Apiary visit 18/06/2011

Today I visited the apiary to see how my Bees were settling in to their new home. Before going I made up some syrup to feed them; this is done to help the Bees get off to as best start as possible meaning they can concentrate on building wax comb rather than foraging. The syrup was a 1:1 ratio which means 1kg of sugar to 1 litre of water, but today I made 2:2 which made just over 3 litres.

The 3 litre pop bottle was full to the brim with syrup and I still had to take a small container to take the rest!

When I got to the allotment I put my suit on and headed to the apiary. My Dad called me earlier to say he had been up there today and put a door on the apiary at the back making it easier to get in and out.

The newly fitted door at the rear of the apiary and the back of the hive

Once inside the apiary I took the roof off the hive and lifted the feeder out. It was a good job I went up today as the feeder was almost empty! I poured all the syrup into the feeder and after taking a couple of pictures put it back in place. Although I didn't open the full hive up, it was good to see a small bit of the inside when I lifted the feeder. I could see the Bees have been busy and are building new comb, they had even built some on the bottom of the feeder!

The lid of the feeder with wax comb built on

Inside the roof where the feeder has been. The 2 white things are porter Bee escapes

A close up of the opening. Sorry it's slightly out of focus, it's hard to take pictures with a veil and gloves on!

I will be going back to do a full inspection some point next week and see how they are developing inside the hive!

Beekeeping Course: Week 3

The third week of the Beekeeping course again was split into 2 parts; the apiary visit and then back in the classroom. Before going up to the hives we were advised that we were quite lucky that the weather had picked up enough for us to do the hive inspections. Also young virgin queens will have recently hatched so the apiary visit had to be quick as if the hives were left open too long they could take flight and be lost.

On the walk up to the apiary I put my suit on and tucked my trousers into my socks (I didn't fancy Bees in my breeches). I managed to pull a large amount of hair out of my head as the Velcro on my veil got caught in my ponytail. When we got to the apiary we split into 2 groups and looked through the hives. The first hive we looked in was a polystyrene nuc hive; a nuc or nucleus hive is a small hive created from a larger hive, they usually only contain 5 or 6 frames of brood and a queen. The queen was spotted but she is still a virgin queen so was hard to spot as she has a very small abdomen compared to a laying queen. The hive was closed up very quickly so not to disrupt the build up of the hive. We then moved onto a larger more established hive, this one having a double brood area. We did a quick check to make sure there were no queen cells being created and removed a couple of queen cups; they were all empty so were just practise cups. There were plenty of brood and also quite a lot of honey in stores so no issues with the hive. We passed around a frame that the foundation was been drawn out on; this is where the Bees turn flat foundation into full comb with cells ready for eggs to be laid, or honey stored.

After the apiary visit we went back to the classroom. To begin with we had a presentation from a guy called Chris who did the same course I am doing last year. He told how he has gone from a beginner to what stage he is at now. By what Chris was saying, he has really embraced Beekeeping. He has got 6 hives now though 2 are nucs and may be used to strengthen the other hives should the need arise. One thing that interested me was that he builds his own hives from ply wood which would make it a lot cheaper, though the hives wouldn't last as long and would need to be treated against rot each year; The usual wood used is cedar as this has natural resistance to rot. I'd also need to make sure my measurements were precise so the frames fit in without getting stuck or being too loose. All in all his talk was very encouraging as this time last year he was at the same level as me.

The second half of the classroom session was Dhonn, the other guy running the course, talking about other essential pieces of equipment needed for Beekeeping. As he was talking about the various bits of equipment he handed them around the room for us all to see. Some of the items passed around were:-

• Queen cage and marking pen - This is a small round cage used to hold the queen down so you can use a marking pen to put a coloured mark on the queens thorax, making her easier to find.
• Hive tools - Already mentioned in a earlier post, these are used to prise hive components apart that have been stuck together with propolis by the Bees, also used to scrape debris and other bits from frames.
• Porter Bee escape - These are basically one way systems that you put between the brood chamber and the supers so that the Bees will leave the supers and not be able to get back in. This is done so that when you return a couple of days later there are no Bees in the supers so you can take them away to extract the honey. 
• Uncapping fork - Has two uses. The first use is to remove the capped honey so that it can be extracted. The second use is for removing drone brood to check for varroa; this kills the drone brood as the fork impales the brood, but as varroa prefer to infect drone it a useful technique for seeing how bad your mite levels are.
• Frame spacers - Simply used to make sure the correct space is kept between frames.

There were other items mentioned such as the suit and the smoker but these items weren't passed around and are very self explanatory.

Also in the past week my better half's chickens have arrived, please visit Stephs Chickens where there are pictures of the girls.

Beekeeping Course: Week 1

This Wednesday just gone was the first day of the Beekeeping course I am attending. Similar to the Beekeeping meetings I attended over the winter, I was probably the youngest there by a couple of years. As it was the first day of the course it was fairly easy going. We just went over the basics such as what each part of the hive is called and a brief history of the Honey Bee. I was fairly surprised by the amount of people on the course that already had Bees; probably about half. I got speaking to a guy from Sheffield who was on his second year of Beekeeping but had developed a bit of a problem with varroa mites so was attending the course to get more info on pest management. We also got given a folder with various booklets and a course guide.

For me the best part of the course was when we went to the apiary and had a look in a hive. This was the first time I saw inside a hive myself. We were split into 3 groups, the group I went into was for people with no experience, though there wasn't any difference in what was been shown. To start with Val, the lady hosting my group, smoked the hive entrance to calm the Bees down. After a small amount of smoke was wafted over the entrance the hive was opened; Val then talked about the various parts of the inside of the hive. She pointed out the brood including eggs, larva and capped cells, we were even lucky enough to see a Bee emerging from its cell for the first time but more importantly we saw the queen. We were showed the supers as well, which is were the excess honey is stored, but at this time of year there wasn't much honey stored up there, hopefully over the coming weeks we will see this fill up somewhat. There were various different stages of honeycomb, ranging from plain foundation that hasn't been made into cells to fully drawn out comb ready for storing nectar. I also found out that the cells are at a slight angle to stop the liquid honey from flowing out; again the Bees amaze me with their abilities!

After the hive inspection we returned to the class room and Ivor (the regional Bee inspector who is running the course) went over a few things including where to get your hive from and also gave a run down of how much a colony of Bees costs at the moment. For a nucleus colony it's currently £150 or more, which includes 5 or 6 frames of Bees and brood and a queen. As a introductory offer to new Beekeepers there will be a limited amount of nucs available for a reduced price. He also said about a limited amount of spare suits available for reduced price so may buy 1 for my dad (extra large!).

I look forward to next Wednesday and the second part of the course. With any luck the weather will continue to be good and we will see inside the hive again. I did quite enjoy the Bees flying around me from the safety of my suit!

Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers: February Meeting

Monday just gone was my 3rd time attending Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers Association meeting and my first as a member.


This month the subject was "Preparing for the New Season Ahead" with guest speaker David Aston. In the meeting he talked about the importance of getting ready for the new season. 


Such things as removing mouse guards now that some flowers are starting to bloom and we are having the occasional nice day, the bees are starting their first foraging runs. With mouse guards still in place some of the pollen can be brushed off the bees as they re-enter the hive. At the beginning of the season bees need this early pollen as it provides them with protein needed to thrive.


Also mentioned was the importance of cleaning comb and disposing of old, damaged or diseased comb. This is of greater importance than ever with the recent decline of bees. The best way of disposing of old comb is to burn it as this will get rid of any potential contagion. Also with frames being so cheap it would often be cheaper to replace comb rather than risk infection and end up having to replace whole colonies! 


Other pieces of equipment that were mentioned that need checking before the new season are your smoker, hive tool, suit, veil and gauntlets (heavy-duty elbow length gloves). 
Without a working smoker you can end up working with angry bees as smoke makes the bees think there's a fire so eat lots of honey; they do this in case they need to make a speedy get away and by doing so makes it harder for them to physically sting due to their bellies being so full. He also mentioned another option which is to spray water across the mouth of the hive; the advantage of this is that it doesn't scare the queen as much so she may be less inclined to hide when the hive is opened and if a hive is smoked too much bees can think there is a problem and leave.
A hive tool is essential for removing the comb that bees build to glue everything together, also known as burr comb. It is also used to pry frames apart so inspections can take place.
The suit, veil and gauntlets are all for the Beekeepers safety so are essential. They all need to be thoroughly checked for gaps that bees can get through and kept clean so disease is kept from spreading. There was also recommendation to not use gauntlets where possible and use disposable rubber gloves if needed. By using disposable gloves your are guaranteeing the cleanest possible approach.

There was more talk on bee health and several slides, one including small hive beetles. These little nasties haven't made it to our shores yet (from the other side of the Atlantic) but due to the size of them it would be hard to see them so could be accidentally brought in on something else. In the picture you can see the little black beetles (click to enlarge). The larvae of the beetles can burrow through the comb, defecating as they go, which can in turn discolour the honey and cause it to ferment, thus spoiling the honey! A common sign of this damage is a smell of decaying orange and a slimy froth. If the infestation gets too bad the bees may abscond the hive.


At each meeting there is a raffle and I took part this time for the first time and am happy to report I won one of the prizes. If your number comes out you can choose your prize from a variety of things, I choose a bottle of beer which I shared with my better half when I got home. 

The Suit!

This is me in my Beekeeping suit. The jacket and the veil are combined but can be separated as there is a zip for removal. The jacket has several pockets at the front for carrying your hive tools and any thing else you think you'd need when inspecting your hive. The gloves have incorporated gauntlets with elastic at the end so bees will find it tricky to get in there and sting me (I HOPE!!). There was no bottoms included in the kit I got and i prefer it this way. I think it will be easier getting in and out of the suit if it doesn't have trousers as well plus jeans offer very good protection as long as you ALWAYS make sure your fly is pulled fully up!!!!!