Spruce's honey bees

@Jenny namaste me and the bees get on well as you know so I would say a little nudge from me helps.

@honeybunny , they would rather get at the honey or the larvae (babybee) but wasps dont have a barb on the sting so they can use it as many times as they want not like a honey bee which does have barbs so it always sticks in and then it dies.

Wasps are quite tough as the amount of times I have given then a swipe and back up they come but flying a bit groggy, I know they have rough time but it crazy this year.

Spruce

 

result of crop for 2013 two hives 110lb so not bad I can sit back and rest .

Varroa treatment on its last days so just need to keep checking the weight the need 40lb of stores for winter , but Himalayan Balsam still in full flower and the Ivy won't be long to start either, so all going to plan.

Just like to thank everyone for the interest shown in the thread
Replies:
452
Views:
12,44


and not bad on the replies and especially the views



Spruce

 

We all love bees Spruce and through you , we have got to know and understand more about them. They are so fascinating and I feel more "grounded" knowing they are around and doing well,
Jenny

 

What's the status of the Bees then Mr Spruce?

 

Well Mr Zigs

Being sensible as they always are , they are tucked up inside and no one coming out , and protecting winter stores and keeping them selves warm as toast , I will put the mouse excluders on over the weekend , as they sneak in on the very cold days when the bees go into a "moribund" state and then get the hive smell on them and "we" think the bees just think its another bee ? they eat the honey comb and eventually may kill the bees as well , end of December I will be treating for Varroa mite.

The queen will be still laying but only maybe 10 to 20 eggs a day and in the real cold periods will stop altogether
Like other insects, the honey bee is cold-blooded (exothermic). However, unlike other insects, the honey bee does not die off in the Autumn or hibernate, but is active all winter eating and metabolizing honey to keep warm. Individual honeybees are exothermic (maintaining body heat from outside sources), but a hive collectively is endothermic (maintains body heat from within). With the onset of cold weather, the bees congregate in a cluster, shivering their flight muscles to generate heat and warm the hive. Shivering the flight muscles activate different patterns from those during flight. The muscles contract against each other rather than on the wings.

A “winter” bee is produced at the end of the summer. It is physiologically different than the summer bee, with a different hemolymph (blood) protein profile than the summer bee. Winter bees also have fatter bodies which they rely for nourishment during the non-foraging months. A winter bee will live much longer (4 to 6 months) than a summer bee (45 days). The sole purpose of the winter bee is to get the colony through 'til spring. In the Autumn as the hive prepares for the long winter months ahead, the bee population drops as the summer bees die off, replaced by the smaller winter cluster. Brood production stops. When the outside temperature is above 50°, bees take cleansing flights as they do not defecate inside the hive .

As long as the temperature outside the hive is higher than 64º, bees in the hive are dispersed within it. Come winter, however, the honey bees crowd tightly together in a cluster. The cluster expands and contracts as the weather warms and cools. The winter cluster is a well-defined cluster of bees that forms in the hive when the air temperature dips below 54-57 °. As the temperature further decreases, the cluster becomes tighter and more compact as the bees cling tightly together on the combs in the hive. The bees at the core of the cluster maintain a temperature of approximately 64-90°, while the outer mantel layer of bees maintain a temperature from about 48-57°.


see what I mean they aint daft !!!

Spruce OBK GC

 

Thank you for that Mr Spruce

Very informative

So do you ever wrap a bit of loft insulation round the hive if it looks like getting down to silly cold temps?

 

good question , Zigs !!

in the roof above the crown board in the UK a lot beeks use Celotex board or Kingspan which you may know off ? you can keep them too snug and they will consume more food than they should thinking its warmer than it is.

But honey stores and lots of bees is best so the late Summer Autumn prep is essential to get right and that's were I come into it if they haven't built up enough stores you have to feed them sugar syrup to get them up to the 40lb , some very cold country's put the hive in to cellars over the winters , but it back to using bees that are used to your area where you live rather than importing queens from other country's .

Spruce

 

Nice one Spruce Yep i'm surrounded by Celotex

 

it is late but must of been warm enough , plus the scent of your flowers and having a feed will do it good

good photos

GCOBK

 

I saw Bees on a late flowering Ceanothus yesterday. Surprised to see the Ceanothus in flower, let alone the bee on it!

 

Found these today,



Take it the mesh is to stop Mr Badger from helping himself to a jar or two?

 

Zigs a badger would rip that off, its to stop Mr Woodpecker , should of left more of a gap for the bees to fly freely as they will land on the chicken wire and will be to cold to re-take to the air to come in they like a nice clear take off and runway back in only had to be a couple of inches
A beekeeper about 3 miles from here had 6 hives robbed by someone about two weeks ago I know you woudnt but dont say where you took the photo
Spruce

 

Ahh, didn't think about Mr Woodpecker.

They wont be happy bees then.

6 hives, bother. Must have been someone that knew what they were doing I suppose, can't imagine a hoodie pulling that off.