Bee Board Survey- poll reopened

[Glutton4...]

The Bees Knees...

Busy Bees...

Busy as a Bee...

[Glutton4...]

I voted yes, by the way!

I blow up if I get stung, so Bee-keeping is probably not something I will ever do, although I have been contemplating it for years.

[Glutton4...]

Bumbling about...

I'll stop now, I'm boring myself!

[Mrs Dobby]

To help garner some interest........ a few recent piccies!

Took these last Thursday, when we removed the mouseguards and did a quick check on how the bees were doing.....


Busy Bees struggling to get thru the mouseguard!


Removing the Mouseguards


Hive full of Bees, in February!!


In a bit closer!

Hope they help others to decide whether a Bee Board is a good idea for the vine!

Have to say the fruit crops on all the plots on our allotment have been incredibly good since we started to keep bees, the pollination that they provide means bumper crops of all sorts, anything that flowers (beans, peas, rasps, strawbs, toms, cukes, squashes, fruit trees) has increased its yield by a large factor for the past 2 years, almost everyone on the plot has remarked about it!

[Headfry]

Great at last!
I was able to get into my girls!
Woodpecker guards removed- fingers crossed they don't come back
Mouse guards also removed
Food put on both hives

Well, Hive one looked like a full summers hive - so many bees and boy were they feisty- oh goodness its going to be a 'fun' year with this lot - NOT! I have never seen so many bees in the hive this time of the year???? they were almost right across the frames - hardly any wood to be seen - not at all what I was expecting.
Hive two - much more like I would expect!
I did not go through them frame by frame as it is still way to cold!
All in all a happy Headfry

[Mrs Dobby]

Great at last!
I was able to get into my girls!
Woodpecker guards removed- fingers crossed they don't come back
Mouse guards also removed
Food put on both hives

Well, Hive one looked like a full summers hive - so many bees and boy were they feisty- oh goodness its going to be a 'fun' year with this lot - NOT! I have never seen so many bees in the hive this time of the year???? they were almost right across the frames - hardly any wood to be seen - not at all what I was expecting.
Hive two - much more like I would expect!
I did not go through them frame by frame as it is still way to cold!
All in all a happy Headfry

Cool beanz, thats good news HF, glad your girls came thru well, sounds like you are going to be busy with them this summer!

[Headfry]

Hi beekeepers, anyone else got their colony survival survey form through yet?
I have mine but will wait until I have managed to go through the hives properly - I think we have until April to return them.

[chris]

Found two large bees (no idea what they are) walking around my decking... decided to pick them up and put them on the garden wall to a) stop me walking on them, and b) stop the chickens eyeing them up (no idea if they'd eat them or what not).

Seemed a bit sleepy, guess they just woke up. Was going to give them some sugar/water solution to see if it'd help, but by the time I'd remembered they were gone!

[Florence Fennel]

I really hope you're successful with the Bee Board, it's really interesting reading this thread - thank you. The Consultant Physician I used to work for kept bees in Barnsley for years until he died a couple of years ago. I could listen to him for hours talking about them.

[Mrs Dobby]

Not had the survey form yet this year HF, but did last year, and had a DEFRA inspection from Ian Molyneux, the National Bee Unit inspector for hereabouts, fortunately we passed fine!

If the bees (possibly a bumble of some sort) were sluggish, it could be because they were cold chrismarks, pop them in a matchbox and cup in your hands (or put in your pocket for a few mins) to warm them up, then when you let them out they will fly off happily!

[wellie]

Personally, I have SO much yet to learn before I pop my cloggs, and if I could learn as much about bees as I have done about growing fruit and vegetables in the last ten years from a fantastic forum like this, it would make me incredibly happy.

The sensible thing to do, IMHO, would be to start a guide to keeping bees properly thread, and then all of us could begin to understand and appreciate our honey bees, and begin to grow the plants we need to grow to attract and feed them the nectar they crave, and ultimately feel confident enough to keep our own hive, because I suspect that most of us are lacking in the knowledge and confidence, more than the fact that we're not willing to do it.

Am I rigiht?

[vicky]

A glossary would be useful too - eg, what's a 'super', what's 'oxaylic acid' for? etc

[chris]

Not had the survey form yet this year HF, but did last year, and had a DEFRA inspection from Ian Molyneux, the National Bee Unit inspector for hereabouts, fortunately we passed fine!

If the bees (possibly a bumble of some sort) were sluggish, it could be because they were cold chrismarks, pop them in a matchbox and cup in your hands (or put in your pocket for a few mins) to warm them up, then when you let them out they will fly off happily!

When I picked them up, they did buzz around in my hands after a couple of secs, so maybe they were cold! They'd flown off by the time I came back to them anyway

I'm really interested in this bee house that's for sale, not for honey, but just to help the general population + both my garden + neighbours.

[Mrs Dobby]

As regards a glossary or guide, there's a fair bit been posted on our blog, with piccies, so if you want to leanr some basics, then take a look at any of the following links......

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - An Allotment and Beekeeping Blog!: Beekeeping - another colony homed, 3 hives on the plot! Plus a bit more info! Hive Assembly and Colny structure

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - An Allotment and Beekeeping Blog!: Beekeeping Update 8th July 2010 Hive Inspections

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - An Allotment and Beekeeping Blog!: Hothouse disaster averted, Queen Marking, allotment judging, community orchard and some great news! Queen Marking

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - An Allotment and Beekeeping Blog!: Yayyy! First Honey harvest of the year! Harvesting Honey (Extraction)

Only our own experiences, but some basic info there that can give a good basic idea of whats involved, of course, if we had a Bee Board, then I could adapt thoose posts and pop them into that forum as basic guides, if folks were interested, and Im sure others would also add their own versions, so all we need now is the new Board?

[bramble]

Saw my first bumble of the season on Wednesday. Saw another the next day, but who knows, it could be the same one. I will be keeping my eyes peeled this year and will do all I can to encourage them into my garden.