[Beewyched]

How's everyone doing out there?

Bees have been, well, busy Bees - lots of tree pollen & the dandelions are opening up all over as the weather has been so unusually warm hot & dry.

I've decided to take a risk & let my number 1 hive go up to a brood & a 1/2 this year, unfortunately I've had to use new frames, so they will be a while building it up from scratch - so not sure if I'll get much honey from them this year, so may use it to make a nuc.  But there's a good young queen in there & it looks like the weather this summer is going to be favourable to us beekeepers, even if the commercial farmers are living on their nerves at the mo.

[Andrew]

Have both my hives on brood and a half. Put supers on at weekend as Sycamore just starting here.

[Beewyched]

Hiya Andrew 

Great to find another beekeeper up here on TAS.  I did join the local Association, but due to ill-health did not manage to get to any of the winter meets.  Do you over-winter on a brood or brood & 1/2 up here? I was advised to keep them down over bad winters?  Wondering if that's a Scottish or more of a "local" thing?

[benkt]

No supers for us, but as we've only built a topbar hive so far, that should come as no surprise
We did get a swarm to fill the topbar last week though, which seems to be settling in. I just have to try and keep my curiosity under control and not spend all day peering through the window at them.

[Beewyched]

Wow - swarming in April  mind, it has been unusually hot & dry & I think it caught a lot of keepers out - their loss is your gain anyways 

It's amazing how much time you can waste   flys by  (hehe) just watching them - so therapeutic.

[robert waddell]

may beewyched 
a swarm in may is worth a load of hay
a swarm in june is worth a silver spoon
a swarm in july isnt worth a fly

[Andrew]

I was actually helped by a member of Kilbarchan beekeepers to overwinter on a brood and half remove outside frames and replace with dummy boards in both boxes and give bees 8 frames in each box which enables them to form an eliptical brood nest. He has used this method on a sizeable number of hives for a number of years and only very infrequently has had any winter losses.

[Beewyched]

I knew I should have gone to the winter meets I always advise new keepers to - I should adhere to the old addage of "practise what you preach"

Surprising the difference in regions (only been here for just over a year) - lots to learn from the seasoned folks who've adapted things slightly to meet the needs of their bees. Suprised mine survived the winter so well considering my southern, out of date methods 

Really will have to make an effort to get along - went along last summer & met some of the KBA - they're a lovely group.

[OldGaffer]

I agree it is  a good idea to attend meetings and talk with other beekeepers, when you have the time. I heard a great talk by the FERA bee inspector, Andy Watton, called the 20 minute beekeeper, it was an excellent talk and shows methods to preempt the bees. For example, in an "out apairy" putting on not one super but two, the second super is placed above the crown board and one hole opened up in the crown board to allow bees through when they have filled the first super, this is useful in situations where you have not had time to react to their progress, i.e. in a good nectar flow.

This year I have experimented with just a wax strip at the top of the frames in my supers, three reasons:

a) allows me to include the comb in the honey, i.e. no foundation.
b) saves on foundation
c) keeps the bees too busy building comb, to think about swarming (not sure this is true!)

The downside of the above is that is cost more in terms of honey production for the bees to make their own comb, but I think they are calmer this year on balance. Has anyone else tried the above method in their supers?

[Greenerlife]

interesting you keep a brood and a half - have started doing two 'deeps' this year, as all the local boys seem to be adopting it to great success.  I guess it makes sense to reduce swarming likelihood, but I do find it extra work!  Have got extra supers on 2 out of 8 hives so far.

[starcana]

Hi, I've just put my super on today as the bees seem to be working so hard and doing so well. Some of you may remember that I'm the idiot that alarmed everyone with 'dark sticky stuff' a couple of months ago and got some 'don't panic but you could have AFB' messages. It wasn't and all SEEMS to be going well. Hoping to pick up a swarm soon for my empty second hive.

[Greenerlife]

So - Got my first supers on yesterday - my bees have been so busy already!

[Beewyched]

 

It's been a wee bit too cold recently for me to go into mine - I knew I should have checked them during our mini heatwave last month 

[Small Farmer]

The OSR has come into flower half a mile away so the supers have gone on. But we lost a nucleus this week through starvation. Even though there was syrup in the nuke box it has been too cold around here for them to use it according to the bee inspector.  We aren't seeing air temperatures over 10 yet.

Very annoying: she was a nice queen.

[Beeducked]

I put a super on mine at the weekend. They have been very busy and packed it up to the brim!