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.