What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

[tycrnp]

I dismantled a hive beetle slimed hive. All the packed nectar ruined. The bee colony defunct. All because I allowed it to weaken too much earlier in spring, pulling nucs. I have reaped what I sowed.
The only comfort is that this particular long hive body was my frustrating, warped box. So now I can cut it up for other uses.

A slimed hive is so disgusting!!!  And sad.  I am taking a multifaceted approach this year.  I have beetle traps with oil in the top supers, peppermint candies (1 in each of the 4 corners of the top supers), and beneath the hives I have a borax/ketchup mix between 2 CDs.  I started using the CDs to get rid of ants, but I noticed there were NO SHBs in the bee yard where I have the CDs! 

But what did I do today, nothing, it rained.

[The15thMember]

I have beetle traps with oil in the top supers, peppermint candies (1 in each of the 4 corners of the top supers), and beneath the hives I have a borax/ketchup mix between 2 CDs. 

I've never heard of anything like this for SHB control.  What's the reasoning behind this? 

[rast]

15th, "Hillbilly Beekeeping" on YouTube.

[The15thMember]

15th, "Hillbilly Beekeeping" on YouTube.

Thanks rast, I'll take a look. 

[paus]

MY daughter wanted a Top Bar hive, then SHB moved in.  There were no hives with DSBB with oil near this hive. She wanted the hive near her kitchen window so she could watch the activity of the hive.  I made a 2X4 frame the dimensions the same size as bottom of the top bar and screened the bottom of the frame.  The top bar hive already had a screen bottom.  I bent casserole pans to fit in the space between the screens, put 3/4 inch of oil in the pans.  I cut 2x4 that I could slip in each end of the frame to make it bee proof, no more SHB. We decided that a top bar was more trouble than it was worth. But it was educatio0nal and lots of fun.  I have considered making 2 or 3 nucs from this used hive but decided I would make a Long Lang out of the materials from the top bar and make 3 or 4 nucs in the long hive.  I believe this is worthwhile if I ever get a "round tuit"

[.30WCF]

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[The15thMember]

Those look AMAZING, 30! 

[The15thMember]

I checked my nucs today, and they have both made queen cells.  My other new queens are laying fast and furious now, one of them has 5 boxes on her hive already!  I'll be taking some honey off of them probably in 2 weeks or so.  The sourwoods are all budded up, and they are LOADED!!  I'm hoping for a good year, as last year we hardly got any sourwood.     

[The15thMember]

My bees are bringing in so much pollen right now.  I had almost a cup of pollen in my trap today!  It's mostly brown, but there is also this crazy neon orange color.  I'll have to look at a color chart and see if I can figure out what it's from. 

My favorite queen Ravenna seems about to be superseded, as I found a pretty advanced but still uncapped queen cell in her hive today.  There was more brood in there today than two weeks ago, but still not really enough for this time of year, so I'm going to let the bees do what they think best.  Here's a picture I took of her today.
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[Bob Wilson]

There is a lake across the street, but some few bees like my bird bath water instead. Apparently my cat wants to contest ownership, staring down the little golden intruders.

[The15thMember]

There is a lake across the street, but some few bees like my bird bath water instead. Apparently my cat wants to contest ownership, staring down the little golden intruders.

Aw, you have such a pretty kitty, Bob! 

[BeeMaster2]

Pulled honey supers from 5 hives this morning. Judy has been decapping and spinning frames all day.

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Jim Altmiller

[Bob Wilson]

Beemaster. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems different about your dining area from last time I saw it. Did you redecorate?

[BeeMaster2]

Bob,
Everything is the same. The only thing that we change is during the winter we have the couch reversed so that it faces the he first e place. I?m now t sure which way it was during BeeFest.
Jim Altmiller

[Michael Bush]

Maybe it's the extractor in the middle of the room...

[BeeMaster2]

It?s a real conversation piece. 😊
Jim Altmiller

[Bob Wilson]

Room decor by La' Apiary.

[yes2matt]

I'm building frames in the evenings. Because why build them during the winter when it's not an emergency? That would make too much sense. Much better to wait until you have splits mated to buy boxes and build frames, wouldn't you say?

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[Ben Framed]

Room decor by La' Apiary.

[The15thMember]

I had a full day in the apiary.  I checked my nucs and one had a new queen laying!  I inspected two of my full sized hives and added a super to each for the sourwood flow.  I also put 4 fat frames of honey above my triangle escape board in my biggest hive and replaced those frames with blanks for them to draw and fill with sourwood honey.  We had storms in the area all day, although thankfully it didn't rain enough here to be noticeable under the trees, but the bees were testy as a result of the weather in the area.  I'm surprised I didn't get stung.  It was one of those days where everything has to be S L O W and deliberate in order to not get attacked.