Blog

Three hives in the out apiary appear healthy. It's still too cold for them to fly but there's detritus on on the removable screen beneath the brood nests.

It's less clear how Hive A is in Headington. The Ants are active on the removable board. There's some evidence of activity. The hive still has supers on because the brood nest moved up. It always appears to be very big so I assume that it's strong. Let's hope that's still true in a fortnight.

The colony in Hive H is dead.

There was clear evidence that the colony starved. There were no stores, and there were numerous bees inside empty cells. I saw evidence that they were still alive quite recently. I think that the recent spell of cold weather finished them off

I'm unsure how to think about this. I'm sad that they're dead; I'm concerned that my actions may have been at fault; but I'm also aware that the colony did not act to build stores when it could have. I fed it in the autumn and saw them building new comb instead of making stores. For this reason I only fed them a modest amount. It's possible that they had filled their stores but when I opened I found 5 deep National frames of comb. That ought to have been enough for a colony of that size.

The colony in Hive H did not defend itself adequately against the wasps. I felt at the time that I had created that problem which is why I moved the hive and colony to Headington.

How much should a low intervention beekeeper intervene? When he has caused a problem? When there is a problem? Never? The colony in Hive H is dead. I'm not wholly to blame but I could have done more and less.

I opened the hives in my out apiary to put extra food in. I found that the colony in Hive F is dead.

This colony was given to me last May. It had been untreated for 2 years. Before that it was in an intensively managed colony.

I think that the colony died of isolation starvation. During a cold period the colony forms a cluster. Stores are used to keep this cluster warm. If the temperature in the hive is too low the colony may be unable to move around the hive. They eat the honey where they are. When this is finished they starve and then die of cold.

I found fewer bees than expected when I opened. They were all dead. There were several with their heads stuck in honey cells -- a clear sign of starvation. There were some dead bees on the floor and the remains of a significant number in front of the hive which had died some months before. I didn't find the Queen, although I might find her when I look again.

This colony was under quite severe stress from Varroa. They may also have been harder hit by wasps than I'd realised. There were plenty of stores but clearly not enough bees.

The weather has become cold. There's heavy snow forecast and my hives are light on stores. It's an anxious time.

I don't like feeding but I will once the weather warms sufficiently. I've made up some fondant (the recipe didn't really work but it's good enough). I didn't think that I'd over-harvested but the forage was patch and the wasps were relentless. I misjudged.

For now, I wait. Maybe the weekend will be warmer.

I looked today at the floor of Hive E. No sign of activity. I assume that it is dead.

I'll have a look inside when the weather warms up.

Wasps; Varroa; a knock down in the storm. All too much for them.

It's cold, so there isn't much to see at the hives. I'm still keeping an eye on the colonies by inspecting the removable base boards.

All the hives (C, D, E, F, G) are showing evidence that they're uncapping honey and eating it. There are some darker cappings which indicates that brood may be hatching. The colour of the wax suggests that it is from brood comb but the cause is not certain. They might be tidying or repairing damage. Midwinter brood is more common than some literature suggests so I'd be confident that they're still rearing.

Varroa drop count is very low (<10 per hive). That's also not much of a surprise. If there is brood then it's likely to be very heavily infested with Varroa. I'll look out for crawling bees showing signs of Deformed Wing Virus. I didn't see any this time but the numbers are low enough (and the ground wet enough) that I might have missed them.

I checked on Hive E today. There was evidence of uncapping which suggests that the bees are still alive. There was also some small pieces of broken comb which is unsurprising following a knock down. One unexpected find was a wax moth larva.

All the other hives in my out-apiary are showing evidence of recent uncapping. I assume that they're ok

Poor Hive E. It was knocked over last night during the high winds. I righted it this morning. No bees came out but that isn't conclusive. I'll check in a few days to see whether there is sign of life from inside.

I don't really know how to heft. This means that I've been concerned about the stores in a couple of the hives for a few weeks. Today I visited and put some honey in to feed them. They honey had set to a stiff paste or fully hardened.

I took a super which had empty comb. I removed enough frames to fit 2 tubs and a jar. I then quickly popped the lid off; placed the super and honey and put the lids back on.

It's said that a colony never freezes but it can starve. It all comes down to stores. This is an admission that I probably took a bit too much honey from them. I wasn't intentionally greedy but the colony may have put stores above rather than adjacent to their brood frames. That would have left them lighter than intended.

I didn't have a spare super to sort out Hive C. I'll take one up and add some honey in for them soon.

Storm Caroline blew through overnight. It was worst in Scotland but we had higher winds. All 5 hives in my out apiary stayed upright. During my check this morning I also found evidence of activity in all 5: brood and honey cell cappings on the hive floor. The entrances are all clear.

I hefted and found that Hive E is a bit light. I really need a comparison. The complete Commercial hive weighs at least 20Kg according to Thorne. The guidance is that a colony needs 25Kg to see it through the winter. I don't think that Hive E has enough. I'm not sure about the others. Luckily I've held back some solid honey which I can give to them.

The colonies in all 7 hives are quiet this week. The weather is between freezing and 10C.

I checked the removable screens below the brood boxes. There appears to be activity in all the hives. I cleared away evidence of brood hatching from some of the hives but I don't think that I'll see much more hatching for a while.

Hive A appeared to be very quiet but the base board is frequented by ants and slugs. It's possible that they have been clearing away wax and sugar which drops from the hive. They don't remove the bodies of Varroa as far as I can see.

I visited my out-apiary today and examined the removable hive floors for evidence of recent activity.

Three hives (D, F and G) show evidence of recent brood emergence. There were also hundreds of dead mites. Hive D had been especially prolific. There was also crystallised sugar which suggests that old honey is being eaten or cells are being cleaned out.

One hive (C) was so wet with condensation that it was impossible to tell what had fallen to the floor. There must have been wax and pollen. Presumably mites but it was hard to tell. The hive is ventilated but I assume that there has been a strong honey flow and the ventilation has been insufficient.

One Hive (E) was in crisis but activity seems much reduced. Fewer mites and fewer hatchings. This might mean that the crisis has abated or that the colony is in deep trouble.

The overall picture is that foraging is still strong during the warmer parts of the day. Brood rearing is strong which is supporting very high levels of mites. This picture is matched by Hives A and H in Headington. A is dropping lots of mites. Both A and H are bringing in large amounts of pollen. H is building lots of comb (which A doesn't need to do).

The Varroa population models suggest that colonies risk collapse when total mite numbers is greater than 1,000. I would only be confident that hive H has fewer than that.

What happens next? This is where my commitment to no-treatment beekeeping is tested.

It's mid-October. The weather is supposed to be cooling but that's not what we're getting. Ex-Hurricane Ophelia is on its' way, bringing high winds and high temperatures. In Oxford we're forecast to get 40mph winds (fearties! fearties!) and 20C temperatures. The average October temperature is 10.1C (source: /node/191).

The weather must be helping the bees to forage because Hive H shows the tell-tale white wax platelets on the hive floor. These indicatethat they're building new comb.

October is also a time when there are some sources of nectar and pollen available. Ivy, Michaelmas Daisy; Evening Primrose and Golden Rod are in, or have recently been in, flower. The most significant is probably Ivy which can produce significant amounts of nectar. It isn't very nice honey to eat and it sets in the comb but it's useful for the bees.

I hope that this means that Hive H will survive the winter in good order.

Hive E is having a Varroa mite crisis. I checked today and for the previous 2 weeks. Each time I found hundreds of dead Varroa mites.

High mite drop can be a factor in colony collapse. I don't expect them to perform well next season - if they survive through the winter. I expect them to be weakened, and any brood raised in early spring will be heavily infected with Deformed Wing Virus or other diseases symptomatic of Varroosis.

I had hoped that the colony would be better able to manage Varroa. They've been untreated for a significant period of time. The swarm came last season from a feral hive in Barton.

Earlier this season they were very bad tempered which may be related. I should have checked whether they were Queen-Right (you bang the side of the hive. If the roar calms down quickly then they have a Queen. If not then they may be in distress and Queen-less).

I doubt whether replacing their Queen this year would have led to this situation. Even if she had no mite tolerance there would have been a time lag to produce vulnerable brood, and then a further lag to build up mite numbers. It seems more likely that this is the difference between mite resistant and mite tolerant. In the former there are hygenic behaviours or adaptations which inhibit Varroa mite reproduction. In the latter the bees just tough it out. I suspect that Hive E is only tolerant. We'll see whether it is tolerant enough.

It has been hurricane season in North America and the Caribbean. We get their weather second hand. No sharp edges or extremes, just a bit out of the ordinary.

Tonight we are forecast to have winds gusting up to 45mph (72km/h; 39 knots). That's a big blow for England but still only Beaufort Force 8 Gale.

I visited my roof top apiary this evening to fit the hive straps. It's bad news for the hives to blow over, but even worse if they break apart. They won't break apart now.

I have mixed feelings about the close down for the winter. I don't know whether the bees will survive the winter (or the more perilous early spring). I am unsure whether to feed them. This year I'm going to give them some set honey mixed with sufficient sugar to stop it re-setting. I'm generally against feeding but they feel light after a patchy season.

Closing down also has other downsides. I fitted straps tonight in the dark. There was a gusty cool wind and a smattering of rain. The undersides of the hives had thick cobwebs which I had to put my hands into. It contrasted strongly with this morning when I brought equipment up to the roof. Dawn brought a golden glow which lit up the still air. I had a coffee and tried to stay still long enough to enjoy it.

EDIT 13/09/2017: The hives were all upright the this morning but I'm still glad I fitted the straps to them. Also I was wrong about the weather being second hand:

The Met Office said there was no connection between high winds in the UK and the recent extreme weather in the Caribbean and the US. The UK's weather system is coming from the north, in the Atlantic, the Met Office added.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41241014

I harvested 5 different honeys this season. It's been a privilege to compare them and see the differences.

There were 2 from Hive A. The first was a spring honey, collected in April and harvested in May. The likely nectar source was Horse Chestnut which flowers around this time and is in a nearby park. The second was some old, dark honey which I removed from deeper in Hive A. I'm not sure when it was harvested. It was less distinctive than the other honeys. The bees were very reluctant to clear from the super, perhaps because the frames had been used for brood at some point.

There was a peculiar honey from Hive E. It seems to have been collected in a single nectar flow but the comb was bizarrely wonky, almost making a star shape. The honey was dark and viscous with a flavour described as caramel or stewed fruit. I wondered whether it might have been from Honeydew. The bees were very defensive around that time which may have been related.

There were 2 supers of honey from Hives C and D. I took one from Hive C in June which was light and tasty. It appears to have been collected in May so Hawthorn may have been a large part of the nectar. The second was from Hive D, harvested in July. It had a slight minty taste.

Comparing the honeys showed their differences. The colour varied significantly; the clarity varied according to the granulation of the honey; the flavours were very distinctive. The favourite honey seems to have been the spring honey from Hive A, probably from Horse Chestnut. The dark honey from Hive E split opinion.

In trying to write about the flavours, I'm reminded how difficult it is to describe flavour except by simile: all flavours are described as being like some other flavour. This makes a merry-go-round of the description. I can say with confidence that these all tasted very much like honey.