Cinnamon

Well 3 out of 4 hives doing great, one has no queen but some bees, i put brood frame in to see if they will survive until i may get queen cell of one of the other hives , here is hoping. Regarding Cinnamon, i was plagued by ants down my second apiary location all over the crown boards, i did not want to use ant poison, but heard of cinnamon being used. Well i dusted both crown boards and it appears to have done the trick and now ant free, so worth a try, i will put more on as and when.

Whats happening to winter

Well trying to put oxalic acid on hives, but we have had no cold snap yet and times getting on.

WINTERING HIVES

I have finished feeding winter syrup for the hives so with stores and this boost will be better for next year unless we get a bad March 2013, Two hives have mouse guards on and protection from woodpeckers, the two in garden i do not bother with protection. Next thing at end of October i will put fondant on all hives then xmas time will do oxalic treatment weather conditions being right. I am looking after a friends bee hives for 5 years as he has gone to america so that is good more learning for me. I had purchased another hive from lincsbees in May and they have done well giving me 40 pounds of honey, so i have ordered a neuc for 2014 from same supplier.

Hives Doing well

Ellie hive doing well, another strong hive from lincsbee,

Hive Checks

My new hive is doing really well,i have added a second super on , its amazing what the weather has done,i am just waiting to get one super capped then hopefully get honey. The garden hive had a blip a few weeks ago, when i had hardly any eggs or brood so took a frame from new hive with new eggs to get garden hive to build queen cells, all seemed ok as i had two queen cells being built, i checked the hive Sunday and found a queen and about 6 frames of bees, brood and capped, but no queen cells, spoke to my mentor lincsbee, and after chat it looks like i got a swarm moved in. Just have to wait now to see if they are aggressive bees.

New Hive

After a bad winter i lost two hives, but had ordered a hive from my good bee keeper mate lincsbee, They arrived on the 5th June 2012 and i will call this hive Ellie. The queen is marked red and she is a big queen and working well, they are as calm as were all the other hives i got from Lincsbee, I Will post how good the hives are doing.

Good Day at Last

After loosing a second hive, and preying That Le-Pige hive would make it, today Thursday the Th April 2013, and the weather being 20 degrees i decided to go through the hive. I found the Queen who is going into her 3rd y, and a frame of brood, also pollen and nectar, I admit its not like year before but with the weather we had i am so happy she has made it.

Lost Hive

Well still fed up with loss of hive, due to starvation, even though i did nothing different with the two other hives, these are still ok even though weather rubbish. I have ordered another hive for spring summer. Below is picture of the starved bees.

My Girls out today

Well to-day Friday 15Th February its been a very nice day, and here are some pictures of my girls on the snowdrops and aconites in my garden, I even had one come in the kitchen to let me know the girls are out.

Extractor

This is a honey extractor made, so that if any frames are to hard to spin off, as i read that you can modify a fridge but trying wood, basically stick frames on rack and turn light on, then slide the front bit in to close, but add a tray in bottom to catch honey. I am not saying if its going to be successful, but being semi-retired i got time and thinking cap on he he he.

Bee Treatment

Went to the Hives today to give oxalic treatment, all went well as its first time i have used this method. All hives look great they have nice clusters on 5-6 frames, the weather was quite warm and i was surprised after opening the hives how calm they all were. Another learning curve given by Mike of lincsbees.

Fondant Check

Checked my 3 hives today for fondant use. Le-Pige not used any Le-Chai taken the lot , replaced with new . Monsieur Antoine not used any The hive Le-chai taken fondant is i think the weakest hive so hopefully it will go through the winter.

Complacency in Beekeeping

COMPLACINCEY BEEKEEPER I started Beekeeping and obtained my first hive in 2011 then second in 2012, I was and am fortunate to have been put on to an established and well recommended beekeeper by the name of Lincs Bee owned by Mike. Mike has become my bee mentor and himself and his knowledge of beekeeping I hold in the highest regard hence buying another hive for 2013. My Story of Complacency. I can manage my bees quite well since starting and I all ways remember the golden rule from Mike, when checking hives all ways be fully suited in bee clothing, well I all ways have adhered to this until Monday 12th November 2012. I had to go to one of my hives outside the home garden apiary to add fondant, but also to move the brood box on top of the super, I had removed the queen excluder few weeks before, so I got all my equipment and bee suit ready and left to the hive, after arriving I suited up but realised I forgot my bee trousers and was only wearing jogging bottoms. I thought I will be ok with the bee suit top half, jogging bottoms tucked in wellingtons, and basically could not be bothered to go back to the house which would take 10 minute round trip as I knew better, even though my Bee mentors advice ringing in my ears all ways go suited and booted properly I opened the hive , removed roof , all calm, removed crown board bit of activity no problems, took the super off to move to bottom and brood box to top, oh my god Armageddon, within seconds my jogging bottoms were covered in bees, my bee suit top head gear fine, I then felt the first sting rapidly followed by several more, I looked at my jogging bottoms and in my stupidity brushed them of straight in to my wellingtons, band more stings on me ankles and feet, I vacated the hive and ran to my car, on the way bang , bang several hits, I made it to the car and drove home, arriving at the driveway I fell out of the car in agony, my neighbour saw me and bravely helped me remove my clothes, I knew I had to go back to sort the hive, so changed my jogging bottoms and put new on and grabbed my bee suit trousers, as I got in the car, I did not check the car seat and sat on 3 bees, bang stung in the backside. I made it to the hive and sorted it while in agony, I got home got sorted, and through my stupidity of not fully suiting up It transpired I got stung x 2 on the bottom, x11 in the groin and thigh area, x1 in the crown jewels, and x3 in the ankle and foot. I was in agony for 5 days suffering burning, itching, throbbing with pain and swelling, I took anti histamine tablets every day and also anti histamine cream, even after 5 days I know it will take time for everything to calm down and be pain free. The crunch of the matter is that at no time was it the bees fault, it was me being so stupid over confident and not listening to what I had been told, so for all budding new beekeepers you will all find your own paths, but through my stupidity caused all this pain to myself, were if fully suited it would have been a pain free 10 minute max operation. Stupid Beekeeper Steve, but I love my bees

All my hives have had there queen excluder's removed,and the brood boxes placed on top of the super,s Hope they all come through the winter.

Woodpecker blocker

Placed woodpecker deterrent on one of my hives, should keep the woodpeckers from any wood work lol.

DAY IN MY APIARY

Its been a lovely day so decided to do some apiary work. Started of by building frames to go over the Monsieur Antoine hive this is to keep the woodpeckers from deciding to drill it. I shall construct it Sunday morning. At the garden apiary i used new smoker it seems to be bit volatile lol, I then took of the autumn feeders , next feed will be fondant. I hefted the supers and it looks as if they are full of food for winter which is good, also the bees in both hives are doing well, still bringing stuff in, probably ivy. All in all had a good day in the Apiary, just few pictures posted of today's work.

Thankyou Lincsbee and France

JUST a update and thanks. This is our second year in bee keeping, we now have 3 hives, Le-Pige, Le-Chai and Antoine, these were named after our visit to friends in France 3 years ago were our interest started. I have obtained all my bees from Lincsbee (Mike), and I am so pleased I contacted Lincsbee through a work make Simon who keeps bees. I am glad we took this route and after visiting Lincsbee apiary a couple times that’s how I came to purchase calm bees highly recommended for rookie bee keepers, I have also adopted Mike as my bee buddy and yes I ring regular and he probably pulls his hair out with my questions but his fountain of knowledge has made Linda and I become not to bad bee keepers which is improving every day. We have had good days, panic days especially experiencing our 1, 2, times swarming 2012. It’s a learning curve every day. So to finish we would like to thank Lincsbee from Lincolnshire and Rachael and Chris from France for getting us started. THANKS

Autumn Feed

Checked on of my hives today Monsieur Antoine , needs a feed, think because the weather been so bad they need a little help. Autumn feed i have made up two batches as i don't have big enough saucepan lol. used 2 pints of water to 4.4 to 4.4ilbs sugar

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Seasonal Bee Inspection

Had my first hive inspections from the seasonal bee keeper, pleased to say that the hives passed with flying colours, i was shocked to see that they only interested in checking the brood and shake the bees violently to get them of in one go as i check mine with love and care, but i understand the short time they have as they visit many apiaries. I have never seen my bees aggressive the whole hive was like it for about 30 mins after inspection, but my girls did sting the bee inspector twice which even made him smart. Off to ring my Bee Buddy in Lincs after the trauma.

Extraction

Well i decided to check my hives and all doing well, i extracted a super of the main hive Le-Pige and estimate about 30 pounds of honey, cracking hive as she gave me 46 pounds in spring. The other two hives doing well in brood etc. but super not used hardly so I took 5 each of the frames 10 in total,i extracted and put them on the two hives 5 each give them some help. Wednesday 15Th August i am getting a visit from the Seasonal inspector of bees, will post later how we got on.