What have you done today bee-related?

[AdamD]

I went to a factory yard yesterday where they had bees living in a packing case for some time at the back of the yard and had been ignored. There were 6 large combs which were heavy with honey; with plenty of brood and bees. I put the 5 combs with brood into frames with the help of masking tape with the excess comb being cut off and given to the lads in the workshop, piled up in someone's lunch box. I looked carefully for the queen as I went through but couldn't find her. The frames and some handfulls of bees went into a polynuc and I used the lid of the packing box as a ramp and threw the remaining bees onto it. There was the queen, so she has now been marked and caged. I'll take them away later. My best guess is that the colony had enough stores to have survived the winter without intervention but as a container is due to arrive on site soon, the bees need to go.
My intention was to reduce the number of colonies I had going into winter for this year - it seems that the numbers have crept up again!

[NigelP]

Went to assist a new beekeeper who has inherited 4 hives that had been looked after by his gardener. Turns out they didn't have clue. 4 frames per brood box, the rest clogged with free form comb. They had supers over crownboards, which surprisingly the bees had filled with heather honey. One hive had total freeform and included an eke that was welded to the rest of the brood.
At least they have plenty of stores......suggested we leave them for the winter and try again in spring with some new kit.
And like typical local bees aggressive.
Never been treated for varroa but they all looked healthy enough. This place is very isolated so be interesting to see what drops onto a varroa tray next season.

[Alfred]

Did you sort out the mess?

[JoJo36]

Blimey Alfred, you seem to collect bees like I collect tortoises!!

[NigelP]

Did you sort out the mess?

Nope...sorted a bit out. But as they had no spare frames seemed to me like a Spring job. Stick a new brood box above old and wait till they move up.

[JoJo36]

Thats' interesting re varroa and never been treated!
Makes you wonder if the bees actually develop a natural immunity from varroa if left on the wild side??!!

[AdamD]

There does seem to be some 'immunity' developing although swarminess is something that helps bees rid themselves of varroa due to the brood break. Some reports are that 'resistant' bees are not so productive as there is a trade-off between productivity and resistance/tolerance.
I am mixing up immunity, resistance and tolerance in one go here (!) I could also add varroa sensitive hygene too, VSH which plays a part.

[NigelP]

Untreated bees mean many colonies die, but some survive. But not in any great way. Usually small and frequent swarmer's, the brood break being an important weapon in them keeping varroa numbers low enough to not be overwhelmed with them. I know several articles have been written on treatment free beekeeping but when it comes to yields and temper it tends to go very quiet. These bees I went to see where small colonies that had each just about filled a super with honey (non had been taken off them this year.)
Whereas my treated super stars which I took to the Rape to field beans back to apiary and out onto the heather gave me around 8-9 full supers each over the season. Exceptional year mind!.
There was a study done some untreated feral bees at Avignon in France. When they treated one group in the apiary for varroa they found honey yields nearly tripled in those bees.
So I treat.
There are several hygienic lines being developed, amongst Buckfast, Carniolan breeders. But the genetics don't hold true as the next generation are simply unhygienic again, so for my uses not a lot of good. Randy Oliver has several articles on his untreated bees. Not sure if he was getting anywhere with them though.

[JoJo36]

Adam/Nigel
Sounds like an expensive trade off if you lose loads of bees and even more honey??!!
I'll carry on with the Apivar strips I think!
I've bought some varroa med to trickle on maybe December/January??!!
Never used it before as I previously ordered some crystals (to be made up and trickled) which I didn't use as another beekeeper reckoned it was a bit harsh on the bees!!

[AdamD]

Trickling an oxalic acid preparation (either basic stuff or expensive versions) can have a negative effect on bees, although I have not seen any queen issues as a result of using the stuff and at the end of the day, a dead varroa is a good varroa!