Just a quick look

The weather has been so bad and is forecast to be the same for at least the next few days, in this knowledge I decided to take  a quick peek into a couple of hives.  It wasn't warm enough and it was too windy, but I was getting increasingly concerned at what I might eventually find, so I caved in, put on my suit and chose two hives at random

       .

There has been so little flying that it was not possible to know what I was likely to find, but to my absolute surprise both hives are heaving with bees, brood and stores.  I have no idea where or when they collected it all, but I have had to remove a couple of frames of stores to give the queens some laying room.

If all my colonies are in this condition I will consider myself extremely lucky, And with the early queens arriving over the next few weeks I just need a couple of reasonable days so that I can introduce them into my nucs.

What a difference a year makes

Two photos taken a year apart of the same damson tree.  The one on the left was taken on 26 March 2012, and the one on the right today, 4 April 2013.  On the face of it similar days, sunny, blue skies.  But on that day late March 2012 it was a warm 17C, and calm.  Today it is hovering just above freezing with a howling north easterly.

I am sure that all my colonies are going to come through this dreadful weather, but what concerns me is the size of those colonies, its a worry.  Until I am able to inspect the hives its impossible to gauge the strength of the colonies, some may need moving down to a nucleus box to make it easier for them to maintain temperature.  Promised good weather for next week, fingers crossed.

4 April 2013

26 March 2012

So, this is Spring

I can't remember or imagine a worse Spring for the bees.  Looking at the forecast for the weeks ahead there appears to be no end to this slow motion train wreck that is our weather.  I have willow, (which is usually the first main crop of the year for my bees), surrounding my apiaries, sort of in flower, but it is way too nasty out there for the bees to be able to get to it.  In past years I have had bees in huge numbers taking willow in late January.

Judging by the numbers of phone calls and e-mails I am receiving it looks as if there is going to be larger than usual Winter colony losses this year.  I ordered my early queens in November 2012 for delivery in April 2013, so as usual I have limited numbers.  I doubt if I will have English bred queens this year until mid-late May,  so I have stopped taking orders for my early colonies and nucs, just for the time being in case any of the people I mentor have last minute losses and require replacements.

The next weeks are critical.  This is always the most dangerous time for a colonies.  As they comes out of their winter dormancy period and start the Spring build up. Most of the workers are very old now and there are a lot less of them than there should be in a hive right now.  As always all my colonies have had fondant available from November onwards, and they are still taking it in large quantities, but there are limits to what any colony of bees can handle, no matter how well looked after they are.

It must be a horrible feeling to lose a colony to starvation, not something I want to experience.

Oxalic treatment

The cold spell of the last few weeks is about to break, so this is probably the last chance this year to carry out the oxalic acid treatment on the hives.  I measure out the acid using a jewelers scales.  The recipe for this is clearly stated on the back of the pack of crystals and should be adhered to, absolutely.

The crystals are mixed into a 1:1 sugar syrup solution, 5ml per seam of bees is the recognized dosage, so I use 5ml syringes, ten of them are filled before taking the top off the hive.

One 5ml syringe full is drizzled along each seam of bees.  As each seam is completed I leave the empty syringe at the end of the row of bees, so I know which have been treated.

The whole operation should only take a few seconds, the crownboard and roof back on as soon as possible.

The empty syringes are refilled, and the routine moves on to the next hive, hopefully the bees have minimal harm and they will be carrying a lot less passengers.

Winter has arrived

Well after the very mild weather just before Christmas, I guess it was going to happen sooner or later.  It is freezing -6 C last couple of nights.

However it does mean that I can get on with building some of the kit for next season without feeling guilty about all the jobs I have to do outside,  I am working on the second batch of hives, so far, three floors, three broods, two supers, two roofs and a shedload of frames.  The first batch of four are complete, all have deposits on them are stored away in the dry and will be ready for collection mid - late May 2013, with colonies installed.  From the amount of interest I don't think this second batch will be available for long.

I am glad I did not rush to trickle oxalic acid on my colonies before the new year, another week of this weather, and that looks likely, will be the ideal time to carry out the treatment.