Lesley Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 (edited) I think I might stick my head above the parapet and say..................our bees have made it through the winter this time........... I was so fed up with repeating Year One of beekeeping and just wanted to give up last year, OH wanted to give it one more go and spend money we hadn't really got on 2 nucs instead of 1 and we were fortunate to gain a swarm in our bait hive. Two of the colonies have made it through and are doing well. We did a full inspection yesterday - a glorious day of sunshine. Fingers crossed that we can now start the year with bees instead of waiting to start with a nuc. Having more than one hive means we have drawn comb and 'spare' frames of brood - phrases that remained unknown to us over the last 4 years of trying to nurse one nuc at a time through evil, wet, summers and harsh winters - we couldn't have started beekeeping at a worse time! We started with a course at Stoneleigh but lived too far from the Leamington and Warks beeks to make it easy to have a mentor so we swapped and attended the course with Stratford beeks. Stratford is a small group which now has as more new members than experienced ones I think so mentoring is not always on offer. We will try to make more apiary meetings this year but it's difficult when there are just two of us running a smallholding as well as working - if the weather is fine then there is always something that needs doing on the farm and often our choice will be between tending our own bees or going off to watch, and learn from, the apiary bees but not having time to look after everything here.......we will try harder.......48 hour days might help.. Rab - thanks for the email - I have PMd you. Edited March 20, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Glad you've got them through. All mine are busy building up. Surprisingly no losses - even the colony 'abandoned' in a 6mm ply Dartington 'carry box' is flying strongly - OK, 5 or 6 frames and it had a honey box on top, OMF but no insulation ('roof was two thicknesses of 18mm ply Dartington coverboards) - no extra food given, just left quietly all winter after a last minute thymol treatment in September. Strong colonies at this time of the year are likely to be at most risk of starvation - lots of brood and a sudden dearth of forage, for any reason (weather being the main primary culprit), can quickly cause the stores to run down to zero. Beware, and feed 1:1 (or even 2:1, if very short of stores) if required. The 1:1 would enable the bees to utilise the remaining stores as food for the brood, if they were confined to the hive due to apalling weather (they need water to feed the larvae using honey as the carbohydrate component) and the 2:1 is a last resort to prevent the actual colony from starving. You don't want them discarding open brood due to food shortage as this is your spring build-up, ready for the first strong nectar flow. Regards, RAB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Oh Lesley, that's good. You've had such a rotten time. I haven't had a chance to look in mine yet as the temperatures remain cold. Saturday was a good day but I was away in a gloriously sunny Norfolk with a slow drive home through the Lincolnshire wolds. We are moving and exploring everywhere. My DH is tearing his hair out because where we move "has to be right for the bees" I digress.............Two are flying well when they can and all are taking the last of the neopoll I put on hoping there would be enough foragers for the masses of sycamore to come. I have two queens to mark and a colony to move to 14x12. Fingers crossed for all of us, it's a good job beekeepers are such optimists Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 So glad to hear that things are going better for you, Lesley - it's really discouraging to have had an experience like yours, well done for sticking with it. Here's hoping this is going to be a good year for all of us. My bees were flying well at the weekend, I could see lots of bright yellow pollen going in. I so wish I'd started beekeeping earlier - every year is different, and there's so much to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I so wish I'd started beekeeping earlier - every year is different, and there's so much to learn! Me too Olly! Well done Lesley. I've got my fingers crossed for you this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I so wish I'd started beekeeping earlier - every year is different, and there's so much to learn! Me too. I wish I hadn't prattled around out-weighing the pros with the cons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 It was thanks to OH that we stuck with it I was surprised at myself for wanting to give in as I'm really not like that, I'm an optimist and will stick at anything I've started........perhaps it was my age , I've never given in on anything before. We had temps of 16C over the weekend, and very little wind, so we had a good inspection and tidy up. We have a similar day again today and the bees are very busy - we're surrounded by mature trees and we've got all the fruit trees we've planted to come into flower yet. It will be so lovely to see the colonies building through Spring rather than be waiting for a nuc to be ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Great news Lesley. My bees didn't make it through the 2009/10 winter unfortunately so I decided to give in. 2 and a bit years without any hunny but endless investments were a bit of a toll for a student. I sold all my stuff on ebay for about cost price which was good. I was surprised how well all the equipment held it's value. I will definately be getting bees in a few years when I settle in to my home. Good luck. Wishing you full supers!! Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Sorry to hear that Martin, good to see you back on the forum by the way, it's been a while! There's been so much interest in beekeeping lately that I would expect stock to hold its value. I anticipate that in three or four years, on the other hand, there will be quite a few people who rushed into it and bought the kit, and have decided it's not for them, so there might be some bargains around - with luck, just around the time you want to start up again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 You could have told me you were selling Martin! - sorry you've had to give up though.....hope it's ot too long before you start up again. The OSR is flowering around here - the first time we will have had to cope with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Hmmm.. Last time I came on this forum there was no such thing as a beehaus. Haven't seen one in real life so reserving judgement. Still think I prefer the look of a national! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I think I can say two of ours are through after a proper inspection yesterday. I was going to put the third in a poly nuc box but they have two frames of brood and lots of stores so I dummied down and put the floor in instead. Fingers crossed for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 First apiary meeting of the year this afternoon and it's a lovely sunny day It should still be nice when we get back so we can inspect our own bees and follow any advice given at the meeting, both colonies seem very strong and active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I put a super on mine last week; inspected again today and it's already quite heavy with honey, and full of bees. So I've added another - hoping for a good spring honey crop if this weather keeps on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
