Friday 27 July 2018

Why would they want to leave home?

Hopefully the urge to swarm is over - but I'm not getting complacent!
With the Queens slowing down and the frantic storing for winter it's time QB started taking surplus, capped honey.
Borage - the bees love it. Annual but self-seeds.
Lavender - another favourite.

Rosebay Willowherb has dark blue-green pollen.
With such a lot of nectar sources here, why buzz off? QBzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 

Sunday 22 July 2018

I've never seen that before!

Yesterday I spotted honey bees collecting pollen from the sweetcorn.
They were industriously packing  pale yellow grains into their corbiculae.
I have honestly never seen that happen before.
The sweetcorn is wind-pollinated but the crop is looking very promising.
 

Sunday 15 July 2018

Re-LUCKY ME!

Checked that nuc. from Silver colony in which the Q was running low on laying space, so moved them into WBC brood box.
OH dear!  I shouldn't have been so PLEEZED with myself.
A drone-laying Queen?
There's more to come -I'm waiting for 1 week before giving up on her.

Sunday 8 July 2018

QB Back from hols.

2 weeks in Isles of Scilly -travel by rail NE to SW virtually impossible!
During the holiday QB realised that the temps. were too high for bees to have insulation and varroa trays on WBC hives.  Very kind Bee Buddy removed all.  What a relief! In previous hot Summers (very, very rare)
some colonies have come out for some fresh air - they do go back in in the cool of the evening, but not before they've given QB a "heart attack" thinking they are swarming!
Before leaving for the holiday I did all I could think of to prevent swarming.
Isn't it amazing that all 5 colonies + nuc. could be so different?
Anyway, I'll tell you about Silver Hive before I go to the apiary to see what else the little Buzzers have been up to.
15th June Silver hive - Q cells, no eggs, couldn't find Q (marked white).
After much DEEEEEEEEEEEP THOUGHT-
- kept best 2 not-capped cells.
- set up nuc. with these and 3 combs of brood with nurse bees.
- 2 combs nectar/honey.  Put on a new site facing different direction.
- closed entrance with dried grass.

Did Shook Swarm with remainder on original site with fresh foundation
and feeder. Hoped (White) Q was with them - gave frame eggs/ larvae from Yellow 'H' colony in case she wasn't.

OUTCOME : Nuc. eggs - Q running out of laying space.
                     : Original colony - lots of lovely eggs and brood.
LUCKY, LUCKY ME.