I will admit I have something of a rambling vernacular (I think it is as a result of a childhood accident with an illistrated encyclopedia). I have told plenty of stories of different hives so far and thought I would try and give an all encompassing update! So in no particular order.
Atol Hive (kenyan top bar hive with middle periscope entrance):
This was my first top bar hive and made from scrap wood in my shed. I moved my first colony out of this in May when I performed a split. It now contains Queen Boudicca and the Icena. This was a swarm I caught and transferred with perhaps a little trouble. Each of the family have got to name one of the Queens in the Apiary, and this one was Amber's turn. However, if I am honest whilst I was trying to install them I thought up quite a few names for them myself! They are currently on 10 full bars and I have been inserting bars at the edges. They continue to be a little..... touchy, so I haven't managed to inspect the full brood nest.
This was my first top bar hive and made from scrap wood in my shed. I moved my first colony out of this in May when I performed a split. It now contains Queen Boudicca and the Icena. This was a swarm I caught and transferred with perhaps a little trouble. Each of the family have got to name one of the Queens in the Apiary, and this one was Amber's turn. However, if I am honest whilst I was trying to install them I thought up quite a few names for them myself! They are currently on 10 full bars and I have been inserting bars at the edges. They continue to be a little..... touchy, so I haven't managed to inspect the full brood nest.
Beeford (A Warré style hive):
This was a mess of a few dilapidated boxes left in the apiary that some bees decided to move in to. They are referred to as Mata Hari and the sneaky bees. Thanks to the action of my father they now have some nice new boxes and roof. At the weekend I looked at possibly removing the top bars from the single box they were inhabiting and moving them across to one of the newer boxes but there was too much cross-comb. I have left them in their current box and installed a quilt, roof, and box underneath to grow down in to. I have tried to plug many of the gaps with wax.
This was a mess of a few dilapidated boxes left in the apiary that some bees decided to move in to. They are referred to as Mata Hari and the sneaky bees. Thanks to the action of my father they now have some nice new boxes and roof. At the weekend I looked at possibly removing the top bars from the single box they were inhabiting and moving them across to one of the newer boxes but there was too much cross-comb. I have left them in their current box and installed a quilt, roof, and box underneath to grow down in to. I have tried to plug many of the gaps with wax.
The roof contains a piece of insulation followed by the standard Warré quilt. The hive gets sun first thing and then is well shaded the rest of the day. Dad kindly installed viewing windows with a piece of foam to insert and help with insulation. I would like it very much if these bees could grow down sufficiently for me to add another box and remove the old top box before winter but I think this might be too much for them. I may have to clad the sides for them to overwinter.
C3BEE0 (Long Kenyan TBH with end and middle entrance and an ecofloor):
This contains the split from my original colony that was housed in Atol. This was supposed to form a two queen system this year but things have not been going as planned. They do aft gang agley. The queenright side of the split is flying with 18 bars of brood at the moment and going strong. Pheobee seems quite the layer. The are a few combs of drone brood with I have moved to the outside of the brood nest hoping they will fill it honey. I replaced them with empty bars hoping they'll build worker brood comb. The queenless side of the split have continued to remain hopelessly queenless. The exact sequence of events can only be guessed at but it is clear that the hive has swarmed a few times and left the hive without a queen. I inserted a full frame of eggs from the queenright side last week and they seemed happier. They didn't start any queen cells though. When I checked the comb at the weekend there were many queen cups but the brood was obviously too far along to raise any queens. I was intending to put another bar of Phoebee's brood in there yesterday but by the time I found the right mix of eggs and young brood the hive was getting very tetchy. There appeared to be some damp in the hive. It looks as though this might have been a roof leak I need to sort out. As a result some wood lice had entered and I think it was stressing the bees. I moved the middle follower boards over so Phobee's end of the hive have both middle entrance now in case it is an internal damp issue. I will keep an eye.
This contains the split from my original colony that was housed in Atol. This was supposed to form a two queen system this year but things have not been going as planned. They do aft gang agley. The queenright side of the split is flying with 18 bars of brood at the moment and going strong. Pheobee seems quite the layer. The are a few combs of drone brood with I have moved to the outside of the brood nest hoping they will fill it honey. I replaced them with empty bars hoping they'll build worker brood comb. The queenless side of the split have continued to remain hopelessly queenless. The exact sequence of events can only be guessed at but it is clear that the hive has swarmed a few times and left the hive without a queen. I inserted a full frame of eggs from the queenright side last week and they seemed happier. They didn't start any queen cells though. When I checked the comb at the weekend there were many queen cups but the brood was obviously too far along to raise any queens. I was intending to put another bar of Phoebee's brood in there yesterday but by the time I found the right mix of eggs and young brood the hive was getting very tetchy. There appeared to be some damp in the hive. It looks as though this might have been a roof leak I need to sort out. As a result some wood lice had entered and I think it was stressing the bees. I moved the middle follower boards over so Phobee's end of the hive have both middle entrance now in case it is an internal damp issue. I will keep an eye.
Mock national (national style 10 frame brood box)
This hive contained the Queen my daughter named 'mmm-mmm-bee'. This was a lovely little colony and obviously a cast from the hive split. They were extremely calm and gentle but I am afraid I only have so much space. This colony has now gone to a gentleman in Leeds and we wish them well together.
This hive contained the Queen my daughter named 'mmm-mmm-bee'. This was a lovely little colony and obviously a cast from the hive split. They were extremely calm and gentle but I am afraid I only have so much space. This colony has now gone to a gentleman in Leeds and we wish them well together.
Poppy Hive (12 frame national brood with insulated roof and ecofloor)
This is the newest hive and the newest colony. This colony turned up in a six frame national nuc that really wasn't ready for bees. As such there was a absolute mess of cross-comb. Rather than try to deal with it on frames I decided to put them in a bigger box, remove any collapsed comb, and put another big box underneath. Now there are two 12 frame national brood boxes. The top containing the mess plus extra combs, the bottom with new frame and comb guides. Now I wouldn't normally do this to a poor colony as it quite a lot to expect them to grow down into the box below this late in the year. This colony though has an impressive number of bees. The six frame nuc they were in was a deep and it was wall-to-wall bees. If any new colony could do it, it's this one. The queen doesn't yet have a name but I may name her for the hive. The hive is called the poppy hive because this is paint colour I had :) The hive has also been started in the middle of the poppy flow. They are currently next to a big clump of brambles flowering, and we have the lime trees coming in at the moment too so come on girls you can do it!
This is the newest hive and the newest colony. This colony turned up in a six frame national nuc that really wasn't ready for bees. As such there was a absolute mess of cross-comb. Rather than try to deal with it on frames I decided to put them in a bigger box, remove any collapsed comb, and put another big box underneath. Now there are two 12 frame national brood boxes. The top containing the mess plus extra combs, the bottom with new frame and comb guides. Now I wouldn't normally do this to a poor colony as it quite a lot to expect them to grow down into the box below this late in the year. This colony though has an impressive number of bees. The six frame nuc they were in was a deep and it was wall-to-wall bees. If any new colony could do it, it's this one. The queen doesn't yet have a name but I may name her for the hive. The hive is called the poppy hive because this is paint colour I had :) The hive has also been started in the middle of the poppy flow. They are currently next to a big clump of brambles flowering, and we have the lime trees coming in at the moment too so come on girls you can do it!
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