Wasps are still a problem and unfortunately our 2 homemade traps are not doing the job. We are getting about 50 in the small (bought) hanging trap a day and only few in the bottle traps. So, unfortunately, I've resorted to buying 2 more hanging traps which should arrive today.
Checked the hives on Sunday when the weather improved a little and the Dolphins, at the top of the field, seemed to be coping with fending the wasps off well, but the nuc was clearly having problems still. The Q cell was sealed, but there were several wasps in the hive and quite a lot of dead bees on the floor.
We risked going through the Lizards, as we saw another capped queen cell through the window. We were as quick as possible and fortunately it was the only Q cell we found. Quick decision needed!
We had considered an artificial swarm in the hive, but decided against it:
1) There was only one Q cell, so they were not majorly serious.
2) The weather wasn't good enough to take the time searching for the Queen and would we find her anyway?
3) The nuc needed reinforcing.
4) Hopefully, by the time the weather improves they will have forgotten about swarming.
So, we took the comb with the Q cell out of the Lizard hive and put it in the nuc, being as sure as we could that the queen wasn't on it. We figured it would reinforce the nuc and also give them another Q cell to play with.
The Lizards weren't very happy with this and there was a lot of clustering around the entrance for a while after, but they soon settled down.
We also moved the nuc in front of the Lizards and to the side, as Phil had suggested, hoping they might pick up some more flying bees and have more chance of fending off the wasps.
We just hope this was the right decision, time will tell.
Have checked several times since and the nuc is definitely fending off the wasps more effectively and seems to have more flying bees. I saw pollen going in this morning!
Thursday 21 July 2011
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Link to Phil's video taken at weekend
Here is the link to a video taken by Phil at the weekend showing the Lizards flying!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mfkmuxPR50
The bees are flying from the new nuc, but not yet bringing in pollen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mfkmuxPR50
The bees are flying from the new nuc, but not yet bringing in pollen.
Monday 11 July 2011
Intermediate Natural Beekeeping Course July '11
Weekend 8th - 10th July '11
There were 11 people on the Intermediate Natural Beekeeping Course, with Phil Chandler as tutor. We were all beekeepers already and/or had been on the introductory course and were getting bees soon.
It was a very good group with lots of varied experience, interaction and ideas. We visited the hives on Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins had taken quite a lot of the feed and were flying well. We opened up the hive and inspected the mess inside, which Jim and I will have to sort out, once the brood has emerged. The bees seemed happy though.
Lizards were flying on mass again and we opened up to see how crowded they were. The first 2 combs were fully formed now and crammed with honey. A few combs in we found an uncapped Queen cell and another smaller horizontal, capped, odd cell that was bigger than a drone cell. We were pretty sure that there was an egg in the Queen cell. Decided to make a nucleus up in the nuc box. We transferred the comb with the Q cell, plus some with new brood and stores and moved it to where the old Buckfast hive used to be. We will keep an eye on it to check for new flying bees, bringing in pollen, over the next few days and then look in next Saturday to see if the Q cell is capped. If it isn't, we'll move in some more young brood. We also might move the nuc in front of the Lizards, if they don't have many flying bees soon, so that some of the Lizard bees go in there. We didn't inspect the whole of the Lizard hive, Jim and I will need to do that next Saturday, in case they make any more Q cells. We put in some more Top Bars for them.
The rest of the weekend went very well, especially supper in the pub on Saturday evening. We checked all the hives on Sunday afternoon and they all appeared happy.
Monday 11th July '11
Mick reported seeing wasps under the Dolphin hive. He put a concrete block under where he thought the feeder might be leaking and refilled the wasp trap. There were loads of dead wasps in it.
I checked all the hives later. The Dolphins seemed to be flying well and there were only a few wasps around, but not on the concrete block. The Lizards were flying on mass again and able to repel any wasps, I'm sure. The nuc, however, seemed to be suffering from a wasp attack too. It looked as though they were getting in under the roof. Very few flying bees, as yet. I told Jim and he made another wasp trap. He also put in a top bar, to close up the gap where the wasps were getting in under the roof.
There were 11 people on the Intermediate Natural Beekeeping Course, with Phil Chandler as tutor. We were all beekeepers already and/or had been on the introductory course and were getting bees soon.
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| Phil teaching in the apiary |
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| The Queen cell |
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| Comb with strange large horizontal cell |
The rest of the weekend went very well, especially supper in the pub on Saturday evening. We checked all the hives on Sunday afternoon and they all appeared happy.
Monday 11th July '11
Mick reported seeing wasps under the Dolphin hive. He put a concrete block under where he thought the feeder might be leaking and refilled the wasp trap. There were loads of dead wasps in it.
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| The new nucleus |
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| The Lizards |
Friday 8 July 2011
New colony - The Dolphins!
Well, we moved the new bees into their hive on Thurs 23rd June. Very difficult as they had built new comb up in the corner of the square box they were in! We tried cutting this off and sewing it to top bars, but it soon fell off and all we could do was leave it propped up on the bottom of the hive. They did have a few other combs that fit in OK. It's a very small colony, as it's just a caste. We saw the queen who seemed very young and healthy. We both looked in over the next few days and they appeared alright. The brood on the comb was still being looked after and the bees were flying well. Had a bit of a problem with wasps, but the bees appeared to be fending them off well. We had left them with only one entrance hole. Also put up a wasp trap in the tree behind the hive. Decided to call them The Dolphins after Paula who gave them to us.
They seemed to have enough supplies for the amount of bees, but after talking to Phil on Wednesday this week, decided to offer them some feed. He had read some research that showed that syrup made with nettle tea increased the brood laying by 30%. Gave them 250gms sugar in 250mls nettle tea.
The Lizards are doing well and flying out in vast numbers. We may form a nucleus from them this weekend, on the Intermediate Natural Beekeeping course that Phil is running here.
They seemed to have enough supplies for the amount of bees, but after talking to Phil on Wednesday this week, decided to offer them some feed. He had read some research that showed that syrup made with nettle tea increased the brood laying by 30%. Gave them 250gms sugar in 250mls nettle tea.
The Lizards are doing well and flying out in vast numbers. We may form a nucleus from them this weekend, on the Intermediate Natural Beekeeping course that Phil is running here.
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| Getting ready to put The Dolphins in their hive 'helped' by Alby and Rusty |
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