Temperature: 16C
Weather: Sunny intervals
Just a quick visit again. I'll aim to do a more thorough inspection later this week. I just put on a super full of drawn comb to give them more room. I'm in two minds about doing this as it might mean they don't draw the comb in the brood frames and leave them short of space for a while. However, I also hope that it means they put the nectar they are collecting upstairs and clear room downstairs for brood.
I also topped up the sugar syrup as they had almost emptied that in four days. Pretty good going. That fills me with hope as it means they are busy and keen to use it. Fingers crossed.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Friday, 28 May 2010
Space saving
Temperature 12c
Weather: Cool and overcast
Stings: none
I visited the bees again on 26 May to top up their feeder and do a more detailed inspection. They were much happier this time. A bit of smoke meant they stayed in the hive even though I had no cloths to cover the frames while I had a look.
I didn't see the queen but I did see eggs, brood and covered cells. Even some drone cells. I saw brood on 3 or four frames and the ones at the edges were not drawn yet.
There was also a lot of honey, so much so that I think I'm going to have to do something about it. We're getting into the main flow and they are bringing in as much as they can. To that end they have made extra comb between the brood frames. That's not great as it'll limit how I can re-use the comb.
I think what I will do this weekend is take out the feeder, put in a super full of drawn comb so they have somewhere to store their honey. I'm hoping this will mean they move some of the honey up to those empty cells and free up space down below for the queen to lay in. There is a problem in that not all of the brood comb is drawn yet so that might mean they just use the drawn stuff rather than anything else.
My worry is that they fill both and leave her with no room. She can't fly away as her wings are clipped but it might cause some tension. What is the alternative? More sugar syrup and no super. Which might cause the same problems. It looks like the colony is getting ready to grow and will need room as the flow comes on so probably better for them to have that space.
Weather: Cool and overcast
Stings: none
I visited the bees again on 26 May to top up their feeder and do a more detailed inspection. They were much happier this time. A bit of smoke meant they stayed in the hive even though I had no cloths to cover the frames while I had a look.
I didn't see the queen but I did see eggs, brood and covered cells. Even some drone cells. I saw brood on 3 or four frames and the ones at the edges were not drawn yet.
There was also a lot of honey, so much so that I think I'm going to have to do something about it. We're getting into the main flow and they are bringing in as much as they can. To that end they have made extra comb between the brood frames. That's not great as it'll limit how I can re-use the comb.
I think what I will do this weekend is take out the feeder, put in a super full of drawn comb so they have somewhere to store their honey. I'm hoping this will mean they move some of the honey up to those empty cells and free up space down below for the queen to lay in. There is a problem in that not all of the brood comb is drawn yet so that might mean they just use the drawn stuff rather than anything else.
My worry is that they fill both and leave her with no room. She can't fly away as her wings are clipped but it might cause some tension. What is the alternative? More sugar syrup and no super. Which might cause the same problems. It looks like the colony is getting ready to grow and will need room as the flow comes on so probably better for them to have that space.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
I have bees!
Temperature: 25C
Weather: Dry and sunny
The bees are back! I picked them up on 19 May from a friend who had been looking after them. The drive home, which took about an hour, was pretty hairy as lots of bees kept on finding their way out. It was a bit like The Wages of Fear. I didn't want to crash cos I was brushing away a bee. To stay safe, I stopped lots of times to brush away the escapees. There are not many laybys along the A3 where you won't find my footprints.
Anyway, I got them back and put them in their new location. I've moved out of the association apiary into an allotment on the edge of a big wood and lots of farmland. There are only two other hives there so I'm hoping it proves to be a good location for honey. Less chance of accidentally falling victim to disease too.
The bees were in a pretty bad mood when I first set them down in their new home. They let me know by boiling out the front of the hive when I eased the block out a bit and stinging me three times (two ankle and one hip) just to make the point.
For a while I wondered if this was because the queen had not travelled with them. There was a chance that she was still in the old hive because we had to move them off Langstroths to Nationals. Although they were starting to draw the brood comb there wasn't a huge amount and there was always the chance that she had strayed on to the Langstroth comb just before we did the up-and-away. Effectively, what I've got is half a colony. We moved it mid-morning so almost none of the foraging bees will be in it.
But it looks like she is there as I went down to inspect them today (23 May) and they were very happy, Bees flying in the front and they had built a lot of brace comb in the space (an empty super) above the brood box. They were even filling it with honey. So, I fired up the smoker, got them off the brace comb and down into the brood chamber. I've given them some sugar syrup as I want them to draw out the comb below before they think about making any honeycomb in the super.
I'll have another look this coming Wednesday and see if I can spot any eggs or Her Maj herself. It's so good to have some bees back again.
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