2021 Season.

Its good to see the girls out for a wash and brush up on warmer days. I have been hard at work making nuk`s and assembling suppers etc. Roll on the summer.

Amen to that!

I had a quick look at the girls yesterday. A bit early but it was a fine warm day and I wanted to mark the Queen. It was great to see a fine strong colony with plenty of young brood and still a super full of stores. I took three frames for meself as I took none last year. I see what you mean by Ivy making a pretty harsh honey, but at least it has flavour, unlike Rape which is just hard and sweet. Last fall I planted a few hundred Crocus bulbs to give the Bees some early pollen. A very nice display they were too. I never spotted one Bee on them! How Hum.

Cristy, it's very risky taking honey off at this time of year. With the queen laying heavily, there is a great demand on stores as the colony expands - and not a great deal of nectar available.  Most colonies that die from starvation do so in March and April - and even May. Keep an eye on them - you might need to replace those frames. Crocuses are very good for early pollen. Mine take in loads from Furze, Black Alder and Hazel.

I would not dream of leaving them short. Ill keep an eye of course but with seven full supper frames plus whats in the brood box they will be fine I am sure.

Despite the cold winds over the last few weeks my girls continue to put on weight. Its good to see them working the ornamental shrubs with gusto. I have put out the bait hives and put on another supper. Hopefully by the end of the season I shall have a few more hives in the apiary. I am now seeing a few drones at the entrance so now I am looking for queen cells. I wont wait for a swarm but divide up the colony into 3 nucs hopefully.

Had the first swarm last week. A fine strong early one it was too. So now I have all three hives occupied. I was not expecting one just yet but they were strong so I am very pleased. Fingers crossed for the young queens.

Congratulations Cristy. That's a valuable swarm. I went through all my hives today. All equally strong with brood and a half well filled out and just venturing up into second super. The Whitethorn is in full bloom here now, but the weather is unseasonably cold. Getting hives and frames ready for making splits - hopefully next week.

2020 was a bad year for beekeeping. Unfortunately, this year is threatening to be even worse. Went through the hives today and they are all at a complete standstill. Nothing coming in - neither pollen nor nectar. It's just way too cold - just 12 degrees here today. My bees are native blacks and the queens have slowed down their production almost completely. Buckfasts and other Italian strains don't do this, with the result that their populations will be swelling and requiring urgent feeding.

I now have four budding colonies but things have slowed down somewhat. The original colony remains strong as does one of the splits that I took but the other two are "there" but no signs of eggs yet. I need to get some more suppers sorted just in case. Hears hoping.

Captured a massive swarm in a bait hive on Sunday. Completely filled a brood chamber. I searched a dozen hives which I thought might be the parent, but no Q.C.s in any of them. I ran out of time before I could check the others, but must do them tomorrow. There's also the chance it was a vagrant swarm from elsewhere.

No problem with vagrant`s as long as they are "Blacks". Having said that Bees are Bees of course. A nice big swarm that is. Good luck with it. I shall go through mine over the weekend weather permitting. My two colonies with QS are strong while the smaller swarm colonies are less so. Hopefully, I will find eggs in all of them soon. Sean, what's your opinion of poly hives?

Re poly hives, I don't care for them, mainly because my chickens find polystyrene irresistible - so much so that I have to make sure to carefully dispose of any bits of packaging etc.  I'm fairly sure they would peck them to pieces - and eat them -in no time!  I would also doubt their standing up to attacks from rats and even mice, not to mention badgers!  No, I've been keeping bees for half a century and always made my own hives from rough-sawn timber, which absorbs creosote or cuprinol better than planed, and will continue same.  Some of my hives are fifty years old (well-creosoted when I made them) and still as good as ever!  I doubt if a poly hive would last that long. I suppose I'm just an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud, but timber hives for me.

Thanks for that Sean. I am not keen meself but Donegal Bees no longer list flatpack Langstroth parts, only in the poly stuff. I too have made many hives but I have trouble getting 1" thick timber of sufficient depth to make a brood box at the local DIY. I have two hives made of 1/2 plywood doubled up to form the rebait which seems to work ok (if you catch me drift). I have just gone through my four colonies and am pleased to find brood in three of them. The remaining Queenless coloney I will unite with the weakest of the group. I have two colonies putting on weight and they will soon need more supers put on.

I know what you mean re suitable timber. You really have to go to a private sawmill to get what you want. The builder's yards around here no longer saw their own timber - it all comes in precut to size.

Stop the lights! The honey-flow began today - at long last! Blackberry and White Clover.

Not a great deal going on here yet. Bramble and Clover just starting to show so fingers crossed. United two swarms ok so hopefully they will now build in strength. I am now up to speed with spare suppers ready. If all goes well with the honey flow I shall invest in a new extractor. The new apiary enclosure built last winter proves to be working fine with the bees flying above head height. The added advantage of using 50% shading for the walls not only gives the girls wind protection but also enables me to observe the hives at close quarters without the need for a vail.

I love to sit down on an empty brood box at the side of a hive and just watch the bees coming and going. Good flow on here now - principally blackberry.

Yesterday was the best honey-getting day we had here for the past two years. The nectar was flying into the hives. I had to put extra supers on most of them. I walked around the apiary in the evening and the roar from the hives was very satisfactory - nectar being turned into honey. One thing I noticed - very little pollen going in: every bee seemed too busy drawing nectar! Long may it continue!

Nice to hear that your apiary progresses Sean. Not so much here. There is some increased activity around the colones but not what I would call great. The Bramble has only just started to flower but the Clover has been out for a while. I walked a field of it yesterday. Not a Honey Bee in sight. Today we had the first bit of rain for weeks so hopefully this will get something moving.

Tremendous honeyflow on here for the past few days. From first light till dark, nectar is pouring into the hives - principally blackberry.

Yes Sean. Some over here. Fingers crossed for a bumper harvest. I have a problem with one colony which has gone queenless. I put in a frame of young brood and eggs so hopefully they will recover some vigor. The girls have the air conditioning on even late at night with all this hot weather. I have noticed how white the beeswax is with these blacks. Not something I have seen before. I get up at dawn and work until mid morning then spend the rest of the day on a lounger in the shade. Luv it in the short term.

Same schedule here. Dawn till noon working, noon till 6pm in the shade, eatng and drinking beer and cider, 6pm till nightfall working. Works for me.

The blackberry flow continues unabated - the best flow we've had in years! The only thing - the bees have become very aggressive, I notice. Just adding a super requires smoke and full battle-dress - and it barely does the job. I added supers at 8am this morning (in an attempt to avoid the heat of the afternoon) to a few hives; after the first, the beesuit was soaked in sweat and the bees decided it looked a shade loose. Not for long - they sewed it to my arms and shoulders! Take note: a wet beesuit is not beeproof!

There is a bit of action going on but not that dramatic I am sad to say. Looking around to see what forage is available, well not much. The blackberry does what it can but the local farmers are keen to flail it to an inch of it's life. The same goes for the clover which ends up as silage. I shall get a harvest but nothing like yourself. I may have to take the girls on holiday next year. There will be plenty of ivy later on which yielded well last fall. When the wasps are around it's good to have a bit of aggression me thinks. Last weekend l was ready to to put on more supers but was sad to find that they were not necessary. Oh well, onward and upward.