Beekeeping

[Lesgold]

Good onya Hard Luck. A freebie coming your way. You never know. The boss lady may be a quiet, polite and helpful girl. You wont know for a couple of months. That time of year has started again. Its sooooo dry here that the build up has been slower than expected. Swarming wont be far away however. Hive inspections will be more regular now to help with the problem. Gold prospecting tends to suffer at this time of year.

Cheers

Les

 

[Solid Luck]

Hi Les,
She seems ok so far. I didn't interfere too much. Just a wisp of smoke. Didn't get 1000 bees trying to kill me as per my other hives. See how things go on Saturday. I'll requeen asap anyway.

:Y:

 

[Lesgold]

Just noticed something about where the swarm settled. Is that your honey press in the box that the bees swarmed to? Looks like they were attracted by the smell of the honey.

 

[Goldfreak]

Got a nice little swam settled on a tree branch. Don't have a hive to transfer them too though. Probably move on when the sun gets on it.

 

[Jaros]

We had a swarm settle on our clothes line a few years ago. Couldn't go near the line for over a week. Rang a beekeeper and was told they will rest there for a while as they did and when they find a better place for a hive they will move on.
My wife didn't mind having no washing to place on the line for that period of time.

 

[goody2shoes]

Wow more honey been making.. Yummy

Goody

 

[Manpa]

The bees have been very active the past week in our yard, I love watching these little critters go about their business collecting pollen, their pollen sac swollen and yellow. I couldn't even see the pollen on the tree they were collecting it from.

 

[Solid Luck]

Just noticed something about where the swarm settled. Is that your honey press in the box that the bees swarmed to? Looks like they were attracted by the smell of the honey.

It sure is Les. I cleaned that till it shone. Obviously they were attracted to it. I know I shouldn't but I've put out a bit of honey in the shed. Been a really cold and damp day here. I want them to hang around till I capture them.

 

[Solid Luck]

Got them into the hive Saturday and they seem to have settled in ok. First time ever I found the queen so quick. They had made 3 combs and I thought she'd be hanging around in there but after shaking them in I saw her in the corner of the box.
Looked like she was ready to take of. Scooped her up and put her in the hive.
Cheeky buggers.

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

Just like Hard Luck, I got my first swarm today. Its been a hard week weatherwise. Windy and cool for days on end so the hives were left alone. Had to drop the grandkids back to Canberra after babysitting for a week. Today was the first really warm day that weve had. Got to about 27 degrees with very little wind. Noticed the swarm as I was coming up my driveway after the trip home. Anyway, I decided to film it on my phone and post it on YouTube. Checked them right on dark and they were all tucked up in bed. Will move the box early in the morning before they start playing. Hope you enjoy the clip. Sorry about the poor lighting and sound. Sometimes these things are out of your control.

Cheers

Les
[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/KUs8G-XBios[/video]

 

[Solid Luck]

Nice going Les. And great vid.
I've captured a couple of swarms now and i remember when I first started out trying to move an established colony into a hive. They were in an irrigation valve box. Farmer said they had been there for years.
Tried about 5 times in a week to get them into a hive. Every time I thought they were settled I'd leave them. Come back next day and back in the irrigation box they were.
Came back on the final day and they'd gone. Got sick of me. They were a gentle colony and great to work with.
Honey was the darkest I have ever seen.
I'm still an amateur at this hobby and I love honey.

 

[Lesgold]

Thats a good size hive. Theres no guarantees when it comes to boxing a colony (especially when they are established in a location) Its all good fun though. Gee that honey was dark. Looks a bit like Manuka honey (sorry were supposed to call it that are we.) Looks like your swarm has settled in well. If the queen is quiet, breeds well and the hive produces lots of honey, she may end up as a keeper.

 

[iamagoldenoldie2]

after hearing the not so good news on radio from the president of the apiarists association on how the drought is affecting the bee keeping industry, they need water, and lets not forget the bushfires that destroyed the native forests, so the other news related to the almond plantations, no bees to pollinate, no almonds. the man said that the follow on effect will last for 7 or 8 years , ok so i asked a friend how many hives do you have,,,, answer had 40 now got 1, why blame poison in orchards that affect the bees the demand for queens by the USA their bee's have been devastated by a disease and we got the hive beetle that needs to be watched bee keepers prefer native forest so their bees don't get poisoned by chemical spraying , so there another side to bee keeping we don't hear much about just a comment , anyone hear the same rumours

 

[Harbourmaster]

Well i'm retired from beekeeping aren't I ? Just waiting to be picked up by a couple of locals to go and check their Hives and I'm really looking forward to it.I'll try to remember to get some pictures for the forum.

 

[user 5263]

I don't pick them till after they have had their moring tea/brunch.

I don't normally grow lots of flowers but found bedraggled punnet of poppies at bunnings for 50 cents and now my wife has cut flowers for the family room

 

[Lesgold]

The hard times in relation to drought can have other impacts as imagoldenoldie2 has mentioned. Been a bit lucky in the sense that weve had about 25mm of rain this month but the bees are still suffering. Wont be much surplus this year as nothing will be flowering. Need to leave as much honey in the hives as possible to help them through this tough time. Spring build up has been slower than normal this year. I feel sorry for beekeepers and farmers out west of the divide. They have been struggling for quite a while now and summer hasnt even started.

 

[Harbourmaster]

A couple of pictures of Queens.My friends want to know how I can spot them so quickly, it's just experience so their ambition is to find the queen before me. Not looking too bad on the bottom of the peninsula had almost an inch of rain last week and the vetch next door is purple with flowers, still a lot of cape weed flowering & some very late costal mallee (e. diverifolia) I can't remember it starting so late. There is also a lot of Melaelueca come on in the last fortnight almost looks like they have been snowed on. Anyway thats enough of me for now, & eat more honey

 

[Sleepys opals]

Lesgold lol it seems that gold and bees are linked, I'm a 3rd generation miner and beekeeper, grandfather, father and brother have had gold mines and have been commercial bee keepers, brother and nephew still are, and have their bees in the riverine on the citrus.

 

[kurra]

Great video Les! You make it look so easy

I have a swarm in my Buddleia plant at the moment which has been there for about five days. They seem quite calm and happy to be there.

Hard Luck, I was surprised...I thought they would have moved on by now and found a nice tree hollow......plenty of trees around!. I was in the shed the other day and a couple were scouting around in there so I think I might close the door just in case after reading your post.

I was just wondering if I would be better off leaving the door open? I was thinking if I closed the door they can still get in and they might like it better with the door closed and snug.

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Kurra. Nice to hear from you. I wouldnt worry to much about the swarm. Theyll move on when they are ready. I have seen a few swarms that dont move at all, however. They build comb out in the open on a branch. Dont know why they do it. Will cause problems as they would have difficulty in keeping the brood warm. Hi Sleepys opals. Welcome aboard. Im sure that your expertise will help us mugs out when it comes to this pastime. Great shots there Harbour master. Sounds like you guys may be in for a good season. Hope there is some follow up rain for you guys to keep the girls happy.

Cheers

Les