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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12106  by JoJo36
 21 Oct 2021, 05:24
Got mine in a chunky slab from 'Simon the beekeeper' it was a fair price I thought and I sawed it into chunks and sealed them in plastic bags with my food sealer thing which I use for everything, absolutely brilliant!!
When I need them I will slash one side and plonk over crown boards in a couple of months I think?!!
Hmmm maybe I should put them earlier..............
 #12107  by Alfred
 21 Oct 2021, 07:54
You can tell a lot from looking underneath at the lines of wax cappings.
They create a new line as they eat outwards across the frames
If the progress falters or accelerates over the coming weeks then its a sign they could need supplement
No substitute for actually checking though ,but a good second opinion if in any doubt.
 #12108  by JoJo36
 21 Oct 2021, 11:33
Yes I do look underneath on the paving slabs under each hive to give me an idea if they have started munching!
It suddenly feels chillier today although still around 10-12 I think??!!
See we are all soft down south!! :)
 #12110  by AdamD
 22 Oct 2021, 09:48
The visulalisation of cappings on the floor or mite board brings to mind Simmins 'Modern Bee Farm' - the 1928 edition - which I glanced through this week. In these olden days when quilts were used, beekeepers were advised to put a couple of strips of 1/4" wood across the top bars to allow bees to travel from frame to frame in order to access food so they could move frame to frame as they needed. We now have a bee space in the crown-board to allow for that of course. Colonies were 'packed' for winter before the fashion of ventilation came into vogue some years after that.

We are (nearly) all Bar Frameists now.
The original Simmins book was written in 1888 and beekeepers who used hives rather than skeps were called "bar-frameists" which is quite a quaint, old-fashioned term for what was then, a modern practice. 8-)
 #12111  by NigelP
 22 Oct 2021, 13:03
AdamD wrote:
22 Oct 2021, 09:48
beekeepers were advised to put a couple of strips of 1/4" wood across the top bars to allow bees to travel from frame to frame in order to access food so they could move frame to frame as they needed.
Good thinking from those days as no bee space was incorporated into the hives. Today we also have bee space to the sides of the frames as well as at the top so they can go any which way they like.

Pulled out the last of my varroa strips today and a final chance to assess for winter. All are fine, bar one. Despite being fed the same amount of syrup as all the other colonies and also only being a medium sized colony they have guzzled their stores and are quite light. Looks like return trip with eke and fondant.
And that more or less wraps up this season beekeeping. Which all in all has been quite decent, both for the bees and in honey harvested..
 #12112  by Steve 1972
 22 Oct 2021, 20:58
Keep a eye on Wasps Nigel..I am having a nightmare at the moment with one seven frame nuc..the other four are sound but the Wasps are targeting this one for some reason just before dark when it is too cold for bees to fly.
 #12113  by NigelP
 23 Oct 2021, 09:15
Wasps have disappeared around here Steve. Was plagued with them about a month ago but not seen one in ages, cold nights, down to 2C are probably helping.
 #12114  by MickBBKA
 23 Oct 2021, 16:36
Just got back in myself after checking feed and found a full colony destroyed by wasps in the last week. There was thousands of them. This is a different apiary to the others that killed a nuc a few weeks ago. Going to have to go back tomorrow and remove the other colonies as they will get it next now I have removed the dead hive. :cry:
 #12115  by NigelP
 23 Oct 2021, 17:31
Or you could make some of Steve's patented wasp excluder entrance tunnels. From all accounts they do a sterling job of allowing the bees to control who enters their hive.
 #12116  by Alfred
 24 Oct 2021, 14:42
Its about time we saw some pictures of these....... ;)

This morning ,with the overseer,I stripped off all the feeding kit and vaped the first dose of the second oa regime.
The 'best' colony had welded their feeder board on so well I needed two hive tools to get it off
They had also packed the storage to the max and then filled brace comb across the top bars.
They are to be fair not the friendliest little gang but everything they do is done well,including honey crop.On a mission -absolute respect due.
A pint of surplus syrup ( with added wasp corpse)got funnelled into the traps
Waspage has taken its toll on one hive in particular
I dont think they're going to make it now which is a shame as they were nice golden coloured and really good to work with - nothing like all the other dull dark mongrels.
Ill dummy down whats left and pack them with fondant once the final vape is done

Brought back ,cleaned and sterilised a dozen feeders
Boy that was an exhilarating afternoon
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