THE KILBURN ROAD BEES

Mid Summer Update – 1^st  July 2019

By this time of year the honey bee’s season should be in full flow, with a combination of nectar laden flowers and long, dry, warm days. 

Unfortunately 2019 hasn’t worked out quite like that…. at least not so far!

Spring went fairly well for the colonies at Kilburn Road, lots of early forage and reasonably dry days. The Queen bees increased their laying rate and all colonies grew in size as new brood came through and older, overwintered bees, died off.

Numbers out foraging increased and honey stocks built up well. I managed to take off several boxes (or supers) of surplus. Making sure beforehand each colony would be left plenty to feed their increasing brood numbers

However, just as spring flowers were beginning to fade the weather turned particularly cool and significantly… wet!

You may recall from the earlier bee bulletin, wet conditions are bad news for bees.

They struggle getting out to forage and if they do, it’s only to find the majority of flowers waterlogged.

For honey bees, this means relying on stores collected earlier in the season, but for other types of bee, notably bumble bees, this shortage of food can a much bigger issue.

Bumbles don’t store much food in their small nests, relying on the daily foraging of their small worker force to bring in necessary supplies.

Our bad weather in June coincided with emergence of this year’s new bumble Queens, who would normally fly, mate and start bulking up, in readiness for hibernation.

I’m not sure things have gone well for them this season, there seem to be lots of dead bumbles around. I have a feeling most may have starved.

That said, I’m optimistic the recent positive turn in weather will give both bumbles and honey bees a boost.

In the case of honey bees, their colonies should be close to a maximum in terms of numbers with anything up to 30,000 in a strong colony.

This can be one of the factors involved in triggering an urge for the old Queen to lead a swarm.

Swarming is the true reproductive process for honey bees and happens when the old, established Queen leaves the colony with half its bee population, to set up a new colony elsewhere.

When she leaves, there will be Queen cells left in place, from which one or more virgin Queens will emerge. The first, or strongest, will destroy any others, fly out to mate and then take over as resident Queen.

Normally bees are not particularly aggressive when swarming, their main focus is finding a new home…. and they don’t do that until after they’ve left their old one. Instead they leave, then find a temporary resting place whilst scouts seek out a new home… which can be any warm, dry, accessible cavity!

I collected one swarm off the allotment last year, from the Ashwell Road end of the site and have collected one this year from a house just beyond the same boundary at that end.

This suggests there’s at least one colony of bees nesting in the trees or properties in that area?

If you come across a swarm most importantly, don’t panic. Step away and give them plenty of space. Then give me a call, if I’m around I’ll come over and collect it.

My colonies at Kilburn Road can’t swarm as bees will only leave if the Queen does and Queens in the four hives each have a clipped wing, preventing them from flying.

This may sound a bit drastic, but it is a standard beekeeping practice.

As we move into July bees will begin foraging on Lime and Sweet Chestnut trees, both of which are plentiful around Oakham.

As August approaches, beekeepers will begin to make preparations for the coming autumn when all colonies will require treatment to reduce Varroa* beetle numbers and adjustment to their hive configuration, before settling down for winter.

*Varroa

Is a small reddish coloured beetle that attaches to and feeds off, live bees.

It doesn’t actually kill them, but weakens the bee, making it and the colony, more susceptible to bee disease. Of which there are a number.

Summer Update – 8^th July 2020

As we enter the second half of 2020 and I reflect on “Beeworld” so far this season, it strikes me how similar things have been to last year and what a distant memory the long hot days of 2018 have become!

Extract from summer 2019 update:-

By this time of year the honey bee’s season should be in full flow, with a combination of nectar laden flowers and long, dry, warm days. 

Unfortunately 2019 (make that 2020) hasn’t worked out quite like that…. at least not so far!

Spring went fairly well for the colonies at Kilburn Road, lots of early forage and reasonably dry days. The Queen bees increased their laying rate and all colonies grew in size as new brood came through and older, overwintered bees, died off.

Numbers out foraging increased and honey stocks built up well. I managed to take off several boxes (or supers) of surplus. Making sure beforehand each colony would be left plenty to feed their increasing brood numbers

However, just as spring flowers were beginning to fade the weather turned particularly cool and significantly… wet!

Add to the above high winds and June has pretty much been a write off for honey bees. 

However, we have had a bit of “Beeworld” fun in one corner of the allotment site this season, on Ralph’s plot!

You may recall I previously outlined why honey bees swarm and the fact I’d collected swarms from Ashwell Road end of the site in both 2018 and 2019.

These bees were not from my managed colonies and most probably originated from one or more, true feral colonies, living in a tree hollow, somewhere along that boundary.

Anticipating another swarm this year and with Ralph’s agreement, a plan was hatched to lure swarming bees into a conveniently located bait hive.

The bait hive used, was a poly bee box, with frames of honey comb and a smelly swarm attractant added. The siting was on top of an old, unused beehive, that had been in place on Ralph’s plot for several years. Note….. with no bees!

After several false alarms, where scouting bees were checking things out, the inevitable swarm finally arrived one afternoon in early June and was impressive to see.

See video below …

But “Beeworld” wouldn’t be “Beeworld” without some form of unexpected twist!!

After initially taking up residence in my clean and purpose made home, the bees decided they preferred the old and somewhat dilapidated hive below…… and promptly moved!

When I arrived late that evening to close up and relocate, the bait hive was empty!

After a little manual intervention, they were eventually moved off site after a few days and relocated just over 3 miles away*, where I could assess their Queen, temperament and general health. Which were all fine.

A photograph of the Queen is attached below for interest:

She’s much larger than a typical worker bee. Note the long and quite pointed abdomen, this is to allow the Queen to deposit her eggs at the very bottom of each cell in the honeycomb.

*3 miles is a key distance when moving honey bees.

Worker bees forage up to 3 miles from their colony and memorise that landscape. If moved any less than 3 miles, they return to the old location in anticipation of finding home.