The Lizards have continued to build comb at a rate of knots! On Friday they were up to 19 bars. They had built about a third of a comb on the bar I put in on Weds. Bees very busy bringing in nectar and pollen.
Phil arrived on Fri afternoon for another weekend beekeeping course. Had a look at both hives with me. Just looked in the end of the Lizards and felt we could go ahead with a split over the weekend, weather permitting. We added yet another bar. Quick look at dead Buckfast hive and Phil felt that no disease was present. Decided to go through with course members on Sat. I put the varroa tray under the Lizards later that evening.
Phil arrived with the course members late morning on Sat and we looked at both hives. Verdict on the Buckfasts is that they probably went queenless sometime over the winter and so dwindled away. There was no sign of disease, or over dampness, he thought that if they had had Nosema (the most likely winter disease) there would have been much more dead bees, as they tend to die quite quickly.
We cleaned up the hive and put back a few clean bars with fairly new, empty comb on.
The Lizards were flying in vast numbers. We went through the whole hive and they behaved impeccably. Not a single sting and yet they were all around us! Perfect, even comb and they were building manically on the newer bars. One varroa on the tray. Not 24hrs, but still pretty good. We also looked in a few drone cells and no sign of varroa. No sign of deformed wings either. All very good.
There were no queen cells and we couldn't find the queen. Phil thought it would be fine to go ahead with the split. They went back for lunch and then came down around 3.30 and we went ahead. Very interesting technique and much simpler than all that turning hives round etc.
We just took half the bars from the right hand side of the hive and put them into the other hive. We knew that there was brood and food in both ends. We didn't bother trying to find the queen, but hoped she would be in the new hive, as that would be more like a natural swarm. We put the Buckfast hive back where it was originally. We also put some of the bars from the Buckfast hive, that just had empty, newish, comb on, into each hive. Basically the flying bees will mostly go back to the old hive and by the time new flying bees emerge from the new hive, they will orientate to there. If there are any problems over the next couple of weeks we can always swap bars around if necessary, as the bees will still be used to each others' smell etc. The hive without a queen should raise one from a new egg. Half an hour after we'd done it, they all seemed quite happy, so we still didn't know where the queen was! Phil had a listening gadget which he put in both entrances to see if the sounds were different. It recorded the sounds in the hives, he listened to it later in the evening and couldn't detect a difference.
I made some syrup for the new hive (we have since named these 'The Nectans') and put it in, in the evening. This was 150gms sugar in 150mls water. They are more likely to need extra food than the Lizards as they will be short of flying bees for a while.
On Sunday the group came down again and most of us felt that the queen was probably in the Lizard hive. They were flying and behaving normally and were also still building comb. There were no more varroa visible on the tray. The new hive didn't seem particularly distressed, but they were not building at all. There were some bees flying around the hive, but not gathering supplies yet. The feed was all gone. Phil tried the listening device again and this time knocked on the hives to record the change in sound and duration. He will let us know the results.
In the evening I put 2 more jars of feed in the Nectans' hive.
We must check the Nectans within a week for queen cells and take action if there aren't any.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Thurs 21st April 2011
We went through the Buckfast hive a few days ago. We originally thought they might have starved, even though we had left them all their stores, BUT, when we went through the whole hive we found some honey. Not loads, but probably enough, some of it seemed crystalised, but most was OK. They were out and flying on warm days in Feb, but not as many as from the Lizard hive. Weird thing was the lack of dead bees. On the floor there were probably only a few more than in the Lizards' hive after the winter. Then, apart from a few odd random bees, there was a VERY small cluster of no more than 50 bees. There was some dead brood, indicating the queen may have been alive in Feb. We are wondering if we had a late swarm that we didn't notice, or perhaps they got overcome by varroa.
The good news is that the Lizards are building up very rapidly. Considering they were so depleted going into the winter, having been re queened so late, in Sept, we are amazed they survived so well. We fed them the rest of the fondant I had made, so they had only 2 kgs in total. We went through them a couple of days ago and they are building +++ and have a lot of brood and stores. They have even built a comb down from the feeding bar we had in, with fondant on it! We put in extra bars for them and will add more as necessary. We are so pleased we risked the re queening and didn't amalgamate them with the Buckfasts.
The good news is that the Lizards are building up very rapidly. Considering they were so depleted going into the winter, having been re queened so late, in Sept, we are amazed they survived so well. We fed them the rest of the fondant I had made, so they had only 2 kgs in total. We went through them a couple of days ago and they are building +++ and have a lot of brood and stores. They have even built a comb down from the feeding bar we had in, with fondant on it! We put in extra bars for them and will add more as necessary. We are so pleased we risked the re queening and didn't amalgamate them with the Buckfasts.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Wednesday 23rd March 2011
Very warm today temps up to 16 C. Bees flying +++. Checked fondant a few days ago and decided to take it out of the tub with holes in and put what was left directly over hole in top bars. Checked yesterday and they had eaten it all! Made up some more and took half down and put over the hole. Also removed cork from second entrance hole, as they seemed a bit crowded going in and out of just one. Will check feed tomorrow. They have been bringing in lots of bright yellow pollen.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Wednesday 9th March Cautiously Optimistic about the Lizards!
Missed the trauma of finding the dead Buckfasts, as I have had flu for a few days. Went down to check on the Lizards this morning, as have been feeling decidedly twitchy about them since hearing the news and wanted to check on their feed.
Bees were flying in and out, about 2 -3 at the entrance at a time. Didn't want to hang around, so not sure if they were bringing in pollen or not. T.12. Very briefly lifted the feed tub. Lots of bees on the bottom, feeding from the fondant.
Phoned Jim when got back and we discussed whether to replace the feed or not, in case it had gone off. Jim went down to check and reported back that it looks fine and the bees were drawing it out of the holes. We will have to keep an eye on it over the next few days, in case they need some more.
Jim also said that, yesterday, they were bringing in very bright yellow pollen. I think this is most likely to be Goat Willow and/or Celandine, both of which are out and good sources of nectar and pollen.
Bees were flying in and out, about 2 -3 at the entrance at a time. Didn't want to hang around, so not sure if they were bringing in pollen or not. T.12. Very briefly lifted the feed tub. Lots of bees on the bottom, feeding from the fondant.
Phoned Jim when got back and we discussed whether to replace the feed or not, in case it had gone off. Jim went down to check and reported back that it looks fine and the bees were drawing it out of the holes. We will have to keep an eye on it over the next few days, in case they need some more.
Jim also said that, yesterday, they were bringing in very bright yellow pollen. I think this is most likely to be Goat Willow and/or Celandine, both of which are out and good sources of nectar and pollen.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
6th March 2011 Disaster
Sue asked me to pop down and check the buckfasts as she has the flu, but noticed the other day that there wasn't much activity and couldn't hear a buzz.
I took off the lid and insulating materials, prised open the first comb and to my utter dismay it was completely empty, the comb had been completely cleaned out. It was the same throughout the entire hive. About half way through I found a small cluster of dead bees in the middle of a comb. There was no evidence of disease and a number of bees were dead inside cells trying to find food.
Before the winter the hive was filled to the brim with stores, not a single space left, all of it capped. It should have been more than enough for the colony. There were a few combs with crystalised honey in an arch shape which they obviously couldn't digest.
So why did this happen? One thought is that there was a high number of drones in the colony, but I guess we'll never really know.
I took off the lid and insulating materials, prised open the first comb and to my utter dismay it was completely empty, the comb had been completely cleaned out. It was the same throughout the entire hive. About half way through I found a small cluster of dead bees in the middle of a comb. There was no evidence of disease and a number of bees were dead inside cells trying to find food.
Before the winter the hive was filled to the brim with stores, not a single space left, all of it capped. It should have been more than enough for the colony. There were a few combs with crystalised honey in an arch shape which they obviously couldn't digest.
So why did this happen? One thought is that there was a high number of drones in the colony, but I guess we'll never really know.
Monday, 28 February 2011
Monday 28th February 2011
Been down to see the bees on sunny days a few times over past 2 weeks. Bees have been flying from both hives. The Lizards were even bringing in pollen on a couple of occasions. I think it was gorse, as it was very orange and dark. Not sure if the Buckfasts were too. There are now crocuses and daffodils out for them and the goat willow catkins are nearly there. As soon as it warms up a bit more we will try and remove some of the old frames from the Buckfast hive.
Lizards have now eaten about half the fondant.
Lizards have now eaten about half the fondant.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
8th February 2011
Went down to check the hives this morning. It's cold (5 degrees C) but bright and last night's frost is melting quickly. Some snowdrops out but not much else for the bees to feed from. No wind today so a good opportunity to listen to the hives.
No activity outside either of the hives today. I could hear (just) activity in the Lizard hive which is what I was hoping for. The sound was tinny rather than the happy bass resonance from the Buckfasts, but we're just glad they've got this far through the winter after starting so late. Didn't look like they've taken much of the fondant yet.
Noticed a few dead bees still with full pollen sacks on the mesh floor on the other side of the separator board. They must have been working full pelt right up until the hard weather came in
Buckfasts had been active with evidence of fresh wax plates underneath the colony, guessing that probably them uncapping and eating up their stores. Good strong smell of honey too.
Jim
No activity outside either of the hives today. I could hear (just) activity in the Lizard hive which is what I was hoping for. The sound was tinny rather than the happy bass resonance from the Buckfasts, but we're just glad they've got this far through the winter after starting so late. Didn't look like they've taken much of the fondant yet.
Noticed a few dead bees still with full pollen sacks on the mesh floor on the other side of the separator board. They must have been working full pelt right up until the hard weather came in
Buckfasts had been active with evidence of fresh wax plates underneath the colony, guessing that probably them uncapping and eating up their stores. Good strong smell of honey too.
Jim
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