New beekeeper has her piggin bees! YAY!

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New beekeeper has her piggin bees! YAY!
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Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Fri May 01, 09 9:09 pm Post subject:

Floor built - check!
Brood box built - check!
Runners fitted - check!
Entrance block 'doorstops' (made from two telephone cable clips - check!
Roof built - check!
Outside of the whole lot treated with bee friendly wood preserver - check!
11 12x14 Hoffman frames build with wired foundation - check!

(We are like those little elves that come out at night - but instead of mending shoes we build Nationals.)

Bees buzzing happily in the stables - check!

Tomorrow morning - lay four slabs on the orchard, sit new beehive on said slabs, shake bees into brood chamber, go to rugby, have beer.

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sat May 02, 09 8:52 pm Post subject:
Just been hiving our swarm. O...M...G.... that is a LOT of bees! We did the 'let them walk into their new home' thing. So glad we did too. WHat an experience! Didn't manage to spot the queen sadly, but it was always a big ask. MrB is totally hooked now too.

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 6:56 am Post subject:
Well done there Mrs B. Thanks for telling us about the hiving. I was logging on all the time to see what happened after the beer and rugby... better than any cliff-hanger! Can't wait for the next installment

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 12:59 pm Post subject:

goosey. Is this better than soaps?

Went up there this morning and there were still loads of bees outside the hive.

I immediately got in touch with my tutor (Obee-Wan) who told e that the queen was probably still outside.

CRIPES! MY BEES!

Luckily it was still really early - so not warmed up yet - I hot-footed it up there and followed his instructions to the letter. Looks much better now (hooray!) and the bees look like they are foraging in the direction of some OSR fields nearby.

And breathe.

One down side though... even tho my apiary (get me... MY apiary !

) is well away from the house - the house is full of honey bees. What do all you experts out there do with your foundation? I think cos I have all the super foundation along with that for another brood chamber in the utility room I am inviting them all in for a party.

So much to learn... so little time!

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35137
Location: Devon

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 2:17 pm Post subject:
I keep mine in a little old caravan that doubles up as a shed. But I've never had a problem with bees going in there. Is were yours are stored nice and cool?

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 2:31 pm Post subject:

Yeah Jamanda, the utility room is nice and cool, but I have just moved the foundations out to the straw store. Can't have all those bees buzzing all round the house with such little children...

SO we put the kids down for their nap then hared it straight up there and lay beside the hive for a good 40 minutes just watching them go. Looks like they are foraging like things possessed! Yay! We were planning to leave them to it but have just looked up to see how long their syrup should last and it looks like we better check'em a lot sooner than that.

Here are some gratuitous bee pics: anyone know what type of bees they are or are they just Heinz 57s??

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35137
Location: Devon

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 2:36 pm Post subject:
Wow! That's a nice big swarm! Hope they settle into their new home soon. I went up to the apiary today to be told they want me to do my basic assessment on June 6th I don't even know what's in it yet except lighting a smoker - I can do that at least.

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 3:02 pm Post subject:
Now if I was to be tested on beekeeping I would fail miserably! I thought I knew what I needed to know until I got that swarm and had to make bee decisions for myself! It's a whole different kettle of fish for me now! I thought it was a really big swarm... and they have already started drawing out with lovely white wax!

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 5:08 pm Post subject:

That is a large swarm.
I hate OSR for all the reasons I've stated in previous posts but it is good for colonies that need to draw comb.
Just keep an eye that they don't fill all the comb with nectar & not leave room for the queen to lay.
Can't tell what type of bees they are, personally I think you are better off with a locally bred mongrel strain than one of the more exotic types.
Never had a problem with bees indoors might just be that they are new to the area & they are exploring.

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35137
Location: Devon

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 5:15 pm Post subject:
I'd heard that the bees couldn't get the honey back out out if they used OSR to fill the comb.

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 5:17 pm Post subject:
I thought OSR led to set honey but that it was ivy honey that the bees couldn't get back out of the comb??

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 5:21 pm Post subject:
I'm still a beekeeper-in-waiting, so I've been willing you on with your swarm Who cares what they are, they're bees and they're yours! When you said bees were coming in the house, I thought the queen was caught in your cardi and they were following you about Enjoy them.

Mrs Baggins

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Posts: 837
Location: West Kent

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 8:00 pm Post subject:

Thx goosey. Have you done a beekeeping course? Good luck with your adventure - I hope your wait is not a long one! It is surprising really that the queen was not on my cardi!

I have made so many other mistakes!

Thx for your good wishes!

We had some stray girls collected back at the stables where I kept them overnight right after I collected them. So we put the box I'd got them in back down there and just went and picked it up just now. Most of the strays had gone back in there.

SO we did the whole ramp thing again and shook them onto it. They were really weak and a few of them just keeled over on the ramp. We didn't even bother smoking them. We just brushed them ever so gently up to the entrance and that's when all the guard bees came out and saw that they were their own. It was amazing.

They all piled out and checked out the stragglers. We saw them doing mouth to mouth food transfer thing and helping them into the hive. Amazing. And it was a joy to watch all the war weary girls we'd just taken up there perk up and start fanning to announce that the had found the rest if their swarm!

Too cool.

I like bees. So does MrB.

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Sun May 03, 09 9:13 pm Post subject:
I go to an association in Sussex. It's a practical type course for the beginners. If I'm lucky I might have a split colony, or swarm to look after under guidance, with the option to buy later on. Bees really are amazing aren't they? The more I learn, the more I am truly wowed . Can't wait. I'm tempted to rig up a bait hive here in case a swarm passes by... But thx for sharing yours with us

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Mon May 04, 09 9:20 am Post subject:

WOW great excitement for you!

(You can if you want change the title of the thread now to reflect your new exalted status!)

I love the pictures of your bees... and wow what a huge swarm. I think I'd take a deep breath before opening that hive....

Good luck, I'm sure you'll bee cool

With us here: we have our hive all built and have been promised a nuc from a work colleague - he and his wife came round and helped us choose where would be the best place to site it. I think we will be ready for action in a couple of weeks.

Our mentor and his wife are quite an entertaining couple as they are both beekeepers. They help each other but both own their own hives. So when they disagree on management issues the "owner" has final say after the debate!

They both agreed on one thing though - get another hive so you can eventually run several hives - or at least more than one.

Best wishes with all your bees..... (and are they piggin now?

Sal

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