Sunday 4th October
It has stayed far too cold to see much of the bees and they've slowed right down taking the sugar syrup now. I made up a total of 22kg of sugar for both hives (this may seem a lot but I had to use more than that to make up the supplies for just the one hive last year!)
I removed the feeders then tied down the roofs. I fitted the mouseguards again then surrounded both hives with chicken wire - it doesn't look beautiful but it's a quick fix for the green woodpecker problem!
There's nothing more we can do now until next year now, probably next March again. It gives me plenty of time to study up on swarm control - I want to make sure that I don't lose another one now!
PS I'm hoping that the backgound in that picture in my previous diary entry will look quite different next spring - we've been wanting rid of those straggly old pines for years now!...
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Feeding for Winter
Sunday 20th September
The weather's taken a really chilly turn and it's looking like I may not be able to inspect the hives again this year. It has to be 'shirtsleeves weather' to do an inspection otherwise there's a danger of chilling the brood.
It doesn't really matter if I can't look in again as all I have to do now is feed them sugar syrup to boost their winter stores and then secure the hive for winter - none of this requires doing anything more than lifting the top lid off.
These rapid-feeders can hold 4 pints of sugar syrup (usually that can be taken in 24 hours) so I'll just keep topping these two up until the bees stop taking it inside.
Once that's done I'll do all the same jobs as last year in preparations for winter.
The weather's taken a really chilly turn and it's looking like I may not be able to inspect the hives again this year. It has to be 'shirtsleeves weather' to do an inspection otherwise there's a danger of chilling the brood.
It doesn't really matter if I can't look in again as all I have to do now is feed them sugar syrup to boost their winter stores and then secure the hive for winter - none of this requires doing anything more than lifting the top lid off. These rapid-feeders can hold 4 pints of sugar syrup (usually that can be taken in 24 hours) so I'll just keep topping these two up until the bees stop taking it inside. Once that's done I'll do all the same jobs as last year in preparations for winter.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Varroa Treatment Completed
Sunday 13th September
We didn't have much time today so I went on my own to remove the empty Thymol packs. Usually my wife is holding the frames while I mess about taking photos (she's very good-natured about this, even after 18 months!) so I had to do all the hard work myself this time!
I didn't take time to do an inspection at all, just whipped the empty packs off and estimated how much feeding they'd need to get them ready for the winter.
Both supers were in a similar state, quite a bit of stored honey but still plenty of empty cells. I reckon a good week of feeding them sugar syrup and their stores should be full enough to see them through.
This time last year I was feeding them huge quantities of sugar to boost their stores but this year they have managed to build up better stores of their own (this year the colonies had to start from scratch at the start of May whereas the year before they'd had to start from the same situation at the end of June!)
We didn't have much time today so I went on my own to remove the empty Thymol packs. Usually my wife is holding the frames while I mess about taking photos (she's very good-natured about this, even after 18 months!) so I had to do all the hard work myself this time!
I didn't take time to do an inspection at all, just whipped the empty packs off and estimated how much feeding they'd need to get them ready for the winter.
Both supers were in a similar state, quite a bit of stored honey but still plenty of empty cells. I reckon a good week of feeding them sugar syrup and their stores should be full enough to see them through.
This time last year I was feeding them huge quantities of sugar to boost their stores but this year they have managed to build up better stores of their own (this year the colonies had to start from scratch at the start of May whereas the year before they'd had to start from the same situation at the end of June!)
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Halfway Through the Varroa Treatment
Sunday 30th August
No pictures today as I forgot to take the camera with me. Nothing to report though, we just removed the empty Thymol packs and replaced them with full ones. Just like last year, the treatment seems to have really slowed their production down - there seems to have been very little activity though quite a lot of dead varroa have appeared on the floor (not thousands, just a couple of hundred from each hive).
We sealed everything up again to leave it for another fortnight.
No pictures today as I forgot to take the camera with me. Nothing to report though, we just removed the empty Thymol packs and replaced them with full ones. Just like last year, the treatment seems to have really slowed their production down - there seems to have been very little activity though quite a lot of dead varroa have appeared on the floor (not thousands, just a couple of hundred from each hive).
We sealed everything up again to leave it for another fortnight.
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Starting the Varroa Treatment
Sunday 16th August
Finally a bit of decent weather, which is great for the varroa treatment. This Thymol gel is only activated if the temperature is over 15 degrees Centigrade - that's not normally a concern at all in the summer but it explains why this treatment can't be done much later in the year.
The nettles are clearly fighting back, though I probably won't clear them away before the autumn now as they won't really be getting in our way for much longer now (and they provide good cover from any stray ramblers who sometimes appear along that tree line in the background!). Besides, we're planning to do a bit of landscaping around here soon, but I don't think it will be necessary to move the hives at all (they're sitting on top of the pipeline to the septic tank so the JCB won't be able to drive over here anyway).
There aren't many photos because everything went smoothly today, no surprises at all!
We cleaned all the frames down again as they'd become quite built-up again.
We found Bea really quickly (shown in the centre of the picture) and everything looked healthy in both hives. We put the Thymol gel packs on top of the brood frames then closed everything up. It all needs to be closed up for a fortnight, then we repeat the dosage.
Finally a bit of decent weather, which is great for the varroa treatment. This Thymol gel is only activated if the temperature is over 15 degrees Centigrade - that's not normally a concern at all in the summer but it explains why this treatment can't be done much later in the year.
The nettles are clearly fighting back, though I probably won't clear them away before the autumn now as they won't really be getting in our way for much longer now (and they provide good cover from any stray ramblers who sometimes appear along that tree line in the background!). Besides, we're planning to do a bit of landscaping around here soon, but I don't think it will be necessary to move the hives at all (they're sitting on top of the pipeline to the septic tank so the JCB won't be able to drive over here anyway). There aren't many photos because everything went smoothly today, no surprises at all! We cleaned all the frames down again as they'd become quite built-up again. We found Bea really quickly (shown in the centre of the picture) and everything looked healthy in both hives. We put the Thymol gel packs on top of the brood frames then closed everything up. It all needs to be closed up for a fortnight, then we repeat the dosage.
Sunday, 9 August 2009
A Pretty Poor Harvest
Sunday August 9th
Well, this is it - right now is normally the time to remove any surplus honey from the hives ready for the varroa treatment to begin in the middle of August. We finally have a decent weekend after a pretty awful late summer so we're not expecting there to be a huge amount to spare!
Most of the frames have been built up with wax but there don't seem to be a great deal of stores here.
This frame is what many look like - some honey stored but not much.
Finally, a frame with sealed honey on it - but even this one isn't full!
Some of the frames are more like this - completely empty on both sides!
It's a similar situation in the brood box - some stores (loads of brightly-coloured pollen on the frame here) but not nearly enough for them to spare any at all.
The other hive was in an identical state too. Now that we're certain that we won't be removing any honey this year it's safe to do the chemical treatment. Once Thymol has been used in a hive it affects all the honey in it. It can still be used safely by the bees but is not suitable for human consumption.
It's not a huge disappointment for us as we could only have expected a very small surplus at best this year, having lost the swarm and then had pretty awful weather during the peak nectar flow season.
Well, this is it - right now is normally the time to remove any surplus honey from the hives ready for the varroa treatment to begin in the middle of August. We finally have a decent weekend after a pretty awful late summer so we're not expecting there to be a huge amount to spare!
Most of the frames have been built up with wax but there don't seem to be a great deal of stores here. This frame is what many look like - some honey stored but not much. Finally, a frame with sealed honey on it - but even this one isn't full! Some of the frames are more like this - completely empty on both sides! It's a similar situation in the brood box - some stores (loads of brightly-coloured pollen on the frame here) but not nearly enough for them to spare any at all.The other hive was in an identical state too. Now that we're certain that we won't be removing any honey this year it's safe to do the chemical treatment. Once Thymol has been used in a hive it affects all the honey in it. It can still be used safely by the bees but is not suitable for human consumption.
It's not a huge disappointment for us as we could only have expected a very small surplus at best this year, having lost the swarm and then had pretty awful weather during the peak nectar flow season.
Monday, 3 August 2009
More Poor Weather
Monday 3rd August
It's been pretty rotten weather for weeks now so we haven't had an opportunity to do an inspection. A pretty gloomy end to the season and it may well mean the bees won't produce much surplus honey this year.
It's been pretty rotten weather for weeks now so we haven't had an opportunity to do an inspection. A pretty gloomy end to the season and it may well mean the bees won't produce much surplus honey this year.I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get any for the second year running because we started this year with such small colonies again. Most of their efforts have been in just getting themselves up to full strength fit for healthy overwintering, just like in our first year!
Monday, 20 July 2009
Supering Up
Monday July 20th
First Hive (Bea):
Everything looked as it should in the supers. We switched a few frames about to get them to build them more evenly.
A nice photo of the developing brood here - you can see the larvae in the centre are being sealed over now they are grown to full size, the ones nearer the edge of the brood nest will be sealed up in a few more days.
We spotted a queen cup here, at the top of the frame. It's not swarming season now so probably just a harmless 'play cup', as they are sometimes called.
.
Second Hive (Charlie):
This hive needed another super put on. As you can see, we split the full frames equally with the new frames in between them.
Hopefully this will persuade them to build up all that empty foundation quickly.
First Hive (Bea):
Everything looked as it should in the supers. We switched a few frames about to get them to build them more evenly.
A nice photo of the developing brood here - you can see the larvae in the centre are being sealed over now they are grown to full size, the ones nearer the edge of the brood nest will be sealed up in a few more days. We spotted a queen cup here, at the top of the frame. It's not swarming season now so probably just a harmless 'play cup', as they are sometimes called..
Second Hive (Charlie):
This hive needed another super put on. As you can see, we split the full frames equally with the new frames in between them. Hopefully this will persuade them to build up all that empty foundation quickly.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Wax Moth Larvae
Sunday 12th July
The weather's too bad to open up this weekend but I checked the varroa floors.
I scrape these floors clean regularly so that I can check what's new each time.
Sure enough, here's a new beastie we've not found before. I've seen photographs before of wax moth larvae - this one must have slipped through the mesh floor onto my board as the bees were trying to kick it out of the hive. I popped it into a pot to look at more closely at home.
It looks just like the one in the book.
I'm glad my frames have never looked that filthy! Having finished with this larva I put it out on the bird table.
The weather's too bad to open up this weekend but I checked the varroa floors.
I scrape these floors clean regularly so that I can check what's new each time. Sure enough, here's a new beastie we've not found before. I've seen photographs before of wax moth larvae - this one must have slipped through the mesh floor onto my board as the bees were trying to kick it out of the hive. I popped it into a pot to look at more closely at home. It looks just like the one in the book. I'm glad my frames have never looked that filthy! Having finished with this larva I put it out on the bird table.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Bald Brood
Sunday 5th July
First Hive (Bea):
Not much change in the supers, they're building up the empty frames nicely though.
Similar situation in the brood box - they haven't started building up these end frames yet but the tops of all the frames are covered again. We scrape it off every time to stop it building up too much as the weeks pass.
Something looks suspect on this frame above...
... and shaking the bees off reveals some damage to the brood.
This is known as 'bald brood'. Some of the cell coverings have been partially removed before the larvae are ready to emerge and, although the pupae could develop fine, there is a much higher risk of them being damaged or infected, especially in the eyes. I think this has probably been caused by a wax moth larvae, nibbling at the wax.
They should be able to sort this problem out quite easily by themselves because wax moths are practically a constant pest. The moth lays her eggs in tiny crevices on the outside of the hive and the grubs follow the scent of beeswax and eat what they can until the house bees turf them out.
If the infestation is too bad (usually a result of giving the bees too many supers as they do not have the resources to monitor every frame well enough) the larvae will not be removed before they eat their fill and spin cocoons. These cocoons have tough skins which set hard like concrete and the bees will never be able to remove them. Hundreds of wax moths hatch out and head off to target other bee hives.
This looked odd - there were two heads wiggling for ages, obviously drones trying to hatch out. It must be a tight fit as their bodies are so much larger than the worker bees'.
They squirmed around for so long that we finally gave up waiting for them to come out - I'm sure they'll manage it eventually!
.
Second Hive (Charlie):
The weeds are growing up fast now - I'll have to remember to come along one evening and hack these back a bit.
Everything looked very healthy in this hive. The queen was seen and there was an ideal range of brood in all stages, the stores are building up (though slowly) and the bees were very calm - they didn't even seem to notice we were there.
A good clear photograph of a new egg standing up in a chunk of brace comb. The three large capped cells contain drone bees and there is a large larva in a cell now ready to be sealed too.
Very cute photo - these bees aren't kissing though, they're sharing nectar. They pass nectar from one bee to another as one of the processes involved in making honey. Converting nectar into honey is a very complicated process and there are some parts of it which humans still do not fully understand. Complete scientific analyis of honey still has a tiny percentage which cannot yet be properly identified - I think I've seen it referred to as 'bee essence', though in lab reports it's usually called 'unidentifiable'!
First Hive (Bea):
Not much change in the supers, they're building up the empty frames nicely though. Similar situation in the brood box - they haven't started building up these end frames yet but the tops of all the frames are covered again. We scrape it off every time to stop it building up too much as the weeks pass. Something looks suspect on this frame above... ... and shaking the bees off reveals some damage to the brood. This is known as 'bald brood'. Some of the cell coverings have been partially removed before the larvae are ready to emerge and, although the pupae could develop fine, there is a much higher risk of them being damaged or infected, especially in the eyes. I think this has probably been caused by a wax moth larvae, nibbling at the wax.They should be able to sort this problem out quite easily by themselves because wax moths are practically a constant pest. The moth lays her eggs in tiny crevices on the outside of the hive and the grubs follow the scent of beeswax and eat what they can until the house bees turf them out.
If the infestation is too bad (usually a result of giving the bees too many supers as they do not have the resources to monitor every frame well enough) the larvae will not be removed before they eat their fill and spin cocoons. These cocoons have tough skins which set hard like concrete and the bees will never be able to remove them. Hundreds of wax moths hatch out and head off to target other bee hives.
This looked odd - there were two heads wiggling for ages, obviously drones trying to hatch out. It must be a tight fit as their bodies are so much larger than the worker bees'. They squirmed around for so long that we finally gave up waiting for them to come out - I'm sure they'll manage it eventually!.
Second Hive (Charlie):
The weeds are growing up fast now - I'll have to remember to come along one evening and hack these back a bit. Everything looked very healthy in this hive. The queen was seen and there was an ideal range of brood in all stages, the stores are building up (though slowly) and the bees were very calm - they didn't even seem to notice we were there. A good clear photograph of a new egg standing up in a chunk of brace comb. The three large capped cells contain drone bees and there is a large larva in a cell now ready to be sealed too. Very cute photo - these bees aren't kissing though, they're sharing nectar. They pass nectar from one bee to another as one of the processes involved in making honey. Converting nectar into honey is a very complicated process and there are some parts of it which humans still do not fully understand. Complete scientific analyis of honey still has a tiny percentage which cannot yet be properly identified - I think I've seen it referred to as 'bee essence', though in lab reports it's usually called 'unidentifiable'!
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Foraging Bees
Sunday 28th June
We didn't have an opportunity to inspect the hives this weekend but the bees have been all around the garden working the flowers every day.
The colour of the pollen can be seen in the bundle on the bee's legs - this poppy pollen is very pale grey, sometimes it is even jet black! Bees do not mix pollen varieties - this bee will just work this variety of poppy only and it will only be stored in cells with identical pollen in the hive.
We didn't have an opportunity to inspect the hives this weekend but the bees have been all around the garden working the flowers every day. The colour of the pollen can be seen in the bundle on the bee's legs - this poppy pollen is very pale grey, sometimes it is even jet black! Bees do not mix pollen varieties - this bee will just work this variety of poppy only and it will only be stored in cells with identical pollen in the hive.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The Queens Have Lost their Spots
Wednesday 24th June
A fabulously hot day today - I closed the shop a bit early today so that I could get home in time to see how the bees are doing because we never had time at the weekend.
First Hive: (Queen Bea)
Loads of gummy propolis all over everything today and now this second super is about one third full of honey - at this rate I expect there may be several pounds of surplus honey to harvest this year, but I can't really tell until the end of July.
I'll work out what weight they have in total at the end of the honey flow and then I can calculate what each colony will require to overwinter successfully. Anything surplus to their requirements is fair to remove - by the time they would be in a situation to use it for themselves next spring, the new honey season will be in full flow.
Propolis all over the brood chamber frames too and the bees seemed a bit bad-tempered with us as well, for no good reason as far as we could tell.
We saw Bea on the frame above (she's in the bottom left corner) and, fairly predictably I suppose, she has barely a trace of paint left on her - only ten days after being clearly marked!
We didn't bother trying to mark her again - we need expert advice on this! Everything else looked good in the hive so we closed up.
.
Second Hive (Queen Charlie):
This colony was noticeably calmer than Bea's hive. The guard bees from the first hive stopped bothering us after a few minutes and these ones didn't seem interested in us at all.
Again, loads of propolis about - it must be the time of year for sealing up all the cracks and joints.
We saw Charlie quite easily again (in the centre, near the bottom) and of course...
... she had just a few traces of green paint left. 'Bee Paint' they call it? I've heard that some beekeepers use Tippex instead but I'm sure I remember hearing stories about kids getting high on that when I was young - maybe that was just an urban myth!
PS I've just realised that we've just passed our one year anniversary of receiving our first bees! I can't believe it's only been 12 months - so many near-disasters already!
A fabulously hot day today - I closed the shop a bit early today so that I could get home in time to see how the bees are doing because we never had time at the weekend.First Hive: (Queen Bea)
Loads of gummy propolis all over everything today and now this second super is about one third full of honey - at this rate I expect there may be several pounds of surplus honey to harvest this year, but I can't really tell until the end of July.I'll work out what weight they have in total at the end of the honey flow and then I can calculate what each colony will require to overwinter successfully. Anything surplus to their requirements is fair to remove - by the time they would be in a situation to use it for themselves next spring, the new honey season will be in full flow.
Propolis all over the brood chamber frames too and the bees seemed a bit bad-tempered with us as well, for no good reason as far as we could tell. We saw Bea on the frame above (she's in the bottom left corner) and, fairly predictably I suppose, she has barely a trace of paint left on her - only ten days after being clearly marked! We didn't bother trying to mark her again - we need expert advice on this! Everything else looked good in the hive so we closed up..
Second Hive (Queen Charlie):
This colony was noticeably calmer than Bea's hive. The guard bees from the first hive stopped bothering us after a few minutes and these ones didn't seem interested in us at all. Again, loads of propolis about - it must be the time of year for sealing up all the cracks and joints. We saw Charlie quite easily again (in the centre, near the bottom) and of course... ... she had just a few traces of green paint left. 'Bee Paint' they call it? I've heard that some beekeepers use Tippex instead but I'm sure I remember hearing stories about kids getting high on that when I was young - maybe that was just an urban myth!PS I've just realised that we've just passed our one year anniversary of receiving our first bees! I can't believe it's only been 12 months - so many near-disasters already!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Marking the Queens
Sunday 14th June
It's been a fortnight since we last did an inspection. It’s not so urgent to do weekly inspections now that there's no danger of these bees swarming, but we need to check that both the queens are laying well because it’s very late in the year to start rearing a new queen now if there are any problems.
.
First Hive:
The top super is still completely full and they have made good progress building up the foundation in the lower super. The only frames they haven't started building wax on yet are the two end frames...
... and there is some sealed honey in the centre frames. I switched a few of these frames around, putting the emptier ones nearer the centre and sandwiched between two heavier frames. This should persuade them to build up all the foundation wax equally.
Everything looks in order in the brood box too. The three frames at each end are still not being used but it’s not usually recommended to change the order of these frames too much, unlike the super frames, because the brood nest should not be divided up at all.
All the tiny eggs we saw on this frame a fortnight ago have been sealed over and it’s clear that this is worker brood, not drones. This queen is proven to be laying eggs successfully so we decided to try marking her.
We had real trouble marking our previous queen last year. On the few occasions we tried, the paint was always licked off by the next time we looked at her. This year the international colour code for queens is green. We carefully manoeuvred her over to the corner of the frame...
... and very gently (remembering my disaster of two weeks ago!) I put a tiny dab of paint on her back, officially christening her Queen Beatrix the Piper (first daughter of Queen Amidala the Swarmy!)
We let the paint dry thoroughly for about 2 minutes to be absolutely sure, then let her toddle off amongst all the others. If this paint stays it should be incredibly easy to spot her quickly another time.
Second Hive:
This is the colony I've been more worried about - drenching the queen in green goop must have been an ordeal for her!
All looks fine in the super here - this hive has only the one super on and it's nearly full of sealed honey stores.
There are only two unstarted frames at each side of the brood box but there is still room for expansion without needing to add another super yet.
The pattern of egg-laying here seems ideal and I was relieved to find young larvae at the bottom here - it means the queen has survived the paint blob incident!
A couple of frames further on we found bees have recently hatched out of these cells - the first offspring of the new queen (this queen started laying eggs about a week before her twin sister)
We saw the queen a few moments later - still with a few traces of green paint on her but thankfully mostly cleaned off. I attempted to mark her again, even more carefully this time!
However, just like last time she squirmed around so much inside the queen cage, even while held down, that the tiny blob ended up spread all over her head and wings! Again, I didn't want it to dry like that so I let her go quickly - it was a hasty ceremony but she's now been christened Queen Charlotte the Smudgy (second daughter of Queen Amidala the Swarmy)
It's been a fortnight since we last did an inspection. It’s not so urgent to do weekly inspections now that there's no danger of these bees swarming, but we need to check that both the queens are laying well because it’s very late in the year to start rearing a new queen now if there are any problems..
First Hive:
The top super is still completely full and they have made good progress building up the foundation in the lower super. The only frames they haven't started building wax on yet are the two end frames... ... and there is some sealed honey in the centre frames. I switched a few of these frames around, putting the emptier ones nearer the centre and sandwiched between two heavier frames. This should persuade them to build up all the foundation wax equally. Everything looks in order in the brood box too. The three frames at each end are still not being used but it’s not usually recommended to change the order of these frames too much, unlike the super frames, because the brood nest should not be divided up at all. All the tiny eggs we saw on this frame a fortnight ago have been sealed over and it’s clear that this is worker brood, not drones. This queen is proven to be laying eggs successfully so we decided to try marking her. We had real trouble marking our previous queen last year. On the few occasions we tried, the paint was always licked off by the next time we looked at her. This year the international colour code for queens is green. We carefully manoeuvred her over to the corner of the frame... ... and very gently (remembering my disaster of two weeks ago!) I put a tiny dab of paint on her back, officially christening her Queen Beatrix the Piper (first daughter of Queen Amidala the Swarmy!) We let the paint dry thoroughly for about 2 minutes to be absolutely sure, then let her toddle off amongst all the others. If this paint stays it should be incredibly easy to spot her quickly another time.Second Hive:
This is the colony I've been more worried about - drenching the queen in green goop must have been an ordeal for her! All looks fine in the super here - this hive has only the one super on and it's nearly full of sealed honey stores. There are only two unstarted frames at each side of the brood box but there is still room for expansion without needing to add another super yet. The pattern of egg-laying here seems ideal and I was relieved to find young larvae at the bottom here - it means the queen has survived the paint blob incident! A couple of frames further on we found bees have recently hatched out of these cells - the first offspring of the new queen (this queen started laying eggs about a week before her twin sister) We saw the queen a few moments later - still with a few traces of green paint on her but thankfully mostly cleaned off. I attempted to mark her again, even more carefully this time! However, just like last time she squirmed around so much inside the queen cage, even while held down, that the tiny blob ended up spread all over her head and wings! Again, I didn't want it to dry like that so I let her go quickly - it was a hasty ceremony but she's now been christened Queen Charlotte the Smudgy (second daughter of Queen Amidala the Swarmy)
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