First inspections of the spring

First inspections of the spring

In sunny Cornwall I’ve simply finished my first inspections for 2021 contained in the hives. It has been heat sufficient for some individuals to stroll about in simply t-shirts and for me to put on a t-shirt and cardigan, so it was time.

Excellent news: each colonies are alive and queen-right. Unhealthy information: one (Kensa) is displaying indicators of chalkbrood illness.

Bee hives and smokers

My inspecting of Demelza went comically flawed. I started by attempting to get all my gear prepared in order that I might do some queen marking. I opened a model new queen marking pen purchased final summer time and tried to apply it to some onerous surfaces as a check – no ink in any way got here out. A lot for practising on drones first. I’ve now ordered just a little pot of queen marking paint as a substitute within the hope that there is perhaps one thing in there.

Demelza is doing properly, with the bees filling up a lot of the frames within the brood field, so I added a brilliant. Now I do not understand how, however I put the tremendous on the wrong way up after which puzzled why the frames have been sticking up barely and the crown board would not lie flat. I’ll blame it on after operating round after two small children all morning.

Kensa additionally has a laying queen and loads of brood, however the chalkbrood made me resolve to do a Bailey comb change, which I had been contemplating already. Demelza’s combs have been new final 12 months so I can allow them to crack on with filling a brilliant, however I feel it is vital to get Kensa’s bees on contemporary new comb. You will discover the directions for a Bailey comb change within the Nationwide Bee Unit’s Changing Previous Brood Comb steering.

I’ve begun by placing a brood field filled with basis over the prevailing brood field, and feeding sugar syrup. By subsequent week hopefully they may have made a begin on drawing out the comb after which I’ve to do the onerous half – discovering the queen. I’ll place her within the higher brood field with a queen excluder beneath. As soon as the brood beneath has hatched out, the previous comb will be eliminated. It could drag on for some time in comparison with a shook-swarm, however these aren’t the gentlest of bees and to be trustworthy I do not fancy shook swarming them.

Frames labeled with date
Brood frames labeled with date – that is so I can simply see what 12 months the frames have been put in. It additionally makes it apparent which approach around the frames have been within the hive once I put a body again in.

I listened in to my native Cornwall Beekeeping Affiliation’s final zoom catch up for novices, it was good to listen to bee chat. It was reported that blackthorn is in flower now in Cornwall, which is an efficient supply of nectar. No bodily assembly dates have been set but, but it surely’s hoped there can be some bee safaris this summer time, in order that we are able to go to one another’s apiaries.

Bees drinking water
The bees ingesting at a water station my father-in-law has arrange for them
Daffodil meadow
Daffodil meadow in some native Nationwide Belief gardens – not bee associated!

About Emily Scott

I’m a UK beekeeper who has lately moved from London to windswept, moist Cornwall. I first began holding bees within the Ealing Beekeepers Affiliation’s native apiary in 2008, once I created this weblog as a report for myself of my varied beekeeping associated disasters and – hopefully! – future successes.

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