Saturday 27th on the Apiary

We will be inspecting all the colonies on site with the exception of Colin's feral colony.  Winter is approaching and we're interested to see which may not be strong enough to survive on their own and which do or don't have plenty of stores.  We recently combined the feral colonies from Franks Hall and Abbey Wood.  We removed and marked the Queen from the Abbey Wood colony and placed her along with a cupful of workers in a polystyrene mini nuc.  With a constant supply of one of the proprietary feeding syrups we hope to bring them through the winter.  No one I've spoken to has tried this and researching the internet has not given us anything positive to go on except that several people conjecture that it's not the cold but lack of accessible food that causes colonies to die out.  What have we got to lose?  I'm hoping to use Api life Var thymol based varroa treatment on all the bees this year sometime in the middle of September.
Barry

Tomorrow on the Apiary, Saturday 20th August.

On Wednesday last Colin and I recovered the remaining feral colony from Franks Hall.  All went smoothly although the Nuc which was, as my regular readers will recall, at an elevation of about 18’ was a bit of a lump to carry under one arm!  We’ve deliberately saved our first inspection for tomorrow when I hope we’ll find that the colony is healthy, vigorous and “queen-right”.  We’ll try to find the Queen and mark her, so if you’re reading this Colin, could you bring the queen marking device and your white queen marking paint on Saturday?  I fed the colony from Abbey Wood another pint of 1:1 syrup, they’ve had about 2.5 litres so far.  They’ve expanded in quite an impressive fashion since we brought them to the Apiary but I’m still doubtful as to whether they’d be strong enough to survive the winter without uniting them with another colony.  There are still plenty of plums going begging so if you want some bring a bag.

Barry

Tomorrow on the Apiary, Wednesday 16th August

Um...well, we'll look at the Nuc from Abbey Wood - they've had about 2litres of 1:1 syrup and I'm hoping they've drawn out more comb and that the Queen is laying faster.  They need to build up quite a bit to  be viable to survive the winter in good order.  We'll check the Top Bar, the Dartington and the Beehaus.  Another important task is to plant the potted Lavender that Colin blagged from Wilkinsons for a knock-down price, he says there is enough to make a hedge at the entrance to the Queen rearing area.  In the evening it's off to the Elizabethan hall to collect the Nuc mounted on the front of the house.  I'm touching wood as I write and hoping that the Nuc has a resident (new) queen and that she is laying nicely.
There are still plums available to anyone who wants to pick them, in fact the last time I looked they were ankle deep in front of the pavilion.
Barry

Today on the Apiary, Wednesday 8th August

Colin Jim and I were working on the Apiary today.  Of the proposed work we chose Queen marking, pond digging and "blackberry attack".  Colin had some work to complete on the Frame Racks in the Queen rearing area equipment shed.  When everyone was on site we duly inspected the Abbey Wood Nuc and found 1 frame full of sealed brood another half full of unsealed brood and a quarter full of sealed brood.  There was very little in the way of stores so I’ll pop down tomorrow with a feeder, a couple of pints of 1:1 syrup to give them a quick boost and a couple of 2:1syrup which they can store in the drawn comb they have already prepared.  A small feeder holding about 1 litre should do the trick.  Her majesty was quite easy to find and we marked her white. The bees including the Queen were very quiet on the comb and of very good temper.    

I started on the pond and at Colin’s suggestion we decided to divert the current path beyond the hedge on the southern side of the walnut tree.  This enables us to make the pond quite a bit larger and at the same time makes the route of the path more interesting.  The shape and position of the pond are now established. All we need now apart from a lot of hard labour is a large sheet of pond liner and a good selection of pond plants, we can hope for the wildlife to take up residence of it’s own accord.  Colin says he remembers mention of a spare pond liner by one of our members!  If we can get hold of a buckshee liner that would be a big bonus!  The owner of the Elizabethan mansion has asked us to postpone our planned Nuc recovery until next Wednesday.

Barry

Tomorrow on the Apiary, Wednesday 10th August

Queen marking, pond digging, shed tidying, Varroa checks and "blackberry attack".  These are the choices for the day but not necessarily in that order and the tasks at the bottom of the list may not get done.

Depending on the weather number 1 is to mark the Queen in the Nuc of Feral Bees recovered from Abbey Wood so that if we decide to unite our weaker colonies on the Apiary we’ll be able to find the spare Queen easily.  Pond digging is a long term project which will be straight forward labour that any helpers can pick up on once the shape and position are established.  Shed tidying is of a fairly high priority because we've decided that if you don't know that you possess something, perhaps because it's buried in the corner of the shed, you might as well not have it!  It's also important to  be able to "lay your hand" on a particular tool or item of equipment as quickly as possible when a hive is open and you're veiled up with a smoker in one hand.  Varroa checks, by estimating the mite drop should be fairly quick as it only entails sliding the V. trays out and inspecting them but it is important because it has to be done soon.  I'm hoping to use Api Life Var, a thymol based organic product, and it can't be used when temperatures drop below 15C.  Blackberry removal is an on-going process which will hopefully result in the Apiary being free of Brambles except along the perimeter fences and hedges.  We've concluded that if they're properly trained we'll have just as much, or maybe even more, blossom and fruit as if they'd been left to do their own thing and we'll have a great deal more room on the Apiary.

Late in the afternoon Colin and I plan to recover a feral colony from Farningham which should by now be mainly resident in our Nuc with, touch wood, a new laying Queen.

Barry       

Absconding bees - other stuff - 6th Aug. Apiary Meeting Soap & Toiletries

Next Saturday Dr.Sara Robb will be showing us how to make soap using the products of the hive.  All are invited.
I have a new telephone or should I say an additional phone as I'm keeping the old one for a while until people stop calling me on that number.  The new number is 0 742 743 1108 which I think is quite memorable, anyway my reason for bringing it to your attention is that I want people to use it instead of the old one.
Yesterday Colin and I collected a colony from Abbey Wood, (see last blog).  There's a Queen in residence and it looks like she's performing well but the colony is very small so we may need to combine this colony with another.  We know the Queen is only a couple of months old and she is laying nicely so if we did "combine" she could be surplus to requirements and available to a member who needs to re-Queen.  On Saturday we'll try to find and mark her to make her easy to locate in the future.  If you want to see how to find the Queen and mark her, come early on Saturday at about 1000.
On Sunday 24th July Colin Emmanuel, his friend Mark and I went to Romford to collect a feral colony from a compost bin.  Everything went swimmingly, most of the brood comb was hanging from the lid of the bin and the owners kindly gave permission for us to take the lid back to Dartford.  As luck would have it the comb, still attached to the lid, slotted neatly into our prepared box (a super fixed with brackets to a brood chamber).
On the following Monday Colin and I installed them in Emmanuel's Beehaus hive (the long plastic hive made by Omlet ltd. and based on the Dartington design).  On Wednesday E phoned (using the old number) to say that the bees had absconded!  On three occasions in the past and this is the second time this year I've had a newly installed colony abscond.  One  of the installed colonies was a swarm and two were feral colonies with their comb trapped in standard frames with chicken wire on one side and single strand wire on the other.  All three were on open mesh floors.  On the second occasion a hinged flap on the bottom of a home-made Dartington accidentally "flapped" open and on the last grass stuffed under the mesh floor and above the varroa board, (there was a gap of about 2" between them), became, I believe, partially dislodged.  In future I shall be doubly careful when installing a new colony I'll avoid exposing them over an open mesh floor and we're giving some thought to the design of an all wood "comb trap frame". Has anyone any ideas?
I hope to  see you on Saturday.
Barry

3rd August, wild bees, and plums.

Today at about 1930h Colin and I will be collecting the feral colony from Abbey Wood, (see previous postings).
The theory is that we will find brood in the recovery Nuc, positioned high up the brick wall of the block of flats.
We will then block the entrance, wrap the Nuc securely in a sheet and carry it off to the Apiary.  Let's hope it goes smoothly then we need to find a home for the bees.
There are "buckets" of plums (Victoria I believe) on the Apiary, all members are invited to pick as many as they like just bring a container.  I've bottled some in honey syrup some in sugar syrup and some in brandy with a little added honey.
Barry