Downing Bees

Spring activities

Just went in and gave the hives two 2.5l contact feeders of spring syrup, plus removed woodpecker proofing and mouse guards. Got first sting of year too! They were pretty narky but you can't blame them... Also found a queen wasp hibernating in woodpecker proofing!

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19 Feb 2014

First nice day of 2014 on Saturday so we went to remove the inspection boards from the open mesh floors following the Oxalic Acid treatment on the 1st Feb. I was worried that we'd left it too late. It was so mild we kept waiting for a change in the weather to make it worth doing. When we arrived I could see how active the bees were from 20 meters the air was full of them. As we passed the large clump of crocuses it was full of bees and there was a steady passage to and from the hives.

When I pulled out the inspection boards a quick eyeball estimate lead me to think that the treatment had worked poorly. However when I counted them at home the numbers were maybe more encouraging:

H1 - 1169
H2 - 439

I hope this means that we have knocked the varroa back well enough. I guess another inspection in a few weeks will tell.

Woodpecker proofing

The ultimate woodpecker proofing...

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Date: 12/10/13

Date: 12/10/13
Weather: 14 degrees C
Sunny / overcast

Both hives topped up with 2.5 l of syrup. How not sure they can store much more...

The insulation in the two hives cannot be fitted while the contact feeders are still on. Taking this chance to improve the insulation and have ordered some more.

The wood pecker proofing made last year does not fit the brood and a half arrangement so I will make a new cover from some heavy duty sheet.

In the meantime I have rigged up some thin flappy sheet. Having seen what little effect this has on pigeons I'm not convinced but we'll see...

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Bee notes 4/10/13

Bee notes
Date: 4/10/13
Weather: 20 oC
S / W
Hive No: 1
Setup: B & H
Queen:N
Cells: N
Pollen stored: Y
Brood frames:
No. with brood:4
No. with stores6
No. not in use1
Brood: e l p
Health: Disease none
Varroa: none seen
Number
Calc.by
Temper2
Feed:
Litres Heavy:1 still on topped upto 2.5
Litres Light:
Kg Candy: No
Supers: 1 almost full
Notes:
Something to keep eye open for but forgotten what...

Hive No: 2
Setup: B & H
Queen: N
Cells: N
Pollen stored: Y
Brood frames:
No. with brood:4
No. with stores 6
No. not in use 1
Brood: e l p
Health: Disease none
Varroa:
Number 0
Calc.by observation
Temper: 1
Feed:
Litres Heavy: 2.5l added
Supers:1 almost full strong smell of ivy!
Notes:

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Bees fed in the rain

2.5l syrup fed to each of the hives, tried to avoid the rain but the gap wasn't long enough. That makes 12.5 liters each in about 10 days.

Bee inspection plan: 27/9/13

Check apiguard in H2 if all gone remove eke, apiguard and inspection board.
Apiguard propolised, removed with eke.
Do quick inspection of
H2 try to find queen. Queenlarvae and pupae found, lots of bees, lots of
Stores,
Found another super frame in BB SEE BELOW
H1: remove super frame in BB replace with new frame, move to super.
NOT DONE H1 not inspected.
Remove any really dry clean super Frames and replace with wet pollen filled ones
Not done they all looked part full. Solar extraction?
Feed both colonies. Done - third feed of 2.5 liters since last Friday.

H2 Mite drop

Mite drop on H2 inspection board

Test

Test

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