Bee Basics, Queen Rearing, Things to do in July, Things to do in June

Queen Rearing Timeline

June 25, 2014 Gimlet 1 Comment

It always seems to take an eternity for these new queens to get laying and the spectre of queenlessness and laying workers rears its ugly head. But when you sit down and actually work it out it, it’s often your expectations that are out of whack.

Remember she matures for 4 days after she emerges then even if she goes straight out and mates she won’t start to lay for another 4 or more days after that. So don’t waste your time looking for eggs till she’s 2-3 weeks old because if she’s not laying before then there’s nothing you can do about it anyway except gnash your teeth.

Have a look at this diagram instead – it’ll help keep your expectations on track.

Click it for a bigger version.

Or click the thumbnail below for a queenrearing timeline for Jenter kit with a Cloake board system

Click here for How to set up your Apidea

Click here for a Queen Rearing Timetable for Jenter kit or grafting with Cloake board cell raiser.

Bee Basics, Queen Rearing, Things to do in June

Piping Queen Bees

June 18, 2014 Gimlet Leave a comment

If you have a few queen cells in Apideas lined up in a dark shed awaiting release, you will know when the little virgin queens hatch because they will announce their presence by piping a challenge to any others who might be out there. Often quite a chorus can start up!

Here is a recording of a piping queen bee:

And here’s another:

Click here for photos of fighting queen bees.

Forage, Honey, Pollen Load Colours, Things to do in May

Hawthorn Honey

June 5, 2014 Gimlet 2 Comments

There was a great flow this May (2014) and there is a heavy crop of hawthorn honey on board – a once in 5 year occurrence in these parts. Hawthorn pollen is a pale cream colour but you’ll know if you’ve got hawthorn honey because you will smell it!

Click here for ‘Bee Trees – Hawthorn‘

Here’s a photo of a hawthorn bee with pollen, click it for a better view

When there is this much honey from an early flow it’s best to take at least some of it off if only to spare the beekeeper’s back. Take only the sealed honey if possible, that way you’ll leave some for the bees in the June gap.

If, however, you suspect there may be rape in amongst it – you have no choice – you will have to take the lot off. If they have no feed below you should rapid feed a gallon or so of strong syrup but take the supers off first or they’ll put it in there.

Alternatively you could place a lump of fondant or better still Ambrosia (special bee fondant made with inverted sugar) over the feed hole. They won’t put this in the supers but if they need it – it’s there and it will also pull the bees straight up in to the supers which might help prevent overcrowding → swarming etc.

Equipment, Swarming

Book Review: ‘Swarming: its Prevention and Control’ by L.E.Snelgrove

May 23, 2014 Gimlet 3 Comments

Louis Edward Snelgrove was a great beekeeper of the 1930’s. He was a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, President of the Somerset Beekeepers Association and also of the British Beekeepers Association. He wrote 3 books on aspects of beekeeping and queen rearing but the most famous must be ‘Swarming – Its Prevention and Control’ first published in 1934 and is still in print today – luckily for us.

Anyone in doubt about his credentials need only look at the cover of the book to see this is a man who knew how to control his swarms – note the steely gaze and not a bee out of place. Assuming of course that this is a picture of himself! Continue reading Book Review: ‘Swarming: its Prevention and Control’ by L.E.Snelgrove →

Bee Basics, Swarming

Artificial Swarm

May 20, 2014 Gimlet 4 Comments

The artificial swarm is the most common way of dealing with a hive which is preparing to swarm but for it to be successful, the bees need to be quite well advanced along that road.

Ideally (and this is important) your hive will have cells which are close to being capped. If not it would be best if possible to leave them for another few days. Detailed verbiage next or scroll to the bottom of the page for diagrammatic nutshell and links to multimeeja:

Equipment: Continue reading Artificial Swarm →

Life

Common Wasp

May 18, 2014 Gimlet 2 Comments

There are a lot of wasps about this spring (2014). Unless some predator kills a lot of them, or they get some horrible wasp disease there is going to be a plague of them later this year.

These great big ones you see early in the year are the queens. The emerge towards the end of summer then, after mating, they overwinter in dark corners of your shed or in the hive roofs. I heard of somebody who would stack lengths of timber with little lats between them to provide tempting crevices to attract hibernating wasp queens. Once they were all tucked in and asleep – he’d go and pull all the lats out for christmas. Continue reading Common Wasp →

Bee Basics, Swarming, Things to do in June, Things to do in May

Swarming and How to Control it

May 18, 2014 Gimlet Leave a comment

Swarm control is what you do when swarm prevention didn’t work and you discover larvae in queen cells; if you find eggs in cells it means nothing but once there are larvae you are in trouble! It doesn’t mean you failed by the way – it just means that circumstances have conspired to make the urge to swarm irresistible. Welcome to firefighting!

Continue reading Swarming and How to Control it →

Bee Basics, Spring Management, Swarming, Things to do in April, Things to do in May

Swarm Prevention

May 14, 2014 Gimlet Leave a comment

Swarming is what bees do – if they are healthy they will swarm, so take that on board and you won’t be disappointed.

Swarm prevention is what you do before you find cells with larvae in them. If you find cells with larvae in them – you’re into swarm control. Continue reading Swarm Prevention →

Bee Basics, Forage, Pollen Load Colours, Things to do in April, Things to do in May

Sycamore Pollen

May 12, 2014 Gimlet 4 Comments

Between the showers, the sun is very strong and the the sycamores are alive with bees. One of the good things about sycamore flowers is that they hang down beneath the leaves in the shelter of the canopy so showers don’t really harm them. However, gusty squalls will tear off the flowering panicles – lovely.

The forecast for the next few days is good, so with the trees in full bloom there is a good chance of a few pounds of honey.

For more sycamore information click here

Sycamore flowers and bees with grey green pollen loads — Sycamore (Acer pseodoplatanus)

If you click on this picture you should be able to see a close up of the snot green pollen loads.

Bee Basics, Beeswax, Forage, Pollen Load Colours

Dandelions

May 9, 2014 Gimlet Leave a comment

The dandelion season is almost over in most places but up here, on this chilly hill, they are still very much in flower which is nice for us and for the bees.

They are out working away in every patch of sunshine and this picture shows the colour of the pollen loads – a much stronger yellow than willow or rape. Inside the hives, everything is bright yellow with dandelion pollen. A little honey is appearing in the supers, it is very yellow quick to granulate and has a bit of a bitter aftertaste but the smell around the hives is wonderful – sort of waxy and musky.

Continue reading Dandelions →

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