It’s been one of the busiest weeks of my beekeeping season so far this year but thankfully all the colonies appear to be settling after swarm control management. However, removing the queens and some brood frames to nuclei has not been entirely successful this year with half sending out primary swarms and casts with virgin queens later from the parent colonies. This happened despite my going in at 7 days, from making up nucs, when there are supposedly no more suitable larvae to produce queens from, and removing all queen cells but the one I chose 7 day previously. I shook all the bees from the frames to examine each comb thoroughly for hidden cells. Comparing notes with my bee farmer friend Mac, I discover that he has had experienced similar challenges with some of his colonies so we plan to talk this over soon. Are the bees making queens from much older larvae contrary to what we think is possible? Will be queens be suitably mated and fertile? This remains to be seen.
Of 3 shook swarms, one superseded their queen shortly after she got laying again on the new comb which was a surprise. However, we know that periods of the queen “going off the lay” can cause this. This was a very short time when there was no space for egg laying since they drew all the foundation out in only a few days. They are all now doing really well and it is so much easier inspecting a colony on fresh frames.
The Obs Hive.
The obs hive has been a source of great interest and generated several visitors over this past week. I’ve started a visitors book which I’ve incorporated into the daily note book. Now that my broken glasses are fixed, and I’m not peering through the old ones with the wrong prescription, I can see more clearly what is going on. I’m puzzled though. Last week I was certain that I saw the queen backing up into a cell and laying eggs but since then I have always easily found her on the front side clambering around on the frame on top of workers sometimes. There are no eggs yet. Yesterday was warm and still and the perfect mating day. The queen was not there at 4pm when the comb was fairly empty apart from a very busy dance floor. She was back again when I looked later so fingers crossed!
Filling the syrup feeder is tricky and needs to be timed with when the bees are not clamouring to get at it because it is easy for them to escape when I refill the jar, so I’ve given them some fondant as well. Slowly they are moving up and drawing out small patches of comb in the top frame. The back side of the hive is darker and full of quiet bees having a nap rather than dancing and storing nectar and pollen like they are at the front where the queen hangs out.
Highlight.
The main highlight of the past week has been a visit from journalist Donna MacAllister and photographer Sandy McCook from The Press & Journal newspaper. Donna writes for the Environment and Transport section and wanted to write a piece on beekeeping so she tracked me down via social media and we worked together in my apiary last week. Donna has entered me for the “Eco Hero” competition run by the “P&J” which is exciting, but more importantly for me is the opportuntity to tell the public that honey bees are not in decline and that all pollinators need our care and attention and beekeepers need to get good training to manage these important livestock.
I planned to build a big observation hive a couple of years ago, but thought that the best place was indoors in some kind of bee shed, which I don’t have, so left it to be project for the future. But it would be interesting to be able to study them close up like that. And my wife has said no to put an observation hive in my study, with an entrance tube coming in from the garden 🙁
Hello Paul,
I think that your idea of an observation hive in your study is ideal and better than my shed which gets cold in winter and needs to be heated to prevent too much condensation collecting in the hive. It might be worth having another discussion around this with your wife and emphasising the education value of this project, and the safety aspects because you are not going to have bees flying round the house if you manage it carefully.
Paul, wait for your opportunity; maybe your wife will want to do something you are not entirely happy with 🙂 That will be your chance to strike a bargain. Finger crossed
Clever thinking. An alternative is to build a 4-frame obs hive with insulating doors and roof and only have it outdoors in the early Summer. I could use a strong colony for that, and then put them back in a standard hive later in the Summer. What do you think?
Yes, that would work, Paul. You could observe the swarming process which will happen with a strong colony in an obs hive. You probably want to calculate the amount of work you will do v the benefits? Will you have lots of people to see it so that it is a worthwile exercise? On the other hand, how much pleasure do you hope to gain personally from this? A permanent obs hive in your study allows you all-year-round joy, and the chance to learn so much more from them. When is your birthday? Big one coming up? Work on the ways to get then into your study would be my aim. I first got interested in obs hives when I met a beekeeper who kept one her bathroom and I was intrigued.
There are some beekeepers in my BKA that is interested in coming to see such an outdoor hive, but yes, the pleasure would mostly be mine. But I like DIY, so fully doable. To have them in my study probably not well received by my wife – she already think I spend too much time with the bees (she might be right). But I’m keen on the idea of having an obs hive, at least part of the season.
Great Paul, that sounds like a good plan. Would you like to write a guest blog and share your experiences making one and setting it up?
If you like me to yes. I will write something for our own BKA magazine anyhow, if and when I build this observation hive I have in mind. Thinking more about it – this can be my DIY project for the coming Winter, to try out on a strong colony next Spring.