The First Inspection of Spring

Tuesday the 5th of March, Early Afternoon.

The Apiary thermometer was reading 16.5C. 
It was time to have a quick look around inside the hive.



Apiary Diary: Inspection

Smoker ignited at first attempt. Patent LandofSpike eggbox method (to be detailed in upcoming post) works a treat.
Entrance smoked, lid popped off, top feeder removed.
The top feeder had been left on for the winter but had seen no significant attention from the bees since the autumn.

Transparent inner cover removed and more gentle smoke used.
Bees retreated down into comb.
As usual, these Buckfasts are placid and calm.

Eke and slab of fondant removed.
Not much of the fondant had been consumed but it had been integrated into the top of the frames and attached to the top of the burr comb structure.

Fondant integrated into the burr comb structure

(The reason for the presence of burr comb of such epic proportions will be documented in a subsequent post. Link to follow...)

Super frames 1, 2, 3, 7 & the inside of 8 were seen to contain a good supply of capped honey. 

Frame removed showing capped honey                     Capped honey on frames & burr comb in situ

The burr comb, occupied the space vacated by missing super frames 4,5 & 6. 
It was, although not particularly Langstroth-friendly, stunningly beautiful. 
Its smooth architectural curves were delightful and there were deep, mysterious-looking bee-sized tunnels swooping into and out of its intricately twisted shape, allowing apian access to each and every cell.

Anarchic, not in the handbook, but intricately beautiful. And, seemingly, full of honey

Crucially though, it also looked as if it was completely full of capped honey.
And if it was full of capped honey, that meant it contained no new brood.
Which meant that it was less likely to be harbouring the Queen.

Which means that now it has served its purpose of helping sustain the colony through the winter, it can now be considered for imminent removal.

The presence of the burr comb meant it was impossible to remove the super to check the brood box for new brood.
However, super frames 1, 8, 9 & 10 were removed and honey stores were spied in the box below. Every sign indicates that all is well down there.


A second super was added just in case the bees felt the need to make some new comb.


Inspection over, the inner cover and the roof were replaced, and the restraining strap secured.


Finally, the varroa board, having been absent for the winter, was re-inserted.
Monitoring this for a short while will give an indication of hive activity and post-winter varroa levels.



Post inspection:

The eke has been cleaned and stored.

The top feeder has been cleaned and is due a lick of gloss paint on the inner reservoir surface to reseal some scuffed patches. 
The feeder should really have been removed from the hive much earlier. In winter, syrup is best replaced with a solid feed.

The remaining fondant has been re-sealed and stored in the freezer.



Conclusion & Projected Action:

Now that it looks likely that the burr comb is just one big honey store, it has been decided that it should be removed at the next inspection.
This is scheduled for Sunday 10 March.
If all goes well, it should restore, after a winter of freestyle comb, regular Hoffman frame order to the hive.

This will also be an opportunity to check on new activity and asses whether the top feeder (primed with 2:1 syrup) needs to be in place, as a precaution, until the weather stabilises.



The removal of the burr comb is also, of course, the equivalent of an early season honey harvest.

New Arrivals at Spike Towers

Saturday 30 June, 7:33 a.m.

The doorbell at Spike Towers rings loud and long.

BKJ2, having been up and about for quite a while, and being much faster than her old Dad, gets to the door first and throws it open.

On the step is The Royal Mail Special Delivery Guy clutching a reasonably sized and well sealed parcel. 

The parcel has dark, meshed-over holes on three sides and a large (and grammatically ambiguous) "FRAGILE BEES KEEP COOL" label covering its fourth side.

BKJ2 turns and launches herself into a Paul Revere-style charge through the house, announcing joyously, and at high volume that, "The Bees Have Arrived!" 

It's an alarm call that propels an instantly awake BKJ1 to the front door faster than the proverbial speeding bullet. 

The Postman, fair play to him, seems totally unfazed by the whole experience. 
He gets BKJ2 to make her mark on his electronic signing device and he listens politely as she excitedly tells him just what's in the box.
LandofSpike suspects that he may well already know.

Job done, Mr Postman breezes off.

So with the front door now firmly closed, LandofSpike, BKJ1 and BKJ2 are left standing in the entrance hall of Spike Towers looking at, and listening to, their New Box.

It's buzzing.

Or, to be more precise, whatever's inside the box is buzzing, and it's doing it rather loudly.

Buzzing

The box, as BKJ2 has already told us, contains the prospective new residents of the BeesofSpike Apiary.

A Five Frame Nucleus of Buckfast Honeybees.

It is, of course, these little fellers that are making all the noise.

They've had a long overnight journey from the Welsh Borders so they're entitled to be a little grumpy.

But their journey is almost over.

Mrs LandofSpike now appears and firmly but calmly, informs LandofSpike that it would be best if he, and his box, were to relocate themselves into the garden at the earliest possible opportunity, preferably a long way from the house.

Calming down... nowhere near the house

Again, fair play, because the loud buzzing noise does seem like a rather angry loud buzzing noise.

So off to the newly christened BeesofSpike Apiary they go.

LandofSpike lashes the box to the hive stand with his Hive Securing Strap, just in case it decides to topple off sideways.

Best to be on the safe side...

Nicely strapped down

That done, LandofSpike left the bees to settle in their traveling box for a few hours, and having missed breakfast in all the excitement, took the opportunity to grab himself a cup of tea and a large, nutritious snack. 

LandofSpike was now alone with his bees.

He read his instructions so he could plan what to do next.

Then he read them again. 

And then he read them again.

Several further rereads later, he suited up and decided it was about time he opened the box.

He had no idea what to expect but his task eventually proved to be extremely simple.

Y'see, LandofSpike might have been a tad apprehensive, but those bees, well, they knew what to do.

The door's under that label

The Nuc was still strapped to the hive stand, with its currently sealed and hidden entrance positioned as close as possible to where the entrance of the hive proper would be situated.

On the front of the Nuc, the big sticker which said "open using flap below" told LandofSpike where the door was concealed. It was possible to feel the edges under the exterior packaging.

The packaging was removed and the small entrance was revealed.

There it is

LandofSpike looked at the door for a long time and then, with the point of a craft knife, he gently and carefully flicked it open...

And the bees came out.

LandofSpike stood and watched.

And out they come

Still coming out

They seemed pleased that their confinement was over and set about immediately checking out the area, flying around the Apiary and crawling all over their box.

They were busy but not angry in the slightest.

However closely they were watched by the bloke in the white spacesuit, however many close up photos of them he took, they totally ignored him, so keen were they to get on with their Beestuff.

Are we still in Wales?

After a short while LandofSpike noticed that something special was happening.

A group of bees were standing by the door, their heads down, their abdomens pointing upwards and they were beating their wings.

They were fanning the Queen's pheromones from the hive into the air to announce to the colony that this was now their new home.

Later on that day bees started returning with pollen on their legs and it was obvious that they were now also already happily foraging.

With a seemingly happy flight of bees now bedding in, LandofSpike decided to leave them to settle overnight. 

Tomorrow, it would be time to transfer them, on their 5 frames, into their new permanent home.

Their momentous move will be documented in the next exciting instalment of the BeesofSpike, coming soon to this very blog.

Your Bees are in the Post

LandofSpike has ordered his bees.

A Five Frame Nucleus of Buckfasts.
The Queen's already marked, which is good, as that means LandofSpike won't have to risk squashing her to death trying to mark her himself.

She's not clipped but that shouldn't be a problem.
The Nuc will be Varroa treated before despatch and will have brood eggs and flying workers.
And, happily, it's all on National frames which will slot right into the Beebox.

They're due to arrive at Spike Towers by registered post in a couple of weeks.

LandofSpike's postman, I'm sure, will be delighted.

Yes, he's delighted

On the one hand LandofSpike is really rather excited about the Imminent Bee Arrival, but on the other hand, he's seriously wondering what on earth he thinks he's playing at.