The Beekeeping thread

[.....]

Thought I'd contribute
Had this bunch in the garden for about 6 years.
Same tree/hole. Fully expecting a stump in the near future, as I would imagine they are hollowing out the inside of the trunk.

[Taff]

That's cool AF.
they don't tend to chew wood so unless the tree is dead and rotting it shouldn't fall because of the bees.

Are you in the UK?
I'd be a little bit surprised if it was the same colony after 6 years because Varroa mites tends to weaken colonies over time, they then die off over winter and a swarm moves in during spring.
Having said that, if they are tolerating mites that's very good news

[Count Steer]

That's cool AF.
they don't tend to chew wood so unless the tree is dead and rotting it shouldn't fall because of the bees.

Are you in the UK?
I'd be a little bit surprised if it was the same colony after 6 years because Varroa mites tends to weaken colonies over time, they then die off over winter and a swarm moves in during spring.
Having said that, if they are tolerating mites that's very good news

According to Google Lens that's a cork oak

If so thems might be forrin bees.

Looks like a birch to me but I'm no tree expert.

[.....]

That's cool AF.
they don't tend to chew wood so unless the tree is dead and rotting it shouldn't fall because of the bees.

Are you in the UK?
I'd be a little bit surprised if it was the same colony after 6 years because Varroa mites tends to weaken colonies over time, they then die off over winter and a swarm moves in during spring.
Having said that, if they are tolerating mites that's very good news

According to Google Lens that's a cork oak

If so thems might be forrin bees.

Looks like a birch to me but I'm no tree expert.

Google lens.......fnargghhhh
Its an (unhealthy) beech tree.

[Count Steer]

That's cool AF.
they don't tend to chew wood so unless the tree is dead and rotting it shouldn't fall because of the bees.

Are you in the UK?
I'd be a little bit surprised if it was the same colony after 6 years because Varroa mites tends to weaken colonies over time, they then die off over winter and a swarm moves in during spring.
Having said that, if they are tolerating mites that's very good news

According to Google Lens that's a cork oak

If so thems might be forrin bees.

Looks like a birch to me but I'm no tree expert.

Google lens.......fnargghhhh
Its an (unhealthy) beech tree.

Beech/Birch...wots an i an an r between trees eh?

[.....]

According to Google Lens that's a cork oak

If so thems might be forrin bees.

Looks like a birch to me but I'm no tree expert.

Google lens.......fnargghhhh
Its an (unhealthy) beech tree.

Beech/Birch...wots an i an an r between trees eh?

You were considerably closer than Google!

[Dodgy69]

Bees have moved on so time for a clean up. I cautiously moved the shelves to find this lovely little bee world.
E R @Taff





















I did see one bee, he just walked off, but I'm pretty sure its a dead next. It's not everyday you find this sort of thing, very interesting and they are welcome back next year.

Not one sting.

[Taff]

Spring is springing and nature is making the most of the weather.

I've just done the first quick check of the bees and 4 out of 5 colonies that went into winter survived.
The 5th died off quite early on in winter, and I suspect the wasps and hornets weakened them to the point that they would never survive.

Remember, if you see a wasp over the next week or two, it's very likely to be a queen and they are actively building their nest. It's worth checking inside wooden sheds and check for the start of a nest so that you can deal with a tiny nest now rather than a big one in a month or two.

[Count Steer]

Spring is springing and nature is making the most of the weather.

I've just done the first quick check of the bees and 4 out of 5 colonies that went into winter survived.
The 5th died off quite early on in winter, and I suspect the wasps and hornets weakened them to the point that they would never survive.

Remember, if you see a wasp over the next week or two, it's very likely to be a queen and they are actively building their nest. It's worth checking inside wooden sheds and check for the start of a nest so that you can deal with a tiny nest now rather than a big one in a month or two.

I've seen two wasps so far* one tangled up in the spines of a cactus in the conservatory, the other had to be evicted from the kitchen.

I thought it was a bit early. They have built a rather large nest in the loft before and there have been a number of nests started and abandoned - probably due to the heat - up there.

* could have been the same wasp.

[Sunny]

Remember, if you see a wasp over the next week or two, it's very likely to be a queen and they are actively building their nest. It's worth checking inside wooden sheds and check for the start of a nest so that you can deal with a tiny nest now rather than a big one in a month or two.

Interesting - we've let three out of the house over the last few days...

[Dodgy69]

Bees have arrived but this time they've taken over a disused birdbox.

[Taff]

Lovely to see. ( Assuming that they're out of the way and doing to harm)

I've got an interesting update to this thread coming this afternoon.

As a little bit of a tease, I bought a new queen bee yesterday, they're mostly sent out in the post but as I work 5 minutes from the supplier I pick up from them.

[Supermofo]

I never would have guessed they posted bees about!

[Taff]

I never would have guessed they posted bees about!

Nor do most posties, until they get a package with that sticker and a slight buzzy sound

[Nordboy]

I would love to do more for the bees in my garden. I'm really going to need to do some proper research to find out how I can.

I'd actually love to not mow anymore and have a wild garden, but I've got NO chance of Mrs NB agreeing to that. Maybe I need to section off a small area?

[Ditchfinder]

Easiest thing to do is plant some Lavender, it's hardy relatively low maintenance and will feed bees for more than 6 months of the year. We have some ground nesting bees under an old concrete pad which is surrounded by long grass and they are always all over it despite other plants being readily available in our suburban jungle. They will go for the heather too on occasion so that's another lowish maintenance option.

You can also leave an area unmown and chuck a load of wildflower seed mix on it, pigeons will probably eat most of it but there's a chance they will shit it out in your garden too.

[Taff]

who turned on Summer Mode? it's bloody hot all of a sudden!!

1.0.jpg (3.99 MiB) Viewed 970 times

so, the plan is to take one big colony that I've been preparing for this over the last month or so, and split it into 2 colonies. The original will still be pretty strong while the other will start ok and take the rest of the summer to built up ready for winter.
You can't see the flying bees in the photos but trust me, they were mega active today and thousands of them buzzing around the apiary.


This is what comes in the envelope, One Queen with a white disk on her neck (thorax) and 6 or 7 attendants and at the bottom of the cage a plug of sugar fondant.

1.jpg (525.07 KiB) Viewed 973 times

This is the colony to be split, from the botttom, there's a floor, 2 deep brood boxes and 3 shallow honey boxes under the lid.

2.jpg (5.6 MiB) Viewed 973 times

I started this process several weeks ago when I added the bottom brood box, and then added the queen excluder between the brood boxes last week, this isolates the queen into the bottom box because she's too big to fit through the mesh whereas the workers can pass straight through it.

qex.jpg (4.49 MiB) Viewed 973 times

knowing where the queen is, is essential because she must be in a different colony to the new one or they'll fight and one will be killed. so with confidence I can move the 2nd brood box onto it's own stand and hang the new queen in her cage between the frames using a bit of twig to stop the cage falling to the hive floor.
There's not many bees in this photo because I'd just smoked them down so that I could push the frames together without squishing any of them.

4.jpg (3.44 MiB) Viewed 973 times

for the next 48 hours the new queen is trapped in the cage so that the bees can't get to her and kill her, in a few days time they will realise that she is their new queen and it'll be safe to release her.
A shallow honey box is added on top because it has quite a few bees and some honey

closed 2.jpg (5.73 MiB) Viewed 973 times

And that's it, one colony split into 2 to replace the one colony that I lost over winter.

over the next few days, some of the older bees will go flying from the new colony and automatically go back to their old location, the younger ones will orientate on their new position.

closed.jpg (5.07 MiB) Viewed 973 times

give it a couple of weeks and the lime trees will be in flower and they will be absolutely packing in the honey.

[Count Steer]

Easiest thing to do is plant some Lavender, it's hardy relatively low maintenance and will feed bees for more than 6 months of the year. We have some ground nesting bees under an old concrete pad which is surrounded by long grass and they are always all over it despite other plants being readily available in our suburban jungle. They will go for the heather too on occasion so that's another lowish maintenance option.

You can also leave an area unmown and chuck a load of wildflower seed mix on it, pigeons will probably eat most of it but there's a chance they will shit it out in your garden too.

We had lavender all along one edge of the grass at the front but 7 years is about it before replacement starts - it gets a bit woody and 'tired' so now there's just 8 or so along one side.

At the back we have a longish bank of inhospitable soil but the heathers love it so it's got winter flowering and summer flowering heathers so it feeds the wee flying beasties for a long time each year. The honey bees - and others - just go wild for the blue basils on the top patio though.

We've had at least 2 lots of ground nesting bees dug out by the badgers so now we put bricks over - leaving access for the bees, obvs.

The other thing I haven't seen for a while are bank voles but, as next door's cat seems to lurk where they are I think they just keep their heads down now.

[Nordboy]

I have an area to the side of my property which is a little bit shaded and the soil can get very wet and boggy. It's a very much ignored area and is fenced off at the moment, mainly to stop my dogs escaping into the woods or jumping in the stream that runs alongside my garden.

I'm wondering if wild flowers would be able to grow there, it's rather 'weedy' at the moment but I suppose i could plow it a bit and re-seed. There's very little grass growing there, which makes me think that maybe it's not suitable?

I'm certainly not really the gardening type so no idea?

Sorry, I've hijacked the thread a bit. Top stuff Taff, loving the beekeeping. I'll take my question over to the rewilding thread I think.

[Dodgy69]

who turned on Summer Mode? it's bloody hot all of a sudden!!

1.0.jpg

so, the plan is to take one big colony that I've been preparing for this over the last month or so, and split it into 2 colonies. The original will still be pretty strong while the other will start ok and take the rest of the summer to built up ready for winter.
You can't see the flying bees in the photos but trust me, they were mega active today and thousands of them buzzing around the apiary.


This is what comes in the envelope, One Queen with a white disk on her neck (thorax) and 6 or 7 attendants and at the bottom of the cage a plug of sugar fondant.

1.jpg

This is the colony to be split, from the botttom, there's a floor, 2 deep brood boxes and 3 shallow honey boxes under the lid.
2.jpg

I started this process several weeks ago when I added the bottom brood box, and then added the queen excluder between the brood boxes last week, this isolates the queen into the bottom box because she's too big to fit through the mesh whereas the workers can pass straight through it.

qex.jpg

knowing where the queen is, is essential because she must be in a different colony to the new one or they'll fight and one will be killed. so with confidence I can move the 2nd brood box onto it's own stand and hang the new queen in her cage between the frames using a bit of twig to stop the cage falling to the hive floor.
There's not many bees in this photo because I'd just smoked them down so that I could push the frames together without squishing any of them.
4.jpg

for the next 48 hours the new queen is trapped in the cage so that the bees can't get to her and kill her, in a few days time they will realise that she is their new queen and it'll be safe to release her.
A shallow honey box is added on top because it has quite a few bees and some honey
closed 2.jpg

And that's it, one colony split into 2 to replace the one colony that I lost over winter.

over the next few days, some of the older bees will go flying from the new colony and automatically go back to their old location, the younger ones will orientate on their new position.

closed.jpg

give it a couple of weeks and the lime trees will be in flower and they will be absolutely packing in the honey.

Superb, gives us a great insight into Bee life, Fascinating stuff.