Author Archives: Gareth

Beginners start here :: RE: Stores vs Brood

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 9:57 am (GMT 0)

If you are asking about a horizontal TBH the bees generally will place the brood nest nearest the entrance. If you have middle entrances, this places the nest in the middle of the hive with honey one side or the other, or both, depending on what you do with the follower boards. If you have end entrances (either on the ends proper or the ends of the long sides) the nest will generally be at the end of the hive where the entrance is. In my view the latter is a simpler arrangement for both the bees and the beekeeper.

However, even with end entrances, in my experience, some colonies will place the brood 2 or 3 bars along from the entrance, using those end bars for storage, sometimes switching them over to drone rearing.
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Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Bee health: the treatment (or not) of diseases and parasites :: RE: Hive Atmosphere;Tightly Closed Floor and Top Entrance in TBH

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 6:09 pm (GMT 0)

Che

I can see exactly what Bernhard means.

Do you have a cat or a dog? Sometimes when you look at such animals you know that they are feeling a little off-colour or a bit down. If someone asks you 'why?' you might reply 'it's nothing obvious. I just sort of know by looking', but you would be hard pressed to say exactly why you think this. For me, seeing the bien as a whole is rather like this. You start to develop a 'sixth sense' about it. Small things that hardly impinge on the consciousness give you clues and you end up with a 'feeling' that you learn to trust.
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Bee health: the treatment (or not) of diseases and parasites :: RE: Whats this? Help Identifying Possible Disease

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:12 am (GMT 0)

Anythony

Quote:
The brood looked all dried up and in a spotty pattern.


From the photos, it is difficult to see a great deal - which just shows how difficult it is to see into, or take photos of, brood cells. In the centre of the second photo there seems to be a scale-like residue at the bottom of the brood cell.

Quote:
I hope Im not looking at foulbrood here


Having seen foul brood more than once over over the years, I fear that it is possible that you are. The dried scale is certainly suggestive. My advice would be to contact the local bee inspector and have him take a look. In the meantime, keep the combs where they cannot be robbed. And do keep us posted.

Sorry.
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Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Beginners start here :: RE: A split in time?

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:07 pm (GMT 0)

melisa wrote:
Thanks BridgetB,
I've been thinking about hinges, but am afraid that the lid will get in the way during inspections, especially if I do Phil's swarm control method(involves turning the hive through 180 degrees). I've been looking for the kind of hinge that would allow hinge to be "broken" and then the roof can be removed without having to unscrew the hinges.
mel


Have you considered a so-called rising hinge? It's the sort of hinge that allows doors to rise as they open to give clearance over carpets. The point is that this sort of hinge is in two halves and comes apart without the need to unscrew anything. It might be just what you are looking for.

Also, some tips on splits here.
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Natural Beekeeping events and training :: RE: 2012 Natural Beekeeping Conference now booking

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:00 pm (GMT 0)

biobee wrote:
I wasn't aware that an announcement about speakers had already been made, but as far as I know this is the shape of things now.


I don't recall where I saw the list, but it included the slow beekeeping lady amongst others. And I know others were under the impression that it was a list of speakers at this year's conference. Hence the inquiry here.
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Natural Beekeeping events and training :: RE: 2012 Natural Beekeeping Conference now booking

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:43 am (GMT 0)

Thanks for the email about the conference.

I see the speaker list is quite different from that previously announced. Is this the final list, or is it going to change again? I am sure the speakers are a key element for people when they decided whether to come and it would be most disappointing to book for one set of speakers and arrive to another!
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Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Beginners start here :: RE: Uk, Surrey, Guildford – rain rain rain – will I need to feed

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:40 am (GMT 0)

Gareth wrote:
The odd reasonably clear day, such as is forecast for the coming week, will help enormously.


We are getting to the end of the week I referred to and, if anything, the weather has worsened. Yes, there are gaps in the rain, but where those gaps were warm (in the mid teens), they are now cold: 7-8°C. Where the bees were flying heavily in the gaps there is now very little activity. I suspect that the lower temperatures are restricting nectar flow as well as making it hard for flying bees to keep warm. There are large amounts of oil seed rape with a few hundred yards and, if the nectar was available, the bees would be fetching it.

I know for sure that my bees have plenty of stores but, if I were not sure, now is the time I would consider supplementary feeding.
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Make Contact: introduce yourself :: RE: natural beekeepers in Berkshire (UK) ?

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 10:56 am (GMT 0)

Hi Ruth

Glad to see you here. Hopefully someone local will be along soon.
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka

Bee health: the treatment (or not) of diseases and parasites :: RE: EFB in swarming bees

Posted on by
Author: Gareth
Subject: Re: EFB in swarming bees
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 5:22 pm (GMT 0)

As it was me that made the comment, I suppose I had better have a go at enlarging upon it.

If the swarm comes from a hive that has EFB, it is possible that the honey the swarm brings with it is contaminated with EFB. The first thing a swarm does when it takes up residence is to start building some comb. This is used to rear brood but also to store excess food. If the only food the bees have is what they brought with them, this honey gets used up in the first round of comb building.

I can hear you thinking that the bees could also fly out and get nectar and use this to build comb. True, but fees can't forage for nectar when they have full tums, as they would have no means of carrying it back to the hive (they do this in their tums).

HOWEVER, if the bees also have immediate access to food placed in the hive by the beekeeper, this provides a second source of energy food for the bees in their first round of comb-building. This raises the possibility that the bees use that comb to store at least some of the contaminated food that came with them. When this stored honey is fed to the brood that is subsequently reared, any EFB that is in the honey gets passed on to the brood, potentially causing that brood to show EFB infection.

Shook swarming, whereby adult bees are separated from the brood, is an effective means of controlling EFB and depends on the mechanism I have just described. The difference between a shook swarm and a natural swarm is that a shook swarm does not come with any on-board stores. Hence the advice to allow a swarm to use up it's on-board stores BEFORE considering whether to feed it. (Adult bees don't suffer from EFB.)

BTW, this coincides with the 'official' BBKA advice (see page 3 of sectionB4 of the booklet 'Advice for Beekeepers').
_________________
Gareth

'Humanity is like a blind man who does not know where he is heading. He gropes around with the cane of scientific knowledge ....... Foolishness comes out looking smart'. Masanobu Fukuoka