Still no interest in the Super from the bees apart from them chewing more holes in it. I eventually rang my bee mentor, Norman to ask him how I can get them to start drawing out the wax foundation.
He thinks the problem may be weather related. The bees dont need to draw out the foundation in the Super as they have nothing to put in it. There is nothing to put in it because the rain means they are not flying and there is not much nectar. They are nibbling the foundation because they are then taking the wax down into the brood chamber to store. This all sounds quite plausible, especially as we noticed in our inspection on Monday that the stores have reduced slightly in the brood chamber which does seem to confirm that they are using these up.
Apparently we could pour some syrup over the frames to encourage them to come up, clean it off and then draw the wax out. I am not sure if we will do this yet - perhaps if we have a run of clear weather.
We never actually expected any honey this year, we are just being greedy! Although it would be nice to go into next year with the super frames ready drawn so we can have a head start.
I still havent done a varroa check - but I have at least read the varroa leaflet that Robin brought round and I have bought some sticky paper. If it could just stop raining for long enough for me to put my bee suit on I might actually get out and do it!
Two more bee blogs. One is in the Daily Telegraph Gardening section - they have now created a whole beekeeping section - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/
I particularly like this one as Ian Douglas also started out with a nucleus in June.
The other is the Farming Today bee blog - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/the_farming_today_bees/ which is also good although I suspect the real beekeeping is being done by others behind the scenes!
Posts
Hi Pia,
ReplyDeleteJust came across your blog while surfing. I started keeping bees myself this summer after doing a course in the early spring.
I've even started my own blog (very similar sounding to your own!) for the first time. [www.beginningbeekeeeping.blogspot.com]
I'll be checking in frequently to see how you're getting on. I live in Ireland and it would appear that your weather currently is close to ours.
Good luck with the supering,
Cliff
Hi Again,
ReplyDeleteJust noticed that I put an extra "e" in the website of my own Blog. Clearly, it should have been www.beginningbeekeeping.blogspot.com
Weather here still very mixed although my bees appear to be able to cope with these intermittent wet & dry periods. Better that I can to be honest! Not sure if they were selectively bred with that ability. Maybe it's the Native Irishness that makes them suited to the wind and rain.
Cliff
Hi Cliff,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog and have posted a comment. I am in despair about the rain - despite everyone telling us we were too late for honey, I had secretly hoped we might get a couple of frames this year. However, as things stand, the bees have only managed to draw out half of a couple of super frames...
I am not feeding my bees and am wondering if perhaps I should be?
Pia
Hi Pia - glad you enjoyed it. It's kinda weird isn't? It seems that beekeeping as a hobby has exploded this year. I listen online to the Farming Today programme which is great although I think you may be right what you said!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have been feeding my bees syrup since I got the nucleus around about mid-July. I generally refill it around once a week by which time they have it emptied. My bees seem to be drawing out fresh foundation as fast as I can feed them so I would say that there's no harm especially if the weather is bad and they can't head out to collect nectar for themselves.
Weather here this week has been much milder and drier so this weekend's inspection will be interesting although I think a honey harvest is still a pipe dream unless something extraordinary occurs.
Cliff