Today, I brought along my good friend Steve to watch. I think he enjoyed himself and may be inspired to take up beekeeping himself - I know he has been thinking about it for a while.
Genesis is building up stores nicely now. The shallow frame is almost full and they have completed the natural comb underneath it - this is now filling with worker brood - I think it is too late in the season for them to build drone comb (I was advised by someone to keep a shallow frame in all year round as part of IPM) but it is and will be additional stores for the winter. Fed them another 2 litres of 1x1 syrup.
Monday 30 August 2010
Friday 27 August 2010
Inspection 4
Did this one after work and so it was 6 in the evening by the time I got there. It has been wet most of the day and although it was then sunny and windy the girls had a bit of "cabin fever" and were just a bit more tetchy. They are drawing comb on one of the frames of foundation and on the shallow frame they have completed the comb off the bottom now and are filling the frame with honey. I gave them another 2 litres of feed. No queen seen but there are plenty of eggs and brood.
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Feeding
Checked the feeder yesterday (with my youngest daughter - she is now a beekeeper's daughter!) - empty! Put 2l of 1x1 syrup in. Had a quick look at a frame of foundation and they are drawing that now. Some capped honey on the shallow now too. Away for a few days now so let's see how they look on my return. Very crowded with bees in there now - brood is hatching - thinking about putting that super back on!
Monday 16 August 2010
3rd Hive Inspection
Emailed and spoke to my mentor Paul whilst on holiday last week - he is great - so much experience and so willing to offer advice and encouragement to complete beginners like me. He was initially concerned that it is a bit late in the season to start but after I had explained that it is a full colony with bees covering 7-8 frames he felt it should be fine: His concern was getting them through the winter if I was starting with low numbers. I asked about a super but he said it would do no goos on top but may help on the bottom. He said they will need 40 lbs of stores to get them through the winter and a full frame weighs about 7 lbs (Hooper says 5 lbs). Currently I reckon they have 2.5 frames of stores. Paul said I should feed them with 1x1 syrup until mid September and then 2x1 until mid October.
Hive inspection revealed PLENTY of sealed brood and larvae and eggs. The super was empty and they have now drawn the comb on the shallow frame that I put in with some natural comb below, They are now putting honey into the shallow. I tried moving the super to the bottom but it looked like the returning workers were confused - they were going in and then coming straight out again and so I took it out. They were a bit upset by this and lots came out buzzing round but I did not get stung! I added my smaller feeder with 1.5l of syrup. I'll take a look in a couple of days to see how much they are taking.
Must join the BDBKA.
Hive inspection revealed PLENTY of sealed brood and larvae and eggs. The super was empty and they have now drawn the comb on the shallow frame that I put in with some natural comb below, They are now putting honey into the shallow. I tried moving the super to the bottom but it looked like the returning workers were confused - they were going in and then coming straight out again and so I took it out. They were a bit upset by this and lots came out buzzing round but I did not get stung! I added my smaller feeder with 1.5l of syrup. I'll take a look in a couple of days to see how much they are taking.
Must join the BDBKA.
Friday 6 August 2010
Second inspection - saw some amazing things
Did my second inspection of Genesis yesterday and things look good.
The super I put on last week is being completely ignored! They are building up stores in the brood chamber and drawing out foundation on a shallow frame I put in. They are building comb off the bottom of that now and this is part of my IPM strategy for Varroa. It was fascinating to see them linked together in chains as they build the wax.
I saw the queen - she is unmarked. I also saw a worker just emerging from her cell - amazing! I shook some bees off each frame to see the comb better and they do have some pollen stores there. Saw plenty of eggs.
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| Bees on the comb |
The super I put on last week is being completely ignored! They are building up stores in the brood chamber and drawing out foundation on a shallow frame I put in. They are building comb off the bottom of that now and this is part of my IPM strategy for Varroa. It was fascinating to see them linked together in chains as they build the wax.
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| Workers linking together to build comb |
I saw the queen - she is unmarked. I also saw a worker just emerging from her cell - amazing! I shook some bees off each frame to see the comb better and they do have some pollen stores there. Saw plenty of eggs.
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| Queeny - a bit blurred - you try holding a frame and camera whilst keeping an eye on her! |
Sunday 1 August 2010
Supering
Made up 10 shallow frames and put them in a super. Took them down to the apiary - the place was buzzing - literally! Sunny today so they were in & out in great numbers and the hive was noticeably noisier. Put queen excluder on and one super - let's see how much honey they store in there.
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