Is there a provision for an attack by killer bees?

Well it looks like the end of the main season around these parts.

I got stung again doing some weeding having missed my partner by minutes who'd literally ran from his hives. I seem not to be dead so I'm taking that as a good sign.

We're taking the honey off this weekend and it's miserable, maybe 50lbs across 6 hives. That would be ok for one hive normally. By time we go into winter im expecting to have reduced them to four strong hives and hope that I go into next spring with three, touch wood.

I seem to be stuck in a rut at the moment, I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong, I'm just fighting circumstance. I learn and I sympathise with anyone who took up beekeeping this or last year because they must have had an even more miserable time of it.

I'm buying shares in sugar producers next time.

I hate the weather, I'm amazed by the ability of the bees.

I try to let bees be bees. I failed in the spring when it was horrible and a hive starved. I've had two hives run by the books this year and a bunch of others just do their own thing.

This was suppsed to be the year when I had a half a clue what was going on and it's been the wettest since.. forever and still the little bastards know more about it than I do.

I live, and I learn; and still I think I have half and idea what they're up to.. and, honestly, I dont.

They're amazing. I wont have much honey but hives that shouldn't be alive(by my comments in june) might go on to next year

If we can reciprocate a love of accents we have a professor from the university of Georgia over here at the moment. I'm almost ready to declare man love but I only want to suck his brain.

On second thought, I think I'll walk home...



(No, not my photo, random Imgur pic I ran across.)

I wish they'd all cluster up that conveniently.

Finished this year's honey extraction and winter preparations are underway. Shocking year all round, only two hives bought in any honey and there was less than half the amount as last year. Lots of feeding of hives going on to make sure they've got enough food and ill probably combine a couple of the weaker colonies to improve the chances they'll make it through to spring.

Still, as they say in beekeeping: it'll be better next year.

Thought you might be interested in a short (9 min) vid by Tom Seeley on swarms.

http://www.cornell.edu/video/?videoID=1685

[edit] it might also be worth mentioning that he's written a book "honey bee democracy" but I haven't got round to buying it yet

What would you do with colored honey?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/05/us-france-bees-idUSBRE8930MQ20121005

Put it in nice jars and use it for decoration?

Everything is sticky, it can only mean... Honey time!



Despite the crap harvest I think we've finally got this jarring business sorted.

Got around 30lb in the end compared to 80 or so last year.

Next year will be better :)

JESUS that shit is amazing. I've read about the waggle-dance action before but didn't know the orientation and length of the dance could actually be loosely translated into a specific direction and distance away.

There's a university in, I think, Germany that's developed a robot bee to mimic the dance. First time they tried it, the bees attacked it until they figured out that it wasn't giving out nectar samples. They've got it to a point now that they can encourage bees to leave the hive based on the dance, but they go to the wrong place.

The university of Sussex here, in the UK, does a lot of research around the Waggle-dance, if you search for LASI (Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects) or Professor Ratnieks you can probably find out some more interesting things. Dr Margaret Couvillion is heading most of the research in that area if memory serves me right. I do have the algorithm they use that determines the distance part of the dance, the direction is pretty straight forward, you just need a protractor and a chart of where the sun was at a given time of day.

Tom Seeley is pretty much the world expert on Swarming and Swarm behaviour, anything you can find written by him is worth reading.

Nellie, are you taking part in the Secret Santa? Because I found the perfect gift for you... (I was linked to it by Quat, but I saw it and immediately thought of you.)

Probably should have posted this in the spring and not at night here:

http://www.sysonby.com/beecam/

Exactly what it says on the tin. Two webcams, one inside the hive, one outside.

Been to check the hives this afternoon and do the winter varroa treatment.

So far, touch wood, all 5 hives are still alive which was a pleasant surprise, I had two of them down to not make it, though its early yet to count them as safe.

More paper:


3 down, 4 to go, sit my next one next month.

Bastard, I have an exam on this soon. If "quack, pfft" isn't the right answer, there will be trouble.

Spring arrives!

The Good:



And the bad:


Lost 4 out of 6 hives in total. 2 I was expecting to lose, the other 2, including the one above is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Still I have two surviving hives, 1 in particular looks pretty good and I can use that to expand again and I might be a bit more active collecting swarms this year, though I think they're going to be very late when they eventually get around to it after the long, cold winter. Spring hasn't yet arrive properly and I'd normally be on the look out for hives starting to make preparations to swarm over the next couple of weeks but I think it'll be June at least before swarming starts in earnest.