A very interesting article from Entomology Today, well worth a read!
Ivy Bees
In early September, small bees flying a few inches over a dry sunny patch of garden will most likely be ivy bees (colletes hedera). They look very similar to honey bees though their stripes are more clearly defined. They’re solitary creatures and the low-flying, stingless drones fly around waiting for new females to emerge from tunnels created last year. Soon the mated females will be on the ivy flowers. For more information on this fascinating little bee, see the EADT article: Harmless ivy bees are making themselves at home in Suffolk having migrated from continental Europe.
This Month in the Apiary: August
- Remove supers and extract – leave a super with space if you will have Himalayan Balsam coming in
- Put a super under the clearer board to give space for the bees to go into
- Mark the supers so you can put them back on the same hive above the crown board for the same hive for the bees to clean up
- Remove the supers after a few days and before the bees start storing in them again
- Store supers in a vermin free place
- Put a queen excluder or board top and bottom to prevent mice getting in
- Leave outside somewhere cold to kill wax moth or put frames through the freezer and allow to dry before storing or use acetic acid
- Put varroa boards in to check mite drop then treat with an authorised treatment if necessary. Follow instructions and try to vary treatment from year to year. Remember you are required to keep a note of treatments with dates/ batch number etc
- Bees produced now are the winter bees. It is important they are well nourished to build up their fat bodies
- Do not remove honey from the brood box If reducing the number of colonies by uniting or if colonies are small check they are disease free
- Test for Nosema if possible
- Feed bees if they do not have enough stores in the brood box after honey has been extracted from the supers and if there is not enough nectar coming in
- Reduce entrances against wasps and put out traps away from the hives
- Watch for Asian hornets hawking around hives and expanding nests
- Clean equipment thoroughly before storage, scorch boxes , excluders and crown boards
European Foulbrood Alert
Please be aware that there has been an increasing number of reports of EFB in our locality. As this is a serious and notifiable disease beekeepers should ensure they are familiar with the symptoms and are also registered on Beebase. If you suspect you may have an instance of EFB in one of your colonies you can contact the relevant seasonal bee inspector who will visit, inspect and test all of your hives in your apiary. The act of registering with Beebase will also ensure that if there are confirmed cases within range of your apiary you will be contacted.
This month in the Apiary – July
- This is usually the main month for the honey crop
- Lime and clover are in flower and the blackberry is out in a lot of places
- Don’t add more supers unless needed as the brood nest will begin to contract
- Move outer frames not filled or capped in towards the centre so that the bees don’t ignore them.
- Remove most of the honey crop when the cells are sealed or on part sealed frames no nectar drips out when shaken
- Bees will continue to forage on things like borage if available
- Do a monthly health check and a varroa check
- Purchase varroa treatment ready for when the supers are off
- Old dirty frames can be worked to the edge of the brood box to be removed
- Asian hornet nests could be increasing in size
- The larvae queens produced will need protein so change bait in traps to cat food or tuna
- Monitor traps frequently and watch for hawking around hives.
- Reduce entrances as wasps appear
SBKA Winter Bee Feed
From Paul, David and volunteers, The Bee Feed Team:
The Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association is again offering winter feed supplies. Bulk feed can be purchased in cans or in bulk where you supply your own containers, we also sell fondant and candipollen. Orders are made in kg (rule of thumb a syrup can when over full holds about 14kg or 10 litres but we suggest you just fill to 13kg). The amount of stores required by a colony is about 20kg of honey or feed substitute to get it through the winter. Larger hives headed by prolific queens may require more. When full a BS brood frame contains about 2.2 kg of honey, so assess the existing colony stores and feed the required balance. Please complete the form here to indicate your order, you will receive an email confirming your order along with payment details.
The days for collection of bee feed this year are Saturday 1st and 15th August (except for big orders which are best on another day by arrangement with David Adams on 01394 448235 or Mobile 07801 241460). Collection is from Deben View, Back Lane, FALKENHAM. IP10 0TL. All you need to do is turn up between 9am – 2pm on one of these days. If you are collecting bulk feed and you are supplying the cans make sure you bring sufficient to hold the amount you have ordered!!
If you know of other beekeepers who might like to order supplies please let them know. The order form can also be found from a link on the Suffolk Beekeeper’s website
A Bee C: Scientists translate honeybee queen duets
An interesting article on the BBC. The wording about feeding the bees in “sealed cells” could be better but interesting all the same!
Rescuing wild colonies
In addition to being called out to collect swarms you will get asked about bees that have already made a home, where it’s not ideal! Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had a few calls, we had the bees in a box which I posted about in a previous post which was a lovely prepackaged set of bees. The next two required some extra planning and thought. The first one was a call to a colony in the roof of an old toilet block.
As a beekeeper you can say no to any call out, it is purely voluntary. If it’s not safe, do not do it. As I’m keen to help as many bees as I can I agreed to come and have a look, but no promises. I was presented with what looked a busy hive, but not something I was able to tackle without some serious equipment.
Luckily the owner of the land was a mechanic and a whizz with his fork lift truck and happy to wear my spare suit in case he upset the bees whilst removing items off the top of the roof.
After making sure I had a secure and safe platform to work from the whizz with the forklift lifted the roof enough for me to gain access and remove each comb and splice them onto frames and put them into a hive, then place the hive where the combs had been. I was able to collect up and encourage a lot of bees into their new home, hoping the rest would follow.
As you can see a lot stubbornly stayed outside the entrance, even at bedtime. I managed to get most inside before I took the hive away to my apiary though. What surprised me was that although there were a lot of bees, there were very little stores, just a tiny patch of nectar on a small piece of comb. Hitting a bad patch of weather could have been the end of these bees and I was worried about how placid they were, I was scooping them up in my hands and putting them in, remember this was not a swarm! Once home I fed them straight away as I was so worried about them and on my last check they were massively more energetic and alive. I feel I got to them just in time.
Sunday morning I went and collected something much more simple, bees in the front of a shed. Removing a panel I gained access to a small colony which I transferred into my polynuc, using frames and rubber bands again. As above there was little to this colony, clearly a very recent swarm, probably a cast. Worth saving though, again quite quiet and slow. Now being fed they are much, much happier looking and hopefully will thrive.
Looking inside a top bar hive by Barry Crabtree
Barry Crabtree from the Ipswich and East Suffolk BKA invites you to join him on Zoom to look inside a top bar hive this Saturday 13th. Register in advance via Zoom.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
June in the apiary
- Continue weekly checks and perform swarm control if necessary if you see charged cells
- Extract Spring honey, return supers to the colony they came from
- Be aware if there is a ‘June gap ‘ in forage or the weather deteriorates – feed if necessary but not with supers on
- A monthly health check is a good idea, shaking all the bees off the frames in order to see the brood clearly
- Monitor the varroa levels and plan and purchase your treatment now.
- Remember – it is a good idea to vary treatment from year to year
- Think about the strength and condition of your colonies, assess temperament and consider uniting or queen replacement
- Be aware that this is the time Asian hornets are establishing primary nests often nearer to the ground. – monitor hives