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Mrs Webmuppet

What has Little Miss Webmuppet got me into? Updated

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Well we went to meet up with the semi commercial bee keeper today. I am exhausted, he had me working hard examining bee hives, I found a queen cell so he has set up a nucleus using it, he tried to get me to bring the nucleus and a small hive home, I had to decline as our garden really isn't suitable so he has set it up at his queen rearing apiary so we can go and visit it!

 

On the down side LMW got stung twice, not entirely sure why as once she was just stood there doing absolutely nothing ( she's a teenager after all :lol: )

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Goodness - there are many beginner beekeepers who would love to have someone pushing them to take a hive home! You are quite right to say no, though - the time and place need to be right.

 

Actually, getting stung is not a bad thing - it removes (some of!) the fear once it's happened, and it confirms that she isn't going to have a severe reaction to a sting, it's very rare but always a possibility if someone's never been stung. I hope it hasn't put her off.

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I think LMW has lost a bit of enthusiasm but she is a teen so who knows :lol: the bee keeper was perplexed as to why she was stung.....both times she was stood there watching me delving into hives, acting as my assistant (passing the smoker or hive tool etc). She did get given a jar of honey when we had finished. She says her stings are feeling much better, we did get the stings out pretty quickly.

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We may yet be getting a nucleus.....we have the offer of a site for a hive(inspected and cleared as suitable by a beekeeper) and a smoker and hive tool are winging their way to us in the post. Mr W has build us a hive stand with timber found lurking in the garage( proper external timber) he has made sure it would withstand a full hive including a super full of honey ( well he stood on it - he is no weedy lightweight :lol: ).

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These are mine before the hives went on last winter.

 

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The legs are fence posts driven in by a post basher and NOTHING will move them.

The tops are heavy duty tanalised pallets.

They give me a good height to go through the brood box and plenty of space for kit and ASs

BUT

I had one box with four supers on earlier this year (actually 14 x 12 on brood and a shallow plus three supers) and hubby had to climb up on the stand when we cleared them. I had to prop the stand up in the middle with breeze blocks.

Don't underestimate how heavy a hive can get.

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We were supposed to go to see our beekeeping instructor today but it was cancelled due to torrential downpours. He reckons that we should be good to go soon....eeeek. The smoker and hive tool arrived in the post today .the smoker was easy to get to light and stayed lit for ages, I had a job to get it to go out , I blocked up the spout and the air intake and still it continued to smoulder, in the end I dumped the smouldering contents in the garden and let the rain put it out. :lol:

 

This time tomorrow I may be the custodian of a nucleus, the trainer will be lending us a brood box etc to get us started.

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LMW are you getting a nucleus made this year with a new Queen?

Brood nests are contracting at this time of year so I urge you don't put the colony into a full size brood box unless it has brood on all the frames and even then you will have to dummy the space down in the brood box. Get your instructor to go through all this.

If you are overwintering a small colony then a poly nuc box is the way to go and you should have a viable colony in the spring.

Put them into a big box at this time of year and they will struggle to make those essential winter bees and dwindle away.

Just my thoughts......and what I would do

Tell us all about them when you get them....exciting times :)

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The nucleus is one with a new Queen but it has been going strong and was due to move out of its nuc box last week as the colony was too big for the nuc box. I believe I have to do careful moving of the dummy board inside the brood box to create a 'super nucleus box' . I know that they will need feeding too to keep them in tip top condition(I have some 10% sugar solution made up ready).i will also get a hive quilt to keep the colony warm and snug. I can't imagine that our instructor would let us loose with a dodgy colony (like the one I started :( - where the queen went AWOL)

 

I'm sure full instructions will be given and our instructor will expect weekly updates....he was worrying last week that he hadn't heard from 'one of his beekeeping ladies with her weekly update' :lol:

 

Update:

No bees yet, I need to order some kit, a rapid feeder and a few other bits apparently. The instructor said that the bees he has earmarked for us should be ready next week, he has moved them into a brood box and just wants to make sure everything is ok before we bring them home.

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My instructor said go find some loft insulation too......best start looking for a building site skip (although i do come out in a nasty rash if I go near certain types of insulation) I did wonder if several layers of quilting batting would do the job (I have a big bag full of left over bits). :think:

 

Update:

One of the OHs mates is in the insulation trade and is giving me a square of some super doper space age insulation....a bit 6mm thick is the equivalent of 6in of traditional insulating material. He did laugh when I said even bees need their lofts insulating these days. :lol:

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