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Well, its a worry this beekeeping!

Many dead bees outside hive 1, at a guess well over a hundred
hive 2 is not so bad.
When put my ear to the hive and knock they they sound very quiet, have to say I am greatly worried for them- a very tough winter so far.
The sun came out yesterday, sadly only a couple of flying bees to be seen- I know it was cold but the sun did make it warmer and I did think there might be a few more flying. I am somewhere between and

I think there is little I can do - they have bee food (Apifonda) on the top of the frames, I might change it for some fresh as they have hardly touched it.
Roll on the flowering of the hellebores and crocus - pollen time! that will help.

How are our other bee keepers getting on in these tough times.

Good luck Headfry, I dont keep bees myself but have always been fastinated by them. I hope all is well!

Have you got any dandelions? They flower very early and are very important food for bees

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~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkt82aeOCFo~

~ my allotment photos ~

All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." -- Janet Kilburn Phillips

Poor girls
I don't claim to know anything at all about bees, but I found this on tinterweb. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here.

"If winter feeds have too high a water content the bees might not be able to dehydrate it enough to prevent fermentation before winter sets in. Another way to feed in the winter months it to use baker's fondant (the soft icing on cakes) as this won't ferment and the bees can eat it straight away" Wintering Bees - Beekeeping in Winter - Mesh Floors - Feeding Bees

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~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkt82aeOCFo~

~ my allotment photos ~

All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." -- Janet Kilburn Phillips

Thanks for the kind message northepaul.

Two Sheds, thank you it's kind of you to hunt out info for me and is much appreciated

In the warmer spring/early autumn weeks I feed a sugar syrup solution as evaporating excess water is not such a problem then. This solution is really quick and easy for the bees to store and use. Later in autumn I switched to the Apifonda this is just like the bakers fondant that you mention, but sold by the bee keeping suppliers. There is a little more work involved for the bees, they have to use some water to 'melt' down the fondant but as you say, it does not ferment easily - they are on this fondant now.
I know they will use their own stores and have seen evidence of this as I have slide out boards under the hive floor (so to speak) I can clearly see crumbled/nibbled up wax cappings -where they have broken the seals of the honeycomb to get to their food stores. I hope this is a good sign.
I have told them to hang on in there- the weather will get better. If only I could bundle them up and bring them indoors!

I'm always eager to learn new things. Bee-keeping is fascinating, and more complicated than you'd have thought (than I'd have thought)

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~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkt82aeOCFo~

~ my allotment photos ~

All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." -- Janet Kilburn Phillips

You are so right......
year one is kinda easy,
year two runs along ok,
year three and you realise that there is soooo much to learn! and things never seem to happen as the books say it will! at least not in my girls case- thinking I might leave the books in the hive and tell them to READ!!!! please, pretty please!

Hope your bees are O.K. Headfry, I know nothing about beekeeping other than it looks fascinating & was wondering do they just 'hibernate' during the very cold weather & do you have to insulate the hives or anything when we have really cold/snowy winters like this one?

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Hi SueA Thanks for your kind words.

No, not really bees don't hibernate, they form a tight ball around the queen, they are able to generate heat this way and will survive as low as -20'ish I am told!!!!!
You can insulate but the hive must be able to 'breathe' - moisture in the hive is bad this time of year! I worry that if I make the hive 'artificially' warm the bees may think it warm enough to leave the hive. If they 'break' the cluster it can be disastrous for them when its very cold. This cluster moves as one though the hive eating the stores.
They don't fly very much, maybe on a good still, sunny day they may come out and perform their ablutions.

We ready them for winter, feed them well- starting in Autumn, mouse guards on (mice will get in) and protect from woodpeckers (they peck through the wooden hive eat the bees and the honey), insure the hives wont blow over! and that really is as much as we can do, the rest is down to them and a hive load of luck.

I know this may sound silly but it's kinda sad writing about them when I am not sure if they will make it this year. I do love my girls -

Oh Headfry, I worry about your bees too - all the time - does that sound silly? I'll be doing something and I'll think 'I wonder how Headfry and her bees are'. I really hope they make it through to the milder weather, we have Hellebores and snowdrops about to bloom here already, so I'll keep everything crossed for you all.

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Bumpkin - Queen of Chocolate

Chairman of the Wumpa Appreciation Society

Member of the 'Mojo by Mail' subscribers club

Best friends with Terry the Tumbleweed

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

Awww PB that is so very kind of you.
I am waiting and wishing for my hellebores to start flowering, they will surely help.
I will go over to check again this weekend - sigh - I will report back.

I didn't know that about them forming a 'cluster', clever little things, they might have struggled round here though as it got to -15 on a couple of nights! Hope they're all O.K. when you get the chance to inspect them.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Reading about you finding dead bees has made me feel quite sad. I do hope that the weather warms up soon and your bees survive. We make life too difficult for these wonderful insects, they work so hard pollinating - we'd be lost without them. Can't help feeling the amount of pesticides put on crops doesn't help bees.

Here's health to your bees.

Hi ukmaggie45 and welcome to the vine!
I put my ear against both hives on Saturday, and I could hear quite loud buzzing !!! such a happy headfry
Just need some pollen bearing flowers and warm still days!

Yay! That sounds more positive Headfry.

__________________
Bumpkin - Queen of Chocolate

Chairman of the Wumpa Appreciation Society

Member of the 'Mojo by Mail' subscribers club

Best friends with Terry the Tumbleweed

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

Thank you for the welcome.

Oooh, that sounds better news. I'd love to keep bees, but suspect the neighbours might not be so keen. I think we'll just have to try and make the garden friendly for bumble bees, give them somewhere to sleep and keep warm and safe. Will be haunting the RSPB online shop I guess!

Come on girls!!! (HF's bees that is, not you lot)

Hope everything starts to improve soon!

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

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Updated 14.06.10 - with peas and cake!

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

What would Vedder do?

Thanks HeyWayne, daft isnt it but I get so worried about them, they are really just bugs, but to me they are sooo cute and just brilliant to watch, a look in the hive has me totally in love- the little 'waggle' dances they do, the way they have order in the hive, the miles they fly for a tiny drop of honey and find their way home, the way they clean and repair the honey comb even when I have done my worst by taking the honey. The frames are sticky and a little damaged but within a day or two, I cant believe it! they have been cleaned perfectly and repaired like new! brave clever little girls - they make me look stupid!
Roll on spring......


ps even love their dangley little legs when they are in flight

No way HF!! We (the human race) would be in serious trouble without the honey bee. Long live the bee, and long live you and people like you who tend and care for them.

Go Bees!!!!

__________________
Bumpkin - Queen of Chocolate

Chairman of the Wumpa Appreciation Society

Member of the 'Mojo by Mail' subscribers club

Best friends with Terry the Tumbleweed

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

Hi HF, been thinking of you and your girls too. Hopefully things are on the up a bit? On the school run today even through the fog we saw the first glimpse of purple crocuses! Made me and my boys feel quite uplifted! Gardens are bulging with snow drops too. Heres hoping for your girls!

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aka Donna

Headfry, have you seen any of your girls out & about yet? I spotted my first honey bee of the year on Saturday on the snowdrops in Grappenhall walled garden, only the one though but it was a nice sunny day, it's turned very cold again though so maybe they'll go back into the hive again.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Hi SueA that is good news!
My girls have not really been out yet...maybe just a quick flit round - It is still too cold really.
Did have quick peep under roof (have glass 'quilt' - cover on the hive so I can see without to much disturbance to them.....there they were! - oh they did look lovely, all grouped together round the food I had put in....cant wait for warm weather and to see and hear them flying.......sigh sigh smile awwwwww bless them.

hi headfry im on on a beekeeping course in march and would love as much info as possible before then if you dont mind please

Hi bigal123 123
Good to hear that you have managed to get on a course, they are getting booked up really quickly these days!
What kind of information do you need?
Are you definitely going to be keeping bees?
Depending on how many pennies you have to spend I would try to invest in some clothing! this can be worn for your course and will give a great degree of confidence if you know that you are 'bee proof' and will be needed when you get your own bees.
If you are not worried about stings - buy just the minimum but if you are in any way concerned then you cant beat the all in one suit! I have a separate top and trousers and every time I go through my girls I have a bare strip round my back so far I have been very lucky and not got stung- it is just a matter of time I fear. Bee gloves are a must, the soft leather, long gauntlet type are ideal. Wellies are good too, one poor chap on my course got stung all over his feet through wearing shoes. ouch he was fine but came back the following week in Wellies!
Books, books, and internet......do some reading.....beekeeping like all hobbies has its own language, so learning some terms will help.
Great to have another possible bee keeper here!

Hey Headfry how are the girls?

Awoke this morning to yet more snow !

Not far from you ? Didcot

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You have to loose sight of the shore sometimes to cross new oceans

I would be a perfectionist, but I dont have the time

Hi Liza thanks for asking.....
Saw one or two fly from each of my two hives Sunday afternoon when the sun broke through. Since I have had them (about 3 years now) they have , at this time of the year started to get busy- I have recorded in my diaries things like- the girls are really busy, coming back with pollen and- lots of flying bees today! but this year nothing to report. I am getting worried- its just so darn cold even in the middle of the day.

HI Headfry,just wondering if the weather has improved down there? Been warm and sunny here the last 2 days, so I have my fingers crossed for the girls!

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aka Donna

Hi jackyspratty,

Yes, quite a lot better here thanks! hope to try and get a look in their hives tomorrow! Though it is sunny here the air temp is still very low for the bees. It will be my first inspection of the year.
I hope they are ok! I have some food ready to go if they need it!
Thank you for asking

Great news.....they are bringing in pollen! at last things are looking better for them!
Hive one feels heavy - good
Hive two very light - not good
So on went the feeders Sunday afternoon. I have given them a thick sugar solution (syrup) a little early and I am not keen to do this but I was very worried for them - they don't seem to like the winter food - Apifonda (like white cake icing)
Got to fill hive two's feeder up again this evening! All is mixed and ready to go - as long as the cats have not drunk it during the day - they wouldn't would they?
I still have not been able to go through the colonies yet, and I have my hives running in an odd order that I have to reverse pretty soon or there will be mischief in the boxes!!!

Happy skippy headfry......oooooh I love my little bees so much.
Happy days!

Followed this with interest.
Any news, Headfry?

Hope your girls are behaving themselves Headfry, ours have been very naughty, we've had lots of queen cells, had to divide the 3 hives, so went up to 7 hives, then Sunday we had a swarm from one of the original hives (managed to catch it and home it in a nucleus box), it appears we missed a queen cell when we did our inspection last week, so that took us to 8 colonies......

Then yesterday we had a swarm appear from elsewhere, they landed on our plot, about 12' from our second apiary! Definitely not from any of our hives, they flew in from over the trees to the east of the plot (there is a farm over that way that has bees, about 2 miles away), fortunately we were again able to capture them and pop them into a nuc box (rehomed into a hive today with feeder), but it appears that it wasnt 1 swarm, but 2 together, as there was a split (a possible cast from the original swarm) that we popped in another nuc box that Lee and Colin built yesterday!

So we're now at 10 colonies, 3 established with viable queens, and 7 unknowns, 4 of which were from divisions, and had a couple of queen cells each, 1 that was the oiginal that was left behind when 1 of ours swarmed (which has a lovely big queen cell in it) and 2 that were swarms from elsewhere!

Hope we dont get any more, we've no more equipment left now!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - an Allotment & Beekeeping blogspot!
Last updated 27th August 2010 - Piccies, work and Plot update!

Yesterday at the plot the bee man arrived and I said oh by the way the bee's were buzzing last week. Later on he asked me which day as they had gone. I didnt know it was a sign they were preparing to swarm. Now I know I will keep an eye and ear out.

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Gardening ..... begins with daybreak
and ends with backache

I have been reading this with great interest.I have been wanting to keep bees for years,but did not think my neighbours would appreciate it either.I now have a plot and have permission to keep bees.Our next course does not start till January so I wont be getting them till next year.
I will follow the progress avidly

Hi there,
Well its been good for Hive One but sadly bad for Hive Two!

On my first inspection of the year both hives were about equal in quantity of bees with both hives seemingly in good health.

Hive one has blossomed (to coin a phrase)
Wanted to split them to create a nuc (small colony) yesterday evening. This I wished to give to one of the new beekeepers within the Oxfordshire Beekeepers Ass. They have had so many enroll on the beginners course that they do not have enough colonies to give out, I had hoped to be able to help- but my very naughty girls it was reported - were up in the Medlar tree again yesterday afternoon (they had swarmed) they did this last year, same time - same tree, same hive!.....despite my best efforts to stop them.
By the time I returned from work they had gone, still at least that may be a colony that will return to the wild- so I hope for a good life for them.

Hive two is very poorly. My beekeeping mentor has looked and we can see no real reason for this. It could be down to a poorly mated Queen who is now not laying very well. I am going to change out some of the old and dark brood frames for new foundation as I am told that queens like to lay in nice new cells so this may help - worth a try!
I have my fingers crossed so tightly for them.

Still, Hive one is very busy and I have almost two supers full of honey though I would rather have a happy hive two than the honey to be honest.

Just a tad upsetting that I can not help someone get started with their beekeeping, still another time perhaps.
I am awaiting the hatching of my new Queen! 11 days or so now......I will be pacing up and down by then.

Sorry to hear of the problems with Hive 2, we've a similar problem with Hive1, she'd laying on 3 frames, but its not building up at all! We had a sample tested for Nosema, negative, no signs of foul brood, nothing to suggest why shes not performing!

The swarm and cast that arrived from who knows where decided to get back together in 1 hive, and seemed happy enough on Tuesday night, but by Wednesday morning they had gone, so we're back down to 6 hives and 2 nucleus, enough for us to look after with a couple of nuc's to pass on to other beekeepers (either new or experienced who have lost their bees over the winter!)

During the inspection this week we found more queen cells in Hive 2 (which we removed), the busy girls have drawn out 10 of the 12 brood frames and 8 of the 10 super frames in only 11 days! We've given them another super to draw out and fill, and possibly will get another split from them in the next week or two! 3 of the splits that we put into hives now have queens that have recently emerged, hopefully they will get mated soon and prove to be as productive as their mother, the queen in Hive 2!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - an Allotment & Beekeeping blogspot!
Last updated 27th August 2010 - Piccies, work and Plot update!