen.

Due to Sundays cancellation we will be visiting the apiary on Wednesday from 2pm to 4pm – again weather permitting.

If we need to cancel due to the weather, Mandy will email by 11am, so please check your emails.

Sessions will be led by an experienced beekeeper. This session will be led by Mandy.

Beginner beekeepers are encouraged to come along to learn practical skills.

Car share if you can as parking is limited, you can let Mandy know if you need or can offer a lift, or if you need directions.

If you need to borrow a beesuit for the visit please contact Mandy – we have some available, and even 2 child size suits.

We usually have refreshments after apiary meetings, so please bring something along; guests are welcome too.

If you are able to come along and be the lead or assistant beekeeper for one of these sessions, please contact Mandy as soon as possible so she can work out the rota for the rest of the summer. Guest demonstrators also welcome!

The weather was not good for an apiary inspection this week.

However for anyone who can make it we will try to visit on Wednesday 14th instead.

Peter did visit the apiary to return some equipment. A few bees were flying and nearly all the hives were bringing in pollen so hopefully the colonies have settled down again after the swarmy spell.

Work is progressing at clearing the walled garden. The entrance gate area is rather boggy and uneven from the vehicle movements after the rain so be careful if taking vehicles.

We aim to visit the Association Apiary weekly on a Sunday from 2pm to 4pm – weather permitting.

If we need to cancel due to the weather, Mandy will email by 11am, so please check your emails.

Sessions will be led by an experienced beekeeper. This session will be led by Peter and Helen.

Beginner beekeepers are encouraged to come along to learn practical skills.

Car share if you can as parking is limited, you can let Mandy know if you need or can offer a lift, or if you need directions.

If you need to borrow a beesuit for the visit please contact Mandy – we have some available, and even 2 child size suits.

We usually have refreshments after apiary meetings, so please bring something along; guests are welcome too.

If you are able to come along and be the lead or assistant beekeeper for one of these sessions, please contact Mandy as soon as possible so she can work out the rota for the rest of the summer. Guest demonstrators also welcome!

Association apiary, Barns: activity at apiary on 4^th June

Mentors were David Ferguson and Mandy Clydesdale: with an excellent mix of this year’s beginners, keen beekeepers with a couple of years’ experience, one Interested Party, and 2 youngsters – great to see them all. Young Sam had a new beesuit, and is always very hands-on, so long as the open hive is low enough for him to see!

Hive 1: queen seen, no queen cells seen, should be OK till next week. Has an additional brood box on it for drawing out foundation.

Hive 2: 4 queen cells seen: two were removed, and a nuc formed from the queen and 3 frames of brood/stores: additional house bees were shaken in to increase her workforce. (Nuc 3, beside the storage cupboard)

Hive 3: Ok, no queen cells seen, progressing well.

Hive 4: checked, OK, no queen cells, queen not seen but brood visible

Swarm (next to fir tree, not allocated a number yet): clustered well together, drawing on the foundation – beautifully demonstrated by these girls! Might need the box turned through 90^o; an empty supper and a feeder added.

Hive 5: brood seen, has an unmarked queen, needs to be found and marked. 3 queen cells removed. Hive prepared for moving.

Hive 6: Queen not seen, no larvae, but bees calm – probably have a newly mated queen who is not laying yet. Hive prepared for moving.

Nuc 1: has died out, soiling suggests that they succumbed to nosema, the nuc was split from a colony that also had developed nosema (not confirmed by analysis). Unfortunately there is currently no treatment (medication) for nosema other than replacing combs (eg Bailey comb exchange: it had been too early in the year to do that), or requeening with a queen from a different(and hopefully more resistant) strain. The nuc box will be cleaned and sterilised with washing soda, the frames and wax burned.

Nuc 2: coming on well, brood seen: but they had outgrown their nuc box (drawn comb surrounded the feeder) so they were transferred to a brood box, with a super and feeder on top.

Nuc 3: formed this week from Hive 2.

Need to purchase: 1 brood box (minimum – this was before the requirements for 2 brood boxes at The Glen were requested on 8^th June), minimum of 3 deep frames with foundation; 8 shallow frames with foundation.

 

Next week: 11^th June

Hive 1: remove the additional brood box – to go to The Glen.

Add supers if necessary; identify the next series of hives for moving; identify any nucs/colonies ready to go out to new beekeepers.

Check status of each hive, and confirm that here’s a laying queen – all the colonies there should now have swarmed or else have been split, so should be building up for the main crop in July.

Check that all have stores in case the “June Gap” leaves them short of forage.

Nucs 2 & 3 may need more syrup until the foundation is drawn out.

Swarm: may need box turned through 90^o , and more syrup in feeder, until more foundation drawn out – weather forecast is not good, so they may not be able to get out to gather nectar. It can have its own hive number allocated, unless it is going out to a new beekeeper.

 

 

We aim to visit the Association Apiary weekly on a Sunday from 2pm to 4pm – weather permitting.

If we need to cancel due to the weather, Mandy will email by 11am, so please check your emails.

Sessions will be led by an experienced beekeeper. This session will be led by David and Mandy

Beginner beekeepers are encouraged to come along to learn practical skills.

Car share if you can as parking is limited, you can let Mandy know if you need or can offer a lift, or if you need directions.

If you need to borrow a beesuit for the visit please contact Mandy – we have some available, and even 2 child size suits.

We usually have refreshments after apiary meetings, so please bring something along; guests are welcome too.

If you are able to come along and be the lead or assistant beekeeper for one of these sessions, please contact Mandy as soon as possible so she can work out the rota for the rest of the summer. Guest demonstrators also welcome!