Thank you, God, once again, for safe travels, good conversation, and a chance to catch up with those who live far away. Keep them safe and well. Bless them in their work and play. Amen.
It has been about six weeks since I went to the apiary. This is due to the planning and executing a trip to the states to visit family and the ensuing fatigue that comes from travelling. Though my Lupus does not bother me too much on a day-to-day basis, the cumulative effects of such a trip mean that there isn’t much of me to work with for at least a few weeks. By then it will be too late to to expect anything from them before winter.
Saying that, the last time I was at the apiary was good. My camera worked, so I got a few photos of the activities, and the new colonies were growing.
Aside from the standard checks for each of the hives – adequate food stores, brood, and space to expand – the biggest job on the day was to transfer the nuc colony into a full-sized hive.
This involved moving each of the frames in the nuc box into a standard-sized brood box, and filling up the extra space with frames of food (honey and pollen borrowed from a thriving colony next door) and a couple of empty frames for further development. In addition to moving the frames, the bees also need to be moved. This was done by shaking the bees off of each frame and into the nuc box (one at a time), then when all frames were moved and new frames added, emptying the bees in the nuc box into the new hive. This is done with a bit of shaking and/or brushing them out of the box and into the new hive, making certain that the queen is definitely transferred across.
These workers are fanning pheromones into the air to let their hive mates know where their new hive is. Notice the two on the left – bottoms up, wings flapping away!
Of course some of the bees were out foraging when their mates were moved. So the bees in the new hive came out onto the front porch and began to fan pheromones into the air to tell the returning bees where the hive/queen was. I found it fascinating to watch these bees communicate yet another very specific message to each other: We Are HERE!
Their communication skills are second to none!
Because of the break in beekeeping created by my travels and the follow up fatigue, I have decided not to try and get my apiary open before the end of this season. I will instead use the coming months to watch for sales, collect the equipment I will need, and get things set up for spring.
In the mean time there are county shows and an opportunity to teach others a bit about bees.
And when spring comes I will look at buying a nuc of my own and go from there.
Sweetness and Light at the McLunt Smallholding 