Snow has finally gone for now!

Snow has finally gone and temperatures were 8-9 degs so thought would look to see how many had died in this spell, took off the porch and had a quick look in entrance, all blocked up with dead bees, hooked them out, maybe 150 plus bees! But did see a few bees moving about, then all of a sudden bees flying everywhere, temperature had hit 10 degs and they needed a bathroom break, can bees cross their legs for that long? :-)

Thought also that would be a good time to feed them too, but didn't have any fondant solid food, so a quick call to Sue and an internet search came up with a recipe, boiling up sugar and water, letting it cool and then pouring into a suitable container, hopefully a Marks and Spencer curry container will do the trick?

Have to fed them solid food this time of year as syrup requires the bees to expend too much energy converting to honey stores, they need to evaporate the water.

Bees and this snow!

More snow again, the last lot of snow was scary for a first time beekeeper, I found 150 plus dead bees jammed in the entrance of the hive and outside, I thought that was it, colony all dead, but common sense eventually kicks in and you begin to think what is 150 bees out of an over wintering colony of 8000 or so bees! But still pretty scary! I was told that maybe when the cold hit the hive some of the bees were away from the ball of the colony getting honey stores and might have been chilled and died?

Cold wouldn't really kill a colony off, it's damp that does, so with this last lot of snow I decided I would make them a little porch to help keep the worst of the snow away and in turn the damp. The entrance mouse guard is still bunged up with bees but I guess as soon as the weather warms a bit the bees will soon clear them out? Can you tell I'm still not that confident!

Bee Igloo

Well the snow arrived, wow has it arrived, this is day three, I've had to clear the entrance to the hive each morning, well I say I have had to, but to be honest not sure if I should! The first morning I tunnelled in, a bee flew out straight past me, I wonder did she ever find her way back? Each day there has been bees coming just outside the entrance, not flying, think they are carrying out the dead bees and rubbish. I'm hoping that the latest entrance will remain clear, but must watch closely because what kills bees is being damp and wet in hive, I have left snow on to insulate like an igloo, but as soon as thaw starts will need to clear away quick to avoid melt water in hive.

This morning it wasn't too bad first thing so I thought I had better pop out and see if the bees had been feeding, soon saw they hadn't so decided would remove feeder and close hive up for the winter, what did I do wrong? I was in a rush and decided that I didn't need my bee suit! Big mistake, a few bees started to fly and land on me, I quickly realised that retreat was best policy and dashed indoors and put on my suit, little did I realise that two bees had joined me inside my suit! They made there presence soon felt and no that isn't my elbow in the picture, it was a pretty impressive bee sting, think the whole venom sack was pumped into my arm! :-)

The other picture is the mouse guard that I put in place as well, mice like to live in the bottom of hives in the winter, the hives are dry and warm.

Last feed of the year? Perhaps.

It was a bit warmer at the end of last week and the bees were busy, so thought I would tempt them with some more sugar solution, I fed them 2 pints on Wednesday and by Friday morning they had polished it off, as I planned to be away over the weekend I thought I should continue feeding so gave then 4 pints, as yet it's too dark and wet to check, but hopefully I will be able to quickly look in the hive under floodlight before end of week to see if they are still feeding.
That will make 25kgs of sugar they have consumed since I started the winter feed!
Ok and this time I stuck the cover strip down in the feeder with some Duct Tape so that I didn't drown awhole lot more of my bees!
In about a month it with be time to think about treating with oxalic acid for varroa and also how on earth I am going to tidy up the mess in the brood box that I have allowed to happen by using different size frames! Well they do say you learn more by your mistakes, hopefully no harm will have been done:-)

Continue Feeding or Treat for Varroa again?

I've been worried for the last week or so that the count of Varroa mites falling onto the inspection tray as been far too high, so taking advice I bought some more Apiguard with the intention of starting treatment this weekend.

But on Saturday the weather was so nice and the forecast good for Sunday that I decided to feed one more time and then treat on Sunday. However there were 5 bees with deformed wings on the ground in front of the hive trying to fly, a sign that Varroa levels maybe too high.

Too high levels of Varroa can lead to the colony not surviving the winter!

I opened the hive on Sunday with the intention of doing a full inspection and hopefully get on last look at the Queen before leaving them be until March. Horror, the bees had managed to break into the feeder and floating in the sugar solution must have been over 100 bees in various stages of drowning! I took the feeder tray and eke off and set to with the inspection, would get back to the drowning bees at the end.

It was very obvious the bees had been busy with all that sugar solution they had been eating, lots of stores and new honey comb, as I came to the frames in the centre that I had not increased in size to brood and a half I found I couldn't remove the frames, the bees had build so much comb and bonded it to the sides of the hive that the frames were stuck fast, I didn't realise this until I forced the first frame out only to see a big lump of comb fall to the floor of the hive and another section tear apart with brood becoming exposed! Time to stop the inspection before I did any more damage, I hadn't seen the Queen so will now have to sweat it out until the New Year and hope I didn't harm her in my clumsy inspection!

So frames all put back, Apiguard tray installed and now time to see how many bees I could salvage from the sugar solution. I hope I saved about 20 of them but will never know for sure, I fished those still moving out and put them on the hive landing board in the hope that the other worker bees would clean the solution off them.

At the end I was covered in sticky solution and very popular with the bees and wasps, I beat a hasty retreat to the house with sticky buckets etc to clean up.

Fingers crossed all will be ok, don't like the idea of not feeding them, so I've made some sugar fondant, which is currently drying on a radiator, I'm told you shouldn't feed and treat at same time but will give it a try.

If they survive the winter I will have some fun in March trying to sort out the mess I have allowed the bees to make of the hive! But I have the winter to work out the best plan of attack, at the moment I am thinking that perhaps I should revert to ordinary sized brood frames, but I'm sure i will change my mind many times! :-)

Greedy Bees

Having topped up the feeder on Saturday with 2 pints of sugar solution I wasn't expecting to see much change when I checked tonight, wow all gone! Perhaps it was because I had lowered the feeding tray and it was easier for the bees to get to the food?

This time I filled feeder with 4 pints of sugar solution, the clever money is on the bees eating this by Thursday?

When I bought 30kg of sugar I thought it might end up lasting a couple of seasons, I'm not so sure now, that's 10kg gone into the hive so far!

Skep Making

First up thanks to Mike and Sue of beesnbeans for arranging this course.

OK, I'm knackered, I can't believe that making a skep can be so hard, I can't say that I must be getting old because Martin who ran the course had a few years on me! :-), he was very good, very calm and very knowledgeable.

It's amazing what you can do with the top of a plastic bottle and a piece of copper pipe!

Above is after about 3 hrs!!! OK don't give up the day job. Below is after 8.5hrs, definitely don't give up the day job, but quite relaxing and addictive.

Below is what you can do, will mine end up as a fruit bowl, get lost in the back of a cupboard or get finished?

Feeding Time

I'd put the first 3 pints of sugar and water feed, (1 pint to 1 kg), into the hive last weekend, but having checked a few evenings in the week the bees weren't consuming it anywhere near as quickly as I had been told they would, perhaps it was because I'd put the feeding tray in a super and it was a bit too high for the bees to access, or maybe the colony isn't up to full strength this season as it was a July nuc? I decided what I really needed was an eke, a shallow box the same depth as the feeder.

This morning I popped to the local timer merchant, wanted Cedar but had to settle for pine, I can always treat the wood later once the feeding is done, above is the temporay eke and 2 pints of feed.

Below is the hive before swapping the top super for the eke. Bees were pretty busy and still bringing in plenty of nectar and bright orange and yellow pollen, wonder where they are getting that from?

Below the new eke is in place and the feeder topped up, if you look closely you can see that it's not just the bees who like the food, it's full of drowned ants!

How do the bees get to the food? Under the centre rib is a raised section with a slot in the top, the bees come through the hole and then creep down the sides of the raised section to drink in the feed.

Why do we need to feed them? Well a strong colony needs between 35-40lbs of honey to survive the winter and having stolen their honey, they need to be force fed to replenish their stores. OK I didn't get any honey this year but just want to make sure they have enough to help them survive.

The hive all back together with the eke is place, my one mistake was to do this at about 11am when the bees were pretty active, as a result spent a lot of time trying to keep the bees out of
the feeder and sugar water! As it was it rained all afternoon so maybe I timed it about right?

Tommorrow I'm on a course making a skep.

Just what do bees do in Winter?

Over the past few weeks several people have asked me do bees hibernate, what do they do over the winter?

Well as all good beekeepers know, bees don't hibernate.

So what do they do?

First up It's important to remember that bees are amazing animals.

As the temperature drops (below 10 deg C), the days get shorter and nectar becomes scarce the bees decide it's time to kick the drones out, reduce numbers and stay indoors.

Bees don't hibernate, they cluster in a ball in the middle of the hive and keep each other warm, eating the honey supplies they have stored up to help them keep the temperature in the hive at about 36 deg C, no matter what the temperature falls to outside.

They will stay like this all winter unless there are some warm spells above 10 deg C when they will pop out to visit the toilet, have you ever wondered what the pale brown spots are on the washing on the line? Now you know:-)

Varroa - continued

Two weeks was up for the first treatment last weekend, I have now put the next dose of apiguard in, one week to go before I can start feeding, days are getting colder so hope I haven't missed the window to feed the colony up for the winter!

You can tell it's getting colder no activity around the hive all the time it is in the shade but as soon as the sun hits the hive there is some pretty frantic activity.

Action stations operation Varroa

I was a bit concerned to see so many varroa mites on the collection board under the mesh floor so decided it was time to treat the colony, it's quite easy really, just take the roof off and plave a tray of Apiguard on top of the brood frames, this contains thymol and is supposed to kill the majority of varroa in the colony, you will never get rid of them completely! You just have to keep treating them in one way or another!

Another dose of Apiguard in two weeks time and then in late November/December a treatment with Oxalic Acid, sounds scary but you can google anything and it doesn't look to difficult.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4hVbSraHg&feature=related

Varroa Destructor!

On hols now but had a quick check through hive on Friday just to see if all ok.

I didn't find the old marked queen so maybe the workers have decided her time is up and killed her? But did see the new queen and some larvae and brood so she seems to be ok.

I had been a bit lazy doing the varroa check as hadn't seen much evidence when I had looked before, wow I was in for a shock when I removed the tray to do a count! there were too many to count but it had been a few weeks since I had remove the tray, in future will remove every day and count.

However perhaps it's time to do some serious treatment, you aren't supposed to before honey harvest, but as I am not going to get any honey this year I think it's better to act early, this will be my job for Friday when I am back home.

Two queens part 4!!!

OK they are still both alive, saw them today both on the same slide and within 3cms of each other, so much for queens fighting it out to the death!

OK a bit tough to see them, but imagine a diagonal line from bottom left to top right and then a quarter in from each end are the queens. Bottom left is the marked queen, you can just make out blue marker paint, she is quirt dark and has a pointed butt! She is in a slight clearing above three empty cells. Top right is the new queen, a more golden colour, same pointy butt, she is immediately below the two empty cells.

Perhaps this is bee history in the making?

Lots of wasp activity trying to rob honey, watched a group of bees smoother two wasps and then roll them out of the hive, give those wasps hell ladies:-)

PS picked up my second sting, right through the glove in my thumb!

Two Queens part 3

Late Friday afternoon a light drizzle started, would it mean no inspection of my colony by Mike and Sue who were due at 7pm.
Well the inspection went ahead care of a large umbrella, (thanks Joe).
It didn't start to well, lucky it wasn't a test! Couldn't get the smoker lit, lighter ran out of fuel and then matches got blown out by wind, got there in the end, phew.
They were immediately impressed with the temperament of the bees, very calm, just as well with me looking after them!
Went quickly through the frames looking for the Queens, soon found the new Queen, but no sign of the old marked Queen, felt a bit happier that I wasn't seeing things and that what I had seen was a new Queen.
They thought the colony looked well, plenty of larvae, brood and honey stores, the new Queen has been busy.
I'm told that I am very lucky to have a colony and Queen like this, it is called supercedure and does happen too often, the old Queen usually swarms. This indicates that my new Queen is likely to be of a low swarming nature, a very valuable trait.
Inspection followed by a glass of wine and some bee chat.
Thanks for popping round Mike and Sue

Bees prepare to rebel boarders:-)

The bees have been busy keeping raiders out of the hive, mainly wasps and other bees, but I spotted this trying to slip into the hive the other evening, it looks more like a fly but mimics a bumble bee! Anyway it didn't get in.

Because the hive entrance was wide the bees were struggling to defend the hive given that they are a relatively young colony and nowhere near up to strength, so put the entrance block in which drastically reduces the size of the entrance, it seriously confused the bees but they seem to have come the terms with it now.

Well that except at about 4.30pm everyday when there is masses of activity, I wonder if this is the time of day when the drones return to the hive after an afternoon hanging out with their mates trying to bag a virgin queen?

Friday evening sees a visit from Mike and Sue from BeesnBeans who taught me over the winter, it will be interesting to get an experts opinion on the colony.

Two queens continued

Well it seems that it could be possible to have two queens in the hive, which is called superceeding, this is where colony believes existing queen isn't performing, pretty rare this time of year especially as the marked queen is this years queen, time will tell, one of them will disappear in time usually the older queen which is marked.
But if this has happened or is happening I am told that it would indicate that the colony is a non swarming or very low swarming race and as such worth looking after.

Ghost bees and two queens!!!

OK think I am loosing the plot, did my check up on the colony tonight and halfway through the frames found a different queen, golden in colour and unmarked, did a double take and then another, impossible! I must have been a big torpedo shaped drone? Finished going through frames and didn't find the marked queen, perhaps she was dead and the workers had made another queen, impossible as there hadn't been any queen cells.

So thought I had better go back through the frames again, sure enough can across the big golden coloured bee again, a few slides later found the small dark marked queen.

Hmm, got to have got this all wrong, but I have noticed bees are becoming a mix of dark and golden bees! OK it's impossible will have another look next time, maybe get a second opinion.

Also thought I would dust bees with icing sugar which is a treatment for varroa, garden was full of ghostly coloured bees flying about:-) They didn't seem to mind too much but did look strange.

Actually they are pretty well behaved these days.

Bee venom botox

OK could be a little sideline here, bee venom botox, the Duchess of Cornwall, (Camilla), Dannii Minogue and Victoria Beckham have this treatment.
So what do they do, stick their head in a hive? Low overheads good profit margin, will put a sign up out front and see if I get any takers:-)

Ouch, 1st strike to the bees:-)

I decided to leave it until tonight to check if the feeder was working?
True enough as my beekeeping guru at work said the sugar mix had gone rock hard! So took it out and decided to to "liven it up" as any old brickies labourer will do when the gaffer has got his back turned. The problem is just how much hot water to add to get the right consistancy when you have no idea how much the bees have eaten.
So a bit hit and miss.
Went back to hive to replace the feeder, all went well, closed up hive and that's when a bee struck, judging by the wound came at me from 10 o'clock high and fired off a round into my hand!
Hey, I was only trying to feed them, some bees are so ungrateful (never sure how to spell that!)
Well the sting wasn't that bad, bring it on lady bees.

PS ok I was in shorts and tee shirt so maybe I was asking for it? :-)

Feeding Time

On Thursday decided that I needed to feed the bees, give them a helping hand to get the brood frames full of stores, ok the post is a bit late!
I should really have done this when I first got the bees but I decided that they seemed to have plenty of stores so no need.
Feeding is quite simple or the book tells you! There are plenty of different types of feeder, I have a contact feeder, a bit like a 5ltr plastic paint pot with a lid that has a 5cm diameter hole in it with a very fine metal mesh over the hole. the idea is pour 2kg of cane sugar into the feeder, then add 1ltr of very hot water, stir until sugar completely disolved and then leave to cool before putting in hive.
It certainly looks very runny, ok I'll test turning it upside down over sink so hole is face down, the sugar solution poured out! It didn't look like slowing down so thought I had better add a bit more sugar, ok that's better.
I aded an empty super on the hive on top over the top board uncovered one of the holes in it and inverted the feeder over the hole.
Tonight I will have a look and see how much they have consumed, apparently they can get through a lot!

Can beekeepers be happily OCD?

I'm beginning to wonder if I am going down with OCD, if things don't look tidy in the hive it bothers me.
So much so that yesterday I noticed some pieces of comb had fallen to the floor. It began to get me thinking that perhaps I should extend the standard brood frames that the bees came on into brood and a half, that way the comb can't get made and break off.
So with that on my mind decided to open hive again this evening, extend two frames and clear the fallen comb. Not really what a good beekeeper would do, ie open the hive two days running!
But had made my mind up, it was a bit fiddley but managed to extend two frames.
The comb I took out had some pollen stores and some brood, checked the brood for varoa mite, no sign of any and put the pollen comb on the landing board so that the bees could salvage it, they are still busy now, wonder if it will all be cleared by morning?

Bees and flying ants!

Thought I would enjoy a few hours soaking up the sun today and then flying ants invaded the garden, bees went mad, the garden was full of bees and flying ants, can't really call it a dog fight in the RAF sense, but had to beat a retreat to house, thank god it was mid afternoon and the neighbours didn't notice!
Opened hive later on for a check up and this time did manage to see queenie, sleek looking body, very fit:-), I can see why the drones want to give it one shot.
One shot? OK Drones are the male bee, they lounge about all day doing no work and then about 2pm they nip off to see their mates from other hives on the off chance that a virgin queen flies past!
Don't get the idea that you want to come back to Earth as a Drone, if they do have rumpy pumpy with the queen their tackle is ripped out and they fall to earth to die and those that don't catch up with queenie, well the workers (female bees) kick them all out of hive in late August as the Drones are a drain on bee society during the winter!
It's not good to be a male bee! :-)

Bees and Electric Lawn Mowers!

Been putting off cutting the grass, have been a bit wary of how the bees would take it. But hey what the heck.
Started out ok but when I got close to the hive the entrance suddenly filled with bees! Beat a hasty retreat, they didn't chase me so that's a plus.
So what will it be next time, a goat or a scythe, hey maybee some rabeets:-)
Away this weekend at sisters wedding, question is should I put the bees in the car? Will Travel Lodge charge me pet's rates?
Don't start thinking I have gone mad, people do take their bees on holiday, but usually to somewhere like Dartmoor for the Heather, no joke it's true!
So now I have my bonsai, tropical fish and bees, anybody fancy house sitting, away again end of August for a week, seriously I need a multi tasking bee sitter, fish feeder and bonsai waterer.
Applications care of peter.armfield1@btinternet.com
PS I didn't know pollen could be grey! what plant does that come from?

Varroa check up

My first varroa destructor sighting, I took catchment tray out from below mesh floor to see what I could find after 10 days activity, apparently if you have less than 1-2 average per day things are ok ish, well I searched on my hands and knees with help of reading glasses and I only found one, so I guess things are ok, but better safe than sorry will try dusting with icing sugar next time I open hive.

1st inspection 9th July 7pm

Got home a bit earlier from work but it was still hot so decided to leave inspection until a bit later.

Bees were busy as usual but once I opened was surprised that they weren't inclined to settle on me like the bees did on my practical course.

First rule of all beekeepers in and out quick, had decided earlier to get a super ready just in case as they had appeared busy.

Of the frame in the brood box only the first and last had not been filled by the bees so decided play it safe and put a super on when putting hive back together.

Was surprised how heavy the frames were, appeared to be lots of stores both capped and yet to be capped and on the smaller standard brood frames bees had been busy making comb on bottom, but no sign of any drone brood or larvae so will leave until next inspection, (must order an uncapping fork!).

Didn't see queenie but has been plenty of pollen flown into hive in the last week so she must be there somewhere? Of course she's there?

When I'd put the hive back together was impressed how quickly they are calmed down and it was business as usual, so much so that after taking off beekeepers suit I noticed have was a bit twisted so gave it a bear hug and moved it about and they didn't come near me! Phew!!!

A super added

Are things all well in the hive?

OK, got in from work today with the intention of opening up hive to see what is going on, but bees were really active, never seen them so busy, decided would leave the opening up until tomorrow.
Went out with kids for a tapas and when we got back had a quick check on bees, yes they are addictive! There was a large group of them moving about in entrance, more than I have ever seen, what's that all about, it's dark and the bees are still active, not flying but just so many in entrance? So many things go through your mind, are they about to swarm, they can't be, they were a nuc 9 days ago with this year's queen, not possible, or is it!
Oh well it's pitch black, not much I can do about it now, maybe a later start at work tomorrow and open hive first thing, see if I need to add a super.
It would be gutting for them to swarm this quickly, I thought I had a year before this hassle!
And I used to think that working was stressful! :-)

The Teetotal Naked Beekeeper! :-)

OK think I know why that bunny boiler bee keeps taking an active interest in me while I sit on the patio. Bees don't like certain smells, garlic, perfume, aftershave and alcohol! So not only is she a bunny boiler she's out banging the temperence drum!
So not only will I have moved house, now I will have to give up that evening tipple! There's more to beekeeping than meets the eye.
Will have to resort to that old trick of chewing spearmint gum, mind you that never worked when I ended up spending a night in jail in the deep south, but that's another story :-)
Or perhaps I will stick to Plan Bee, by my reckoning she has a maximum 12 days left on the wing?

Day 5 with bees in hive

Panic over, bees have been bringing pollen into the hive, so Queenie must be laying:-)

Yesterday evening sat on patio having a G&T and had some serious close attention from one lady bee, too close really, she hovered infront of me and eyeballed me, I get the feeling she didn't want me in garden! So beat a retreat to house, waited ten minutes went out again, sat down and she mae a beeline for me straight from hive! So is she a guard on extended picket duty or a bunny boiler bee? Is it even the same bee, well she flew exactly the same path, well fingers crossed she will be dead in three weeks and then I can enjoy my evening G&T.


Maybe she doesn't like G&T, I had been laying infront of hive watching comings and goings without any problem the previous few nights!


Got me thinking though, is the hive too close to patio, perhaps it needs moving further away, so decided to move it three feet a night, bloody hell it's heavy!! Looks like it's staying where it is, they must have been very busy in four days building comb and storing honey.


OK plan "Bee", if they still keep taking too much interest in me and my G&T I'll stick it out this year and buy a new queen for next year, some much for these being gentle bees! :-)

Can't wait to open hive on Wednesday if weather ok, to see just what they have been doing.

Bees have arrived

OK I know it's been sometime since my last post, I have been sitting impatiently waiting for bees, landlady said no to me keeping bees so I've moved to a bee friendly landlord:)

I think my bee supplier dreaded my calls, his breeder was struggling, but eventually he came up trumps with a beekeeper with a few nucs.
So on Wednseday off I drove to darkest Kent for a 8.30 pick up, bees were ready and waiting and soon loaded for the journey home, I had visions of making the travel bulletin, "M25 closed as beekeeper is attacked by car full of bees", but actually it was pretty uneventful except for one bee that hitched a ride all the way home!

My hitch hiker


Once home it was time to transfer the colony from the Nuc Box to the hive, now where did I put all the gear I needed!

I was hoping to take a few more photos but hey I'm a man and just getting the bees in hive was

enough of a task! :)

Bees are looking less than impressed, well they should calm down, or will they? I was told they were calm bees, very gentle, so why did three of them get stuck in my hair later in the day whilst I was watching the activity around hive. Me thinks BBQ's in the garden will be interesting, perhaps I need a sign on gate - BEE WARE ATTACK BEES :)

Or perhaps they are just trying to tell me time for a hair cut?

Well I am told I need to leave them alone for a week, but worried no sign of pollen going into hive, no pollen means Queenie isn't laying, this beekeeping is stressful! Will have to wait until I can open hive to see if all is well.

Plan C has kicked in :-)

OK, sorry, it's been awhile since last post, Plan C now in place, I'm moving! 200yds down the road to a two bedroom house with a garden and a landlord who is ok with bees, ok a small bribe, 2 jars of honey :-)
Have also spoken to bee supplier and should get a call next week to collect bees.
That presents a small problem, 3 feet or 3 miles! OK let me explain, bees are a bit like homing pigeons, they go back to where they think hive is located, if it is moved 3 feet they can find it, but any movement under 3 miles and they are seriously confused! 3 miles and they work out that they have been moved and carry on happily.
So 200 yards! A problem!
Have asked permission to put hive in early to new garden, they want to know when? Come on, when does a baby arrive on schedule!
Watch this space, could be plan C point 5!

....and then the 1st down!!!

Somebody told the landlady! After all these months of talking to neighbours who seemed ok with the bees, somebody has told landlady. Had a call this morning from agent saying "no way hose", never one to take no for an answer have sent an email, will let you know how I get on.
Shame was really looking forward to watching the bees in action everyday.
Plan B and C in action as a fall back.
PS People do seem to worry unneccessarily! What's the odd sting between friends:-)

.....1 more up and then!.......

My certificate at end of course

The ups of beekeeping!.........

OK been a it lazy recently not posted anything for a couple of weeks
Since last post had my last two practical lessons, was tested, didn't do too badly, got 9/10, didn't keep an eye on smoker, look for pollen on incoming bees (I did but didn't say!) and when did use smoker gave the bees a bit too much:)

Dream analysis!

Today will be opening a hive unhelped, so last night before falling asleep I was going through the proceedure and what to look for.
Then I woke up after having been attacked in slow motion by my new colony of bees, all I can really remember of the dream was thinking they had all gone back to the hive and then felt a tiggle in my ear and loud scratching noise and out popped a bee, then another, then another, then another.............
What was that all about? Years ago on hoilday in Greece an ant walked into my ear when I was asleep and the noise was scary, the bees sounded just like that.
So any dream analysers out there?

Boo Hoo, rain stopped play! :(

Boo Hoo, it rained first thing Sunday morning and bees don't like rain so no practical beekeeping course, you can't believe my disappointment.

And to cap it all was going to watch Aman play cricket on Sunday afternoon, but he picked up an injury so no cricket either!!!

But did give plenty of thinking time and decided that I do need a bigger brood box, so before those bees arrive I need to order an Eke and extension for the brood frames I have, seems like the most cost effective way forward.

Did also see another website where you can bid for bees, was very tempted to set up another hive at top end of the family garden, would have to fence it off, Bud may be too curious!

For thirsty bees, my Bee Bar :)

Bees don't just need to collect necter and pollen, they need water too. This allows them to regulate the temperature of the hive, well I think it does:).

So thought I would make a small supply available nearby for them.

Looks almost artistic, must bee the "armfield" genes making a brief appearance:)


PS-Did I mention that I have kept bonsai since 1984? No? OK that's another story:)
PPS-Stones care of Selsey.
PPPS-Water container care of local garden centre:)
PPPPS-Water care of my water butt! Well that is until it stops raining, but hey it is England so shouldn't bee a problem:)

Week 9 Practical Beekeeping

WOW and double WOW, I'm hooked! I can remember Mike from BeesnBeans, (link above), saying that we would never be satisfied with one colony! When can I give up the day job and live with the bees?:)

There is something strangely addictive just standing by a hive with bees flying all around you, the noise is kind of calming and even wierder, (is there such a word!), I felt really safe. and relaxed.

Initially Mike wanted to Queen up three Nucs with Queens that he had just received in the post from Bickerstaffs, they come on small plastic perforated boxes and have 5 worker bees to keep them company which have to be removed and discarded.

Then it was time to open up the hives for real, the ladies in the course had a real knack for spotting the Queen, six colonies on I did manage to spot a Queen by myself eventually!

What really amazed me was how heavy a frame was that was full of honey, a full frame can supply 6lbs of honey but you would never have guessed it just looking at it, two full supers are going to be seriously heavy!

At the end we had to brush the bees off each other, so what happens when you are working alone, I think this will be the stage when I get stung!

A few random photos from the day, the photos don't really do justice to the number of bees airbourne when the hive is open, I'm beginning to wonder if my chosen location is such a good idea, but the neighbours seem keen so what the hell lets go for it:)