I am still opening up hives for the first time this year in some of my apiaries. I have been fairly confident that the three hives in the garden at Thorpe would be fine. Not so. The third hive had a double brood box full of stores and no bees at all. The middle hive had a small patch of brood and eggs but it was barely the size of my hand. It was only the old queen that was OK. Her yellow dot has nearly worn away but she was there and laying in the top brood box.
The two hives at the UEA site were in a much better condition. The hive that was knocked over in the winter has a very good looking new queen that I marked today and surprise, surprise they seem to be much better tempered bees than the ones they bred from which are in the hive next to them.
The new queen is large and striped and I'm going to call her Honey Stripes (super cell) . She is now in the top brood box in a stack of three with a queen excluder under that box. The frames need sorting out a little as there were a couple that were full of stores but were coming apart. I put several new undrawn frames in and it needs a couple more. It's possible that the brood that is in the box below will have queen cells made in it if the bees think the queen is too far away. They were eating fondant and still have a little left but I think I may put a bucket of feed on to help them draw out new wax.
I gave all the hives a Postwick a quick look. The hive that had the old queen that had stopped laying had two small queen cells in on the frame that introduced on my last visit. I put in another frame of eggs to keep them going. I may take the frame with the queen cells out and see if they can't make some better looking ones in their place. The other hives all had laying queens.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Suffolk bees - a mistake?
Suffolk bees - a mistake?
I made a trip out to my bees in Suffolk today for the second time this year. My first visit this year was to assess my winter losses and there was one failed hive there. That was on February 16th. I didn't write much about it at the time as I had made a quick visit to 28 hives that day and couldn't write about them all.
The hive that had failed was a 2008 queen - parent Bill's bees - that I took out there at the start of the season. Bill's hive made a lot of rape honey and then swarmed. The queen that went into the winter was one of two from that original swarmed 'Bill's' hive.
On inspection in February the bees were dead without any real explanation as to why. There was plenty of food in the brood box.
Of the other two hives one was doing really well with an old queen and the other (the second of Bill offspring) was hanging on in there. I gave both hives a quick inspection and a full bucket of feed each.
The hive with old queen took me a little by surprise with the number of bees in the brood box and I closed it down quickly as this was not supposed to be an inspection and I didn't have my smoker with me (big mistake!). I left it with a full brood box of bees, a crown board on top, (that I couldn't move) two supers above that and the bucket of feed on a second crown board at the top. The queen excluder was left out and I think now that was another fatal mistake.
The bees apparently did get up through the center hole in the crown board and did get the feed as the bucket (unlike the other hive) was completely empty. The brood box was still full of bees but apart from a few capped drone cells and couple of uncapped odd cells of drone brood here and there there were no cells or eggs.
It seems the queen may be missing she must have been laying after I left as that was over a month ago and that is enough time for all eggs including drones to be hatched out since then. Did she get taken up above the crown board into the empty supper frames and perish there? I don't know. But if I had put the queen excluder on (even if was above the crown board as it would have been) I would at least now be sure that she hadn't perished in the supers.
I suppose it is possible that she is there but not laying as the old Queen at Poswick.
The other hive was small and weak in comparrison but the queen was there (small and dark). I took out a frame that had a few eggs and a small patch of brood and put the frame in the other hive. I closed up I dropped the feeder bucket down to the brood box taking off the supers.
I hope they can build up their numbers and was tempted to unight the two hives there and then.
I made a trip out to my bees in Suffolk today for the second time this year. My first visit this year was to assess my winter losses and there was one failed hive there. That was on February 16th. I didn't write much about it at the time as I had made a quick visit to 28 hives that day and couldn't write about them all.
The hive that had failed was a 2008 queen - parent Bill's bees - that I took out there at the start of the season. Bill's hive made a lot of rape honey and then swarmed. The queen that went into the winter was one of two from that original swarmed 'Bill's' hive.
On inspection in February the bees were dead without any real explanation as to why. There was plenty of food in the brood box.
Of the other two hives one was doing really well with an old queen and the other (the second of Bill offspring) was hanging on in there. I gave both hives a quick inspection and a full bucket of feed each.
The hive with old queen took me a little by surprise with the number of bees in the brood box and I closed it down quickly as this was not supposed to be an inspection and I didn't have my smoker with me (big mistake!). I left it with a full brood box of bees, a crown board on top, (that I couldn't move) two supers above that and the bucket of feed on a second crown board at the top. The queen excluder was left out and I think now that was another fatal mistake.
The bees apparently did get up through the center hole in the crown board and did get the feed as the bucket (unlike the other hive) was completely empty. The brood box was still full of bees but apart from a few capped drone cells and couple of uncapped odd cells of drone brood here and there there were no cells or eggs.
It seems the queen may be missing she must have been laying after I left as that was over a month ago and that is enough time for all eggs including drones to be hatched out since then. Did she get taken up above the crown board into the empty supper frames and perish there? I don't know. But if I had put the queen excluder on (even if was above the crown board as it would have been) I would at least now be sure that she hadn't perished in the supers.
I suppose it is possible that she is there but not laying as the old Queen at Poswick.
The other hive was small and weak in comparrison but the queen was there (small and dark). I took out a frame that had a few eggs and a small patch of brood and put the frame in the other hive. I closed up I dropped the feeder bucket down to the brood box taking off the supers.
I hope they can build up their numbers and was tempted to unight the two hives there and then.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Permaculture bees OK
Permaculture bees OK. I open the three hives on the student's allotment today and all had laying queens. I marked the queen in the small new box.
Furgle's queen is laying
Tina's queen is laying
The three hives in the middle of my allotment have laying queens.
Furgle's queen is laying
Tina's queen is laying
The three hives in the middle of my allotment have laying queens.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Old Costessy apiary visit
Old Costessy apiary visit
The four hives at Old Costessy have survived the winter well and all were busy today. I opened them up for the first time this year. They all have plenty of stores but two were still eating fondant and had finished the last lump I had given them (I gave them a new lump). I think a large amount of the stores they have is fairly solid ivy honey.
The shallow frames at the edge of the brood box had solid blocks of honey at the bottom that broke of and got left stuck in the hive and in the way. I put these shallow frames in as part of my Varroa control as the bees often put drone brood at the bottom of them in the summer that can be brocken off and removed. I now think should these frames should be taken out of the hive before the autumn ivy flow starts and put back in the early summer.
All colonies had laying queens.
Out of the four hives three are 2008 queens and one (Sticky) is a 2007 queen. I put a tray of Apiguard on the three new queens.
Two of the hives are on double brood box - Sticky and the youngest queen.
The one hive on the south facing wall has a brood box and three supers on. I need to take a new brood box out for that one and the one next to it. The one next to it needs to be moved off it's wonky bricks and onto blocks and to that end I put down some new slabs and blocks today. I will move it when I give it a clean floor possibly on my next visit that should be a week from now when I need to put in another tray of Apiguard.
I removed all mouse guards.
All these hive have solid floors.
LINK BACK
The four hives at Old Costessy have survived the winter well and all were busy today. I opened them up for the first time this year. They all have plenty of stores but two were still eating fondant and had finished the last lump I had given them (I gave them a new lump). I think a large amount of the stores they have is fairly solid ivy honey.
The shallow frames at the edge of the brood box had solid blocks of honey at the bottom that broke of and got left stuck in the hive and in the way. I put these shallow frames in as part of my Varroa control as the bees often put drone brood at the bottom of them in the summer that can be brocken off and removed. I now think should these frames should be taken out of the hive before the autumn ivy flow starts and put back in the early summer.
All colonies had laying queens.
Out of the four hives three are 2008 queens and one (Sticky) is a 2007 queen. I put a tray of Apiguard on the three new queens.
Two of the hives are on double brood box - Sticky and the youngest queen.
The one hive on the south facing wall has a brood box and three supers on. I need to take a new brood box out for that one and the one next to it. The one next to it needs to be moved off it's wonky bricks and onto blocks and to that end I put down some new slabs and blocks today. I will move it when I give it a clean floor possibly on my next visit that should be a week from now when I need to put in another tray of Apiguard.
I removed all mouse guards.
All these hive have solid floors.
LINK BACK
Friday, March 13, 2009
Postwick apiary down to 7 hives
Postwick apiary is now down to 7 hives. The bee hive that had the rodent rip open the crown board didn't make it after all. Of the seven hives remaining one has an old queen that is not laying. I saw her in the box but there were no eggs or brood I put a frame with some eggs in from one of the other hives and will put more frames of eggs in now on each visit until the bees decide to supersede her. Two of the other hives are strong and thriving on double brood boxes. The hive at the back is on a double brood box but may as well have the bottom box removed. I moved the hive and it a plastic box to stand on and an open mesh base. The old hive floor was in a bit of state. The bees found the move a bit disoriantating but I guess they will get used to it in a couple of days. The swarm hive has a small but strong colony and a light queen. I think they will build up well during the year. One hive had signs of a bad Varroa infection with a couple of young bees with deformed wings. I gave it a tray of Apiguard. They will all need 2 trays each in the next few weeks.
All three hives at Thorpe seem to be doing well but I haven't opened them up yet.
All three hives at Thorpe seem to be doing well but I haven't opened them up yet.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Allotment apiary
In the allotment apiary. It was warm enough today to light up the smoker for the first time this year take a quick look under the crown board of the hives and make a few adjustments to some of them.
The feral bees that still have bits of twigs in the honeycomb needed a brood box that the bees can move into put on top of the makeshift arrangement that they have had for their winter quarters. The hive has a feeder on that the bees were taking food from today. I put that back on above the empty brood box. So long as there is some warm weather the bees should relocate the feeder and keep feeding from it. I will keep feeding these bees until they have moved the queen up into the brood box and left their old comb behind. I think they will eventually vacate the old comb entirely and leave it empty.
I also doubled up the brood box on the hive under the greengage tree. They were quite a small colony last year but have come through the winter OK and were very busy today.
Tina's hive has two brood boxes and a super on and still some of the bees were at the top of all of that lot feeding on fondant. I put the contents of an Apiguard tray on the lugs of the top brood box. This is not recommended practice but the old style crown boards just don't have enough space to take an Apiguard tray.
Furgle's hive has plenty of stores and the bees there are not showing any interest in the fondant.
The bees in the swarm hive near the small pear tree were the only ones to kick up a fuss at my intrusion of their space. They will have to be moved and I will have reduce the hive down to one brood box first. They are a strong hive and whenever I was working near the hive I could smell the fermented honey that they were uncapping inside the hive.
All the three hives on the student plot had flying bees.
The feral bees that still have bits of twigs in the honeycomb needed a brood box that the bees can move into put on top of the makeshift arrangement that they have had for their winter quarters. The hive has a feeder on that the bees were taking food from today. I put that back on above the empty brood box. So long as there is some warm weather the bees should relocate the feeder and keep feeding from it. I will keep feeding these bees until they have moved the queen up into the brood box and left their old comb behind. I think they will eventually vacate the old comb entirely and leave it empty.
I also doubled up the brood box on the hive under the greengage tree. They were quite a small colony last year but have come through the winter OK and were very busy today.
Tina's hive has two brood boxes and a super on and still some of the bees were at the top of all of that lot feeding on fondant. I put the contents of an Apiguard tray on the lugs of the top brood box. This is not recommended practice but the old style crown boards just don't have enough space to take an Apiguard tray.
Furgle's hive has plenty of stores and the bees there are not showing any interest in the fondant.
The bees in the swarm hive near the small pear tree were the only ones to kick up a fuss at my intrusion of their space. They will have to be moved and I will have reduce the hive down to one brood box first. They are a strong hive and whenever I was working near the hive I could smell the fermented honey that they were uncapping inside the hive.
All the three hives on the student plot had flying bees.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The allotment hives
The allotment hives were all busy in the middle of the day today. They all have fondant on although most of the colonies have bees that have eaten just a little of this latest batch. But there was one hive where the bees were very busy eating it. These were the bees from Thorpe. I will keep an eye on them and make sure they don't run out.
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