June 2010
3 posts
Cast swarm is bundling again
Had a quick look at the cast swarm yesterday when adding more feed. But they have chosen to bunch under the cover board and not start to build comb in the brood box.
The plan is to run them in again tomorrow if the weather cheers up a bit.
Expansion of the Tallis Apiary
Today at 12.15 a call came from distressed allotment owners to say they had a swarm of bees causing a lot of upset … Within forty minutes the swarm was happy setting up home in the now christened swarm pod … Tonight I will go and collect them and bring them to join the streetbees at Tallis …
May 2010
3 posts
Queen has mated...
Ok so since the swarm episode we have had lots of honey work going on but not seen a queen or any fresh lavae…until yesterday when Martin saw the fresh young healthy red looking queen..no pic i’m afraid as he had his hands full inducting one of the cleaning staff into the workings of a hive.
But he did see her, briefly, she then dropped off the bottom of the frame and back into the...
April 2010
1 post
Spring has sprung...
Yesterday I popped into school to check on the hive in the beautiful spring sunshine…good news to report…the colony is very busy, they have nearly polished off 2 packs of fondant from the Christmas feeding and i saw lots of fresh bright orange pollen being brought in by workers.
I removed the mouse guard as a queue was forming at the entrance and also replaced the queen excluder.
...
January 2010
1 post
Feeding for Xmas
On 17 Dec Martin and I had a brief visit to the hive to put on a pound of fondant icing to see the girls through the winter…we will be checking in again in January.
The hive was quiet, much reduced numbers and a few dead bees around the outside areas, its quite sad to see this after spending all summer taking such care of them but it is the natural process.
November 2009
1 post
October 2009
2 posts
Visit from the master...
Mike and Sue plan to pop over this friday at 2.30 to have a look at our girls, help us apply the apiguard and lend us the honey extractor to clear a few frames prior to closing the hive up for winter.
September 2009
4 posts
Queen on first frame
This week Jen and I again found ourselves on inspection duty…the weather was fine and bright and the bees very busy outside bringing in a range of pollen. Once we opened the hive there she was queenie on the first frame…so of course we couldnt shake off the bees so we slipped her back in and had a quick look at the super instead.
We have about 4 frames in the super half capped so...
Scrum in a field
Sat 12th was a great experience
A huge number of beekeepers met in a field in Windsor to literally fight for cheap beekeeping goods. We came away having spent £320 but having saved £480 so well worth the bruises and now we are kitted out ready for small groups and with enough frames to last through next year
11th Sep Inspection
Jen and I inspected on 11th closely observed by 2 very keen yr11 lads who want to have a go next week
Weather was a little breezy but still huge amount of bee activity
Good brood and stores and lots of new lavae seen
Queen hiding againg today but colony very calm
Off to Thornes sale on sat to get more Suits and equipment so the boys can join in next week
Ooops...delayed report
Last friday 4th 3 of the group inspected the hive…yet i notice have not blogged a report
I remember the weather was bright sunny and calm, the bees were busy outside the hive with lots of pollen coming in and they behaved themselves really well once the lid was off. The queen wasnt seen and quite a lot of brood was evident as well as a good supply of stores. In the super there is now...
August 2009
8 posts
Met the Queen
Today Martin and I (Sue) did the inspection…
1…weather windy but bright and sunny
2…outside activity was busy…lots of pollen coming in from Sutcliffe Pk and the allotments.
3…lots of brood..seen young biting their way out, lots of stores, very busy hive
4…YES we saw the queen, sorry no pics…she is very shy! (also as was windy the colony was very...
Anyone want to practice their skills?
Next hive visit is this Fri 28th at 10am….anyone want to join me?….my colony is feeling a bit lonely during the summer!!!
Hive Inspection Friday 14th - the right kind of...
Sorry for the delay in this report folks…
1.. weather was warm and partly cloudly
2.. pollen still being brought in and good activity outside the hive
3.. the busy little bees have started to fill the super and there looks to be lots of lovely honey! The majority of the comb was being built from frames 2-9 with the heaviest in the middle. Lovely looking comb and clear honey. New super...
Next hive inspection
Change to notified dates…Next visit will be Friday 14th Aug at 10.30am, Jenny and Michelle have the equipment. Email Sue if you want to go along.
Hive inspections
Next hive visits will be on;
FRI 7TH AUG 10.30am SAT 15th AUG time to be confirmed SUN 23rd AUG 10.30am FRI 28th AUG 10.30am or evening FRI 4th SEP time to be confirmed
email suebeauchamp@me.com if you want to join the group on any of these visits.
July 2009
8 posts
Next hive inspection
Next visit to the hive will be Saturday morning to change the base board and add a super all being well.
Hive inspection report from Sue Beauchamp via...
Hive inspection report Questions
Each hive inspection should aim to answer the following 5 questions as a minimum:
1. What are the weather conditions for the day?
2. What activity do you notice at the entrance to the hive?
3. Having opened the hive what is the condition of the brood and stores?
4. Have you seen the queen? and
5. Can you describe the overall nature of the colony?
Get up to date
Catch up with the video diary of the taster day and staff training sessions held over the past month to get us to the point at which we can safely have bees at school by visiting http://www.streetgrowers.com/blog.html
The hive log
Maybe we can use this tumblr site to log the hive inspections alongside other activities in streetbees projects
