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General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12900  by NigelP
 28 Jun 2022, 08:06
On a sadder note seems Varroa has found it's way into Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-06-28/bee-eradication-nsw-government-control-varroa-mite/101188568
 #12901  by Alfred
 28 Jun 2022, 08:39
That's bad news considering their efforts in biosecurity and bad news for the beeks already battling with rampant chalkbrood.
Out of season my hive numbers are manageable for treatment purposes-almost enjoyable now I have efficient kit to do it but
Ill bet those big farm owners are just staring into their cornflakes this morning.
 #12902  by AdamD
 28 Jun 2022, 14:46
JoJo36 wrote:
27 Jun 2022, 20:07
! It sounds like a great day seeing 7 queen cells pulled but I'm not sure I would have been confident enough to left 3 to fight it out??!!
I was not sure where the first queen went as she could have flew off, so I made sure that two went in!

The method of leaving just queens in the hive does work - provided you have not left a small late queencell somewhere which of course will result in the older queens flying out and leaving 'little sis' to take over. I found it in Ted Hooper's Guide to Bees and Honey. So far, leaving queens only has always resulted in one taking over.
 #12903  by AdamD
 28 Jun 2022, 14:53
JoJo36 wrote:
27 Jun 2022, 20:07
Ahh Thanks Adam, I understand what you mean now as a way to introduce the new queen into a hive by protecting her in a cage (with fondant I assume) and gradually the flying bees will accept her. She has the supers on top to enable the workers to feed her and the existing brood box above the QX to make it easier to find the new queen!
Yes, fondant in the cage with the queen who is in the brood box below the queen excluder and supers.
 #12904  by AdamD
 28 Jun 2022, 14:57
MickBBKA wrote:
28 Jun 2022, 03:10
My preferred method of queen introduction is to put her in a cage and sit her on top of the frames. It very soon becomes apparent if the bees want her. Fanning and feeding just walk her in, trying to ball and sting then take away. Its also a great method of figuring out if your colony is QR or QL. A QR colony will try to attack a Q but a QL will be all over her fanning. Never had an issue in 10 years introducing queens this way and never lost a new Q yet.
When I know the colony is queenless, I do just allow queens to walk in sometimes, with a heavy smoking. This was described by LASI (Sussex Uni) a number of years ago. The smoke masks the pheromone enough that the queen is accepted as soon as the smoke dissipates - and after the clumsy beekeeper has left the hive be.
 #12909  by Alfred
 03 Jul 2022, 18:39
Prepared the garden nuc for its journey back to the apiary tomorrow.
The demographic is on the cusp of full changeover to the new queen, and they could do well with the flow that's on up there.
It was a revelation to open a box up with no smoke or ppe.
Not that I would take that chance with any other colony at present.
They've buggered up one sheet of new foundation by drawing an additional lobe over it.
Ill have to cut it off but thankfully there isn't much brood in it yet.
Made up some dummy boards and insulated fatframes from some rubbish .
 #12910  by NigelP
 03 Jul 2022, 19:24
Good news ..removed about 20 supers full of field bean honey.
Bad news...as I didn't have enough empty supers to clear into..... the buggers filled all the space under the clearer boards with comb. What a mess to sort out...made worse because it was peeing down.
Looks like a boring day extracting tomorrow.
But then a few days away at Bridlington...fish and chips and seaside culture. Hurrah!
 #12911  by MickBBKA
 04 Jul 2022, 02:59
Amazingly we have had a second flow here after 2 dead weeks in June, This year from the first signs of fresh nectar in the combs we have had 3 weeks in May and 2 weeks at the end of June with a gap of no nectar at all for the period inbetween. I would love to see what they could bring in over a 3 or 4 month period like other parts of the country. But like Nigel I ran out of supers and have probably not maximised the flow as they have been stuffing the brood frames with stores.

Secondly this is the first time ever I have had a nuc which I started as 2 frames of brood and eggs in May to force queen cells expand enough to fill a full brood box and 50% fill a super with honey in the first season and the weather has blown a hoolie for 16 weeks none stop. I have been fishing once in my sea kayak and had to give up after 4 hours as the difference in forecast was enough to get me killed because they have no idea what they are predicting.

I really struggle to understand how fast they can switch on and make an amazing amount of honey in 2 to 3 weeks after being on the edge of starvation.

Forever learning is my motto...........
 #12913  by NigelP
 04 Jul 2022, 16:31
[quote=MickBBKA post_id=12911 time=1656899957 user_id=633

Forever learning is my motto...........
[/quote]

Forever uncapping was todays motto.
20 supers done and dusted.....and more on the way.
It was game of 2 half's..the field bean honey was showing 16% and was as thick as treacle and very very slow to go through the sieves. Held me up enormously.
My garden apiary stuff was quite dark and at 18% poured through the sieves. I suspect quite a bit of chestnut in there.
And thank goodness for those backwards uncapping forks they make uncapping frames a total breeze. If you haven't tried them you should. Go for the smaller size as the larger one is not as good on most frames.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/processing/uncapping/uncapping-tools/uncapping-slice-with-stainless-steel-handle-narrow-or-wide.html
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