25th

Bees flying again this Christmas!

7th - 17°C

Hive L: Fed more sugar solution.

Hive R: Q found in lower brood box so Q cell in top brood box destroyed. Four frames containing sealed brood left in top box but all other frames removed and placed about 5m away. Thymol tray still contains crystals.

Hive W: New brood found in lower brood box. Four frames containing sealed brood left in top box but all other frames removed and placed about 3m away. Thymol tray still contains crystals.

5th - 15°C

Hive L: The bees had sealed the tray of thymol crystals against the roof so added a Q excluder above so that is was open. Fed more sugar solution.

Hive R: Q cell found in top box. Had the original Q died? All bees brushed off the frames into the lower brood box. A tray of thymol crystals was placed on the top of the brood frames, then a Q excluder, then a super, then a roof with a narrow openning, and finally the upper brood box with the Q cell. If there is already a Q in the lower box I want them separated. I want to encourage them to take the stores from this top box and take them down to the lower frames. If necessary I will overwinter with two brood boxes.

Hive W: The Q had moved into the top brood box and producing brood so all bees were brushed into the bottom brood box. The tray of thymol crystals was added followed by a Q excluder, a super, a crown board, then the top brood box. If necessary I will overwinter with two brood boxes.

23rd - 20°C

Hive L: The cleaned up supers were removed. Replaced floor for one that isn't rotting! Fed more sugar solution. About 5gm of thymol crystals placed in tray underneath crown board.

Hive R: Top Q found in lower brood box. She looks healthy. Stored honey in top brood box uncapped to encourage them to take it down to main brood chamber. About 5gm of thymol crystals placed in tray underneath crown board.

Hive W: Stored honey in top brood box uncapped to encourage them to take it down to main brood chamber. About 5gm of thymol crystals placed in tray between brood chambers.

17th - 22°C

Hive W had attacked Hive 4 colony and many dead. Cleaned up and placed Hive 4 brood frames directly on top of Hive W. Destroyed Hive 4 Q (small black). Fed with sugar solution.

Destroyed Hive R Q, sprinkled both colonies with icing sugar and placed a sheet of newspaper between the colonies. Hopefully Q from Hive 5 will be accepted into entire colony. Fed with sugar solution.

Hive L: fed with sugar solution.

10th -20°C

Hive 4 brood box placed on top of Hive W brood box with newspaper, Q excluder and half-full super between them. Tray of Apiguard added.

Hive 5 brood box placed on top of Hive R brood box with newspaper, Q excluder and half-full super between them. Tray of Apiguard added.

Hive L: very strong colony so it was reduced to a brood box plus one super. Tray of Apiguard added.

Five supers removed from hives producing 92lbs (41.7 kgs) of honey.

Grand total of 630 lbs (286 kgs).

20th - 18°C

Cool and wet August.

Five supers removed from 3 hives.

Another 129 lbs (59kgs) of pale runny honey extracted. (538lbs (244kgs) so far with more to be taken off).

16th - 30+°C

Very hot July. In the 30s most days. As high as 39°C one day!

A total of eight supers removed from all 5 hives. Five more supers (each 8 frames) constructed.

208lbs (94kgs) of runny honey extracted. (409lbs (186kgs) so far)

24th - 20°C

Cool after a week of rain.

Hive L: Two more brood frames of honey swapped for foundation, and a super of foundation added. Half a super of honey removed.

Hive R: Still good brood but supers not ready this week.

Hive W: Lots of capped Q cells positioned halfway up comb. Removed Q and all Q cells bar one. One super removed and two added. Capped Q in top placed in Apidea.

Hive 4: Two frames of honey removed. Added a super of recently spun frames.

Apidea: Small black Q caught and given to Dennis.

Hive 5: Added an empty frame to try and reduce overcrowding. Added a second super.

21lbs (9.5kgs) of pale honey extracted. (201lbs so far)

17th - 25°C

Hive L: Capped brood. Two brood frames of honey were replaced with foundation in positions 3 and 9. Six frames of honey were removed.

Hive R: Good brood pattern. Two of the three supers will be ready next week.

Hive W: Grafted lavae from 11/06 didn't take so Q cell lavae grafted mid week. One of five survived and being built into Q cell. One new grafting attempted. Super removed.

Hive 4: Added three undrawn frames. Two frames of honey removed.

Hive 5: Colony building well.

29lbs (13kgs) of pale honey extracted.

11th - 30°C

Hot!

Hive L: Two supers removed. New Q found and marked. Starting to lay. A few eggs and lots of royal jelly at the bottom of some cells.

Hive R: One super removed. Q laying well. Q cells removed.

Hive W: One super removed. Almost completed Q cell removed. Two frames of brood moved to top box with artificial Q cell cups each containing a grafted lava.

Hive 4: Q not found but colony relatively quiet so maybe Q is present.

Apidea: Frames building well and first sign of eggs.

Hive 5: New Q found and marked. Starting to lay. A few eggs and lots of royal jelly at the bottom of some cells.

80lbs (36kgs) of OSR honey extracted from four supers.

4th - 23°C

Weather has at last warmed up for the past few days.

Hive L: Five frames removed. Still no brood. Two supers will be ready next week.

Hive R: One frame removed. Foundation slowly being built up. Good brood pattern. One super will be ready next week.

Hive W: Q laying well. Two super will be ready next week.

Hive 4: No brood yet but cells being polished ready for laying.

Hive 5: No brood yet but cells being polished ready for laying.

10lbs (4.5kgs) of OSR honey extracted.

28th - 15°C

A few more days of cold, showery weather. Bees don't like it!

Hive L: Two supers removed. No sign of laying Q yet.

Hive R: Q laying on half of new comb. Good brood pattern. Rest of foundation not built up yet. One super removed.

Hive W: Q laying well. One super removed.

Hive 4: Q excluder removed and swarm (and Q) went down into brood box.

Apidea: Entrance opened and placed on tree house.

Hive 5: Q cell not hatched. Two small Q cells found and removed.

61lbs (29.5kgs) of OSR honey extracted.

24th - 20°C

Swarm! First warm & sunny day for nearly two weeks.

Hive L: Not inspected.

Hive R: Q found. Q cells removed

Hive W: Q found. Q cells removed

Hive 4: Two sealed and one open Q cells found and removed. Swarm was from here so placed in new box on top with Q excluder. Q emerged from one (small) cell so placed in Apidea with handful of swarm bees, closed and placed in dark.

Hive 5: Two small Q cells removed. Large one remained unopened.

21st - 12°C

Very cold and wet for the past 10 days. Quick check that colonies still alive.

13th - 20°C

Previous week was again very warm in the mid 20s. Last two days has been thundery. OSR still in full bloom. Apple and plum in flower.

Hive L: Lots of queen cells and no new brood so the queen had escaped last week. Removed all queen cells bar one. 2.5 supers full.

Hive R: ~10 queen cells so an artificial swarm was done. One frame of brood was kept and 10 undrawn brood frames added. 2 supers are full so a third is required.

Hive W: New frames being drawn out and eggs already being laid. One super full. The old foundation is not being drawn in the second super so it will be replaced.

Hive 4: Removed all queen cells bar one. Little honey in single super but then not many bees flying yet.

Hive 5: Other half of Hive R. Removed all queen cells except one sealed. No super.

6th - 18°C

Previous week was very warm in the mid 20s. OSR in full bloom and lots of blossom in fruit trees. Apple blossom still to come out.

Hive L: Almost two supers in one week so added a third. Queen cells starting so tried to clip the queen's wings but she flew off. Can't be certain she went back into the hive.

Hive R: Only about one-half of a super collected. Queen laying well but only early queen cups being produced.

Hive W: One almost full super but no inclination to draw out second super of foundation. Found queen cell days only days from being capped. Artificial swarm - all new brood chamber of undrawn foundation plus one frame of brood and store from previous colony.

Hive 4: New colony consisting of frames from Hive W, nurse bees, one frame of foundation and one super with 2-3 frames filled with nectar.

30th - 16°C

Oil Seed Rape coming out. Cherry and pear in full flower.

Hive L: Queen found, marked but not clipped. Brood strong. Honey flow just starting.

Hive R: Queen found, marked and clipped. Brood strong. Honey flow just starting. Added one frame of brood foundation.

Hive W: Queen not found but brood strong. Honey flow just starting.

23rd - 15°C

Super frames being cleaned and built-up. Honey flow not yet started.

2nd - 15°C

Hive L: Brief inspection. Brood expanding well. Some pollen being collected. Two supers added.

Hive R: Brief inspection. Brood expanding well. Some pollen being collected. Some mould in bottom corner of brood box - one frame removed and lower half of adjacent frame scraped away.Two supers added.

Hive W: Brief inspection. Brood expanding well. Some pollen being collected. Two supers added.

February/March

Fed all three colonies with a mixture of 50% water to 50% sugar by volume in inverted honey jars.

2006 Introduction

I over-wintered three WBC hives in a corner of the garden facing due south. It was a mild winter (bees flying Christmas Eve) but a long, cold February, March and April. Spring blossom is very late.

Hive L: Queen 2005 (not clipped)

Hive R: Queen 2005 (clipped and marked yellow)

Hive W: Queen 2004 (clipped and marked yellow)