July 2017 Apiary Diary

[M4tt 4,941]

Went to my hakea hives today to check on my superseded queen .

going through the frames was not promising , I found the old queen, lots and lots of drone brood , a capped queen cell, New queen cells being made and some eggs .

Then I found my new queen with a nice long body and she was laying an egg in a cell.

I think she mated earlier in the week , we had a hot still day . She would have been hatched 2 weeks then.

I dispatched the queen cells.

Are the bees making them because the old queen is a drone layer and the new queen has only just mated.

Or is it because there is a flow on and they want to swarm . The bees are bringing in lots of honey and capping it .[ATTACH=full]17956[/ATTACH]

My doomed nuc queen is now laying out the frames and needs more room so I will have to take out the feeder and find some drawn frames to put in.

I may have to rob some from another hive.

I need to make some sort of external feeder for the nuc .I do not have other bees or wasps to worry about.

This is a photo of the hakea hillsides.

It will flower for another month

My gosh you have a very unusual season there with its timing .

 

I really can't imagine bees swarming at the moment, which leads me to question if your new queen is a drone layer ? Keep an eye on the brood capping and you'll soon be able to report back

[kaihoka 2,976]

My gosh you have a very unusual season there with its timing .

 

I really can't imagine bees swarming at the moment, which leads me to question if your new queen is a drone layer ? Keep an eye on the brood capping and you'll soon be able to report back

I am wondering that myself.

There is a big difference in her body shape now than when I saw her first 2 weeks ago.

She would have only just started laying and all the capped and uncapped brood was older.

The old queen is still in the hive and laying and that is mostly drone.

Would the bees use a drone egg to raise more queens if there was a two week old queen in the hive.

It's not like she was past the mating age.

[M4tt 4,941]

Would the bees use a drone egg to raise more queens if there was a two week old queen in the hive.

 

Bees will make a new queen , or try to even with drone eggs , if they decide they need to .

 

You're new queen may look a beauty , but she may still be a drone layer . The likelihood of her getting mated this time of the year is around zero

 

I am happy to be shown otherwise . The cappings will soon tell you

Edited July 8, 2017 by Guest

[Desmo 228]

I have 3 hives and while 2 of them had the regularly timed "drone cull" where they all got thrown out in the cold, my 3rd hive had drones flying in the middle of the day as recently as 2 weeks ago. Coincidentally this hive also has a small patch of worker brood in it while the other 2 are having a break. Apparently some bees just don't follow the rules.

[kaihoka 2,976]

Today I took the feeder out of the doomed nuc and moved them into a new dry nuc box.

I had noticed the other day that there was some yellow sludge in the bottom of the box and I figured that there was too much condensation from the constant syrup in the feeder.

I made up some sort of external feeder.

On the 8th of may this nuc was considered beyond saving.

There are now at least 3 full frames each side of bees. There has just been a hatching of young bees .

[Rob Stockley 3,417]

Never say never. Aye @kaihoka (y)

[Goran 1,523]

Over here 34-36c in a shade these days.. Genius of me is in qrearing these days.. I always end up with qrearing in such warmth due to stiff schedule earlier.. Good thing I can have late late dinners and don't fear of getting extra kilos..

Transffered from jenter 84 larvae on the " bars" and again wait for further acceptance..

I must thank to brave advanced industrial countries for accelerating human race vanishing from this planet.. Earth will feel relieved much much earlier if such tempo continues :confused:

[Janice 3,991]

Today we are expecting snow where I live. I hope the bees are keeping each other warm.

[kaihoka 2,976]

Today we are expecting snow where I live. I hope the bees are keeping each other warm.

have you still got hives?

i know you had looses but i am unsure how things are for you now

[Janice 3,991]

have you still got hives?

i know you had looses but i am unsure how things are for you now

I have half a hive at the moment. It's too cold to go in and see how they are but I saw some bees flying a week or so ago when we had a warmish few hours. I don't have a lot of hope for it but it had a queen when we went overseas at the end of April and I gave it a big feed before we left.

Come spring I will be in the market for a nuc or two.

[kaihoka 2,976]

I have half a hive at the moment. It's too cold to go in and see how they are but I saw some bees flying a week or so ago when we had a warmish few hours. I don't have a lot of hope for it but it had a queen when we went overseas at the end of April and I gave it a big feed before we left.

Come spring I will be in the market for a nuc or two.

My nuc which was a queen and a hand full of bees two months ago is now three frames of bees with feeding .

It may be the same for you

[Janice 3,991]

My nuc which was a queen and a hand full of bees two months ago is now three frames of bees with feeding .

It may be the same for you

Your story was very encouraging but it's quite a bit colder here so I won't hold my breath.

[glynn 1,517]

Fingers crossed @Janice the little (badwords) are tuff

Edited July 13, 2017 by Guest

[dansar 5,524]

Hive spotting trip down to Dannevirke and Levin yesterday (kids staying with Grandparents). Drive home to Putaruru today, Snowing on the Tararuas, Desert Road closed. National Park heaps of snow and ice. The snow started just north of Taihape. Finally got ahead of the weather by Taupo.

Home, fire started and hot coffee brewing.

[yesbut 6,232]

Came home for lunch as usual, headed out door afterward, noticed a patch of sun in the middle of the back lawn,

with a possum sitting in it preening like a cat. I almost felt a bit bad marching up to within a metre & shooting it, it looked so happy & domestic, and made me wonder if it had been someone's pet. I have since thought that possums might not encounter many humans during the night & hence don't know what we are. It could have been blinded by the sun of course.

And this post is in the right thread, it is my home apiary.

[kaihoka 2,976]

Came home for lunch as usual, headed out door afterward, noticed a patch of sun in the middle of the back lawn,

with a possum sitting in it preening like a cat. I almost felt a bit bad marching up to within a metre & shooting it, it looked so happy & domestic, and made me wonder if it had been someone's pet. I have since thought that possums might not encounter many humans during the night & hence don't know what we are. It could have been blinded by the sun of course.

And this post is in the right thread, it is my home apiary.

It could have been sick with TB

[Bee Good 134]

Came home for lunch as usual, headed out door afterward, noticed a patch of sun in the middle of the back lawn,

with a possum sitting in it preening like a cat. I almost felt a bit bad marching up to within a metre & shooting it, it looked so happy & domestic, and made me wonder if it had been someone's pet. I have since thought that possums might not encounter many humans during the night & hence don't know what we are. It could have been blinded by the sun of course.

And this post is in the right thread, it is my home apiary.

Your pet possum will be suffering severe weight loss from sleeping and conserving as much energy as possible through the cold wet nasty nights, but it gets to point where they have to brave the elments to sustain themselves or die, and choose to do this when best weather allows, day or night. Quite common in the middle of winter with a bad run of weather.

[yesbut 6,232]

Your pet possum will be suffering severe weight loss from sleeping and conserving as much energy as possible through the cold wet nasty nights, but it gets to point where they have to brave the elments to sustain themselves or die, and choose to do this when best weather allows, day or night. Quite common in the middle of winter with a bad run of weather.

The only thing wrong with that theory is we haven't had any wet nasty nights for weeks if not a month or more.

[ChrisM 1,277]

But do possums actually carry TB to the extent we are told? I've read some hilarious accounts of government ineptitude and slanted reports that couldn't be made up. This leads me to doubt that possums are anything like as bad for the environment as we are told. @yesbut did you shoot an innocent being? Like the western honeybee, they are unlikely to attack unless threatened. In any case the fur is nice and soft. The tail and nose whiskers are handy for trout flies.

On the otherhand rats and stoats are a problem for native birds and it is the rats that bounce back first after a 1080 drop, so maybe focus on shooting rats?

[yesbut 6,232]

This leads me to doubt that possums are anything like as bad for the environment as we are told. @yesbut did you shoot an innocent being?

Possums are baaaaad. End of story.

[Russ 321]

Possums are baaaaad. End of story.

But cute.

[Bee Good 134]

The only thing wrong with that theory is we haven't had any wet nasty nights for weeks if not a month or more.

your kidding, the last 3 weeks have been rain plus showers followed by more rain with the odd intermittent outbreak of sun followed by more rain up here.

And youve just murdered nz only diurnal pozzy, could have bred your own strain down there, be alot easier to hunt.

[Ted 404]

But do possums actually carry TB to the extent we are told? I've read some hilarious accounts of government ineptitude and slanted reports that couldn't be made up. This leads me to doubt that possums are anything like as bad for the environment as we are told. @yesbut did you shoot an innocent being? Like the western honeybee, they are unlikely to attack unless threatened. In any case the fur is nice and soft. The tail and nose whiskers are handy for trout flies.

On the otherhand rats and stoats are a problem for native birds and it is the rats that bounce back first after a 1080 drop, so maybe focus on shooting rats?

About 30 years ago I helped carry out a possum poisoning operation in the Wairarapa with the (then) Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. We poisoned approximately 600 possums of which more than 80 were riddled with TB. So yes, possums most definitely carry TB. Not only that, they had virtually destroyed the bush where we were operating. Since those days possum numbers have been kept very low (mostly through 1080) and that bush has regenerated beautifully however the huge dead trees are still visible as a reminder to never let the possum numbers get out of hand again.

[Bee Good 134]

But do possums actually carry TB to the extent we are told? I've read some hilarious accounts of government ineptitude and slanted reports that couldn't be made up. This leads me to doubt that possums are anything like as bad for the environment as we are told. @yesbut did you shoot an innocent being? Like the western honeybee, they are unlikely to attack unless threatened. In any case the fur is nice and soft. The tail and nose whiskers are handy for trout flies.

On the otherhand rats and stoats are a problem for native birds and it is the rats that bounce back first after a 1080 drop, so maybe focus on shooting rats?

Possums can carry Bovine tuberculosis should they contract it from another pest, but we should always remember that the original source is always cattle, thats why its could Bovine TB

Usually were there is TB present and a high population of pest species that can interact with pastoral animals. pest management is nessescary .

That being said, alot of 1080 is poured out in areas of minimal pest numbers exist

If it was'nt for bovine Tb farmers would'nt be paying levies on every cattle beast they own and supporting AHB bureaucracy,

 

A bit like AFB

[kaihoka 2,976]

But do possums actually carry TB to the extent we are told? I've read some hilarious accounts of government ineptitude and slanted reports that couldn't be made up. This leads me to doubt that possums are anything like as bad for the environment as we are told. @yesbut did you shoot an innocent being? Like the western honeybee, they are unlikely to attack unless threatened. In any case the fur is nice and soft. The tail and nose whiskers are handy for trout flies.

On the otherhand rats and stoats are a problem for native birds and it is the rats that bounce back first after a 1080 drop, so maybe focus on shooting rats?

I have been trapping possums since the early 70s and I have seen some sick mangy possums, and lessions on the lungs.

Possums will also eat rat bait and that makes them sick .

If they out in the day time they are malfunctioning.