And the winner is.....

If you read last week's blog you will know that I am distressed by early wasps patrolling the apiary and I took advantage of P being away on cricket tour to try some of his beers as bait in the wasp traps in an effort to catch more wasps and fewer other insects.  I also used the blog as a test to find out whether P ever reads the blog himself.   The results are unequivocal!

 

In third place....

 

It's the French beer flavoured with Tequila, Desperados.  I can report that  wasps don't like it at all.  Neither do any other flying insects.  The two traps baited with Desperados caught nothing! I've since found out that P doesn't like it either!

 

In second place...

 

Hobgoblin.  Yes, that's the other beer I tried last week.  Initially I thought that Hobgoblin, the Wychwood brewery's "Traditionally Crafted Legendary Ruby Beer" was a more selective bait than the old wasp trap recipe because I thought I could see only wasps when I peered up in to the bottom of one of the traps after a couple of hours.   However, it transpires that these were the only wasps caught all week.  Sure, European Hornets, moths and flies weren't attracted to the Hobgoblin but only a couple of wasps were too.  P's beer is safe - notwithstanding that wasps menace beer glasses in pub gardens all August, they somehow are not remotely attracted to wasp traps baited with beer. 

 

We have scoured the garden for wasp nests to no avail.  The neighbours are on high alert but the villains could be coming in from the field. Meanwhile, I refilled all the wasp traps, this time using a modified recipe from the local beekeeper's magazine.   I mixed a couple of teaspoons of home made blackcurrant jam with a little boiling water and topped it up with cold to 1/4 pint before filling the traps and hanging them on hooks near the apiary and in the orchard.  Within minutes, i.e. between hanging one trap up and taking out the next one, this bait started working and there wasn't even a teaspoon of alcohol included unlike the old recipe. 

 

In this next picture, if you look carefully, you can see two wasps heading for a trap.

In first place...

So the clear winner is the fruit jam and water bait. 

 

Don't waste your beer on wasps and remember, never use honey or sugar because that attracts bees into the traps.

What's the best beer to bait a wasp trap with?

 

Guiness

Hobgoblin

London Pride

Greene King IPA

Brakspeare's Bitter

Peroni

Desperados

It was really distressing last weekend to open up the G Bees' hive and find two bees valiantly wrestling with a wasp.  I helped them out by squashing the wasp with my hive tool and I helped chase out a second wasp.  My precious G Bees are under attack.

 

I put every wasp trap I could find in the apiary and the orchard nearby.  This weekend, wasps are still casing the apiary trying to find a way in to the hives.  

 

I inspected the contents of the traps to check they're working.   On average, we're catching about 70 wasps per trap per week.  This one is representative.

We also get about 10 European Hornets.

I'm not a big fan - the Summer they nested in our front porch and invaded our bedroom when we left the light on and the windows open was not fun but they don't hurt the bees and I don't mind if they nest at the bottom of the garden as long as they keep away from the house.

 

Unfortunately, we also get about the same number of moths.  There are so many I'm not attempting to identify this one, except I don't think it's a large wax moth.

We also get assorted black flies that are hard to identify after a week in a wasp trap.

 

So, I am on a mission to find a wasp trap attractant that attracts a higher proportion of wasps and a lower proportion of other insects.  Hence the beer.

 

This is also a test to see whether P ever reads our blog.  He was away playing cricket and I had the house to myself so I lined up all the different kinds of beer I could find so that I could choose which one to try in the wasp traps this week.   I should add that I don't drink beer.........  

 

For the first beer I chose Hobgoblin.  With 5.2% alcohol by volume this "Traditionally Crafted Legendary Ruby Beer" brewed by the Wychwood Brewery sounds like the magic potion I need.   One bottle wasn't enough for all the traps so I had to select another one!  Desperados is one I haven't heard of before but with 5.9% alcohol by volume and flavoured with Tequila, this beer that is brewed in France sounds as though it may do the trick.  (How come it's in our pantry?)

 

I have left one trap baited with the usual recipe ( see the blog for 3 August 2014) as a control.

 

After a couple of hours the signs are good - peering up under the traps I could see wasps settling into an alcoholic sleep at the bottom but no hornets so far.  Just as well because there are still wasps flying ominously around the hive looking for a way in.

Bee Health & Diseases

A scary but vital day out with our regional bee inspector

I have lots of books about bees;

 

I attended the beekeeping training run by my local beekeepers;

 

I bought the laminated cards that illustrate the main diseases that affect bees which are suitable for taking to the apiary so you can check what you see “on site”;  

 

but I still wondered whether I could spot one of the serious diseases because, quite frankly, the photographs in the books and on the laminated cards show hexagonal comb of various colours and it is tough to distinguish those pictures from what I see in the apiary.

One of the benefits of membership of the local beekeepers’ association is that we get to find out about excellent events like the recent Bee Health & Diseases day with Keith, our regional bee inspector and his seasonal bee inspectors (SBIs) and this was so worthwhile.

In addition to the plenary sessions, more of which later, we rotated through 3 sessions in smaller groups.   

 

Bee Diseases

Our first session included study of large laminated cards (possibly larger versions of my small cards), showing American Foul Brood (AFB), European Foul Brood (EFB) Chalk Brood, Sac Brood, etc. with an SBI pointing out the salient features.     This was useful but not very different to studying books at home.   What made a significant difference was the chance to examine real frames showing some of these nasties.    Of course, we were kitted out with disposable personal protective equipment.  

 

Suddenly it became much easier to spot the difference between healthy Michelin Man larva and EFB blobs.  We watched a demonstration of the difference between the “stringing” that distinguishes AFB from EFB and the SBI used field test kits to show how quickly these diseases can be identified in the field these days.  Most importantly we got to smell these infected frames.  The stench was ghastly!  I frankly have doubts about my ability to spot AFB scale – the black scaly residue that clings to the bottom of cells – but I believe I would spot the disease by smell alone from some distance.  Likewise EFB.   I am pretty sure I could spot chalk brood; I think I could spot sac brood and at least I can test for it.  We were all mightily relieved to exit the room that held these horrors – and that smell - think fox poo and you're close!

Varroa

Our second session was all about Varroa, those insidious little creatures that plague our bees.   It was a good chance to discuss effective and ineffective treatments and how to use them.    We even discussed how to dispose of left over chemicals.  The details on packaging are, at best, vague.

Apiary Visit

The third session was really illuminating.  We walked to an orchard on the edge of the village where there was a large apiary and two SBIs who demonstrated how they inspect colonies.    I think my local beekeepers had done a good job at our practical beekeeping lessons because this wasn’t really new.   Sadly, we observed a colony with Chronic Bee Paralysis (CBP).  I suspect that if I saw a heap of dead bees outside a hive and shaking bees, wobbly on their feet on the landing board and floor, I might think there was something wrong but having seen the bees’ behaviour, this is something I might now spot earlier.  Apparently, a colony may recover from CBP if they are given TLC, i.e. plenty of space and fed but it’s not guaranteed.

 

The very scary plenary sessions focussed on non-native species that are a threat to bees and beekeeping.

Small Hive Beetle

Link to Wikipedia on Small Hive Beetle

SHB  has been found in Italy and it’s believed to be only a question of time before it comes to Blighty.   Keith recommended using traps (Better Beetle Blasters) to monitor for Small Hive Beetles.  Other parts of the world have developed techniques for dealing with these but pending identification and control, they can reduce a the insides of a hive to mush.  

 

Asian Hornet

By far the scariest thing of the BHD was what we learnt about the Asian Hornet.  In their native territory, these hornets are not a pest to the local bee population but European bees are a different strain and Asian Hornets have spread rapidly in France since their arrival there.  These hornets are smaller than the native European Hornet from which they can be identified by their primarily brown colour.  Keith showed us videos from which clearly demonstrated why these insects are such a problem to beekeepers.  The link below is to the video showing how Asian Hornets patrol outside the front of beehives and catch foraging bees in mid-air before they can get back in to the hive.

 

Asian Hornets Hawking a Hive

 

The Asian Hornets strip off the head, wings and legs and take the remains, which includes nectar back to their nest.   In the video the French bees cluster on the landing board seemingly afraid to go out.   Asian Hornets are not dependant on eating bees. Their diet includes fruit and meat.   Honey yields in France have plummeted; there must be an effect on pollination from the reduced activity of honey bees too.

If you spot one, please report it!

Link to non-native species on Asian Hornet

 

Apollo 13

Perhaps you are old enough to remember the radio blackout during re-entry as the crew of Apollo 13 returned from their aborted lunar mission in 1970, which lasted 87 seemingly interminable seconds longer than the roughly 4 minutes expected.  

 

Maybe you recall the feeling of helplessness - there was nothing to do except wait.  

 

Or perhaps you recall holding your breath for that bit of the 1995 film.

 

Well, that sensation of helpless waiting is being experienced by many beekeepers this year as they wait to find out whether their new queens have returned successfully from their mating flights.

 

All bees start out as eggs laid in wax cells.  Eggs that turn into queens are no different except they are laid in special queen cells and fed a diet rich in royal jelly.   Queen eggs turn into larvae; fat, white, Michelin man grubs after 3 days and, after being well fed for 6 days, they are sealed in to their queen cells for a further 6 days.  When they emerge they have to fly out of the hive to a place where drones (or as our nephew says, kings) congregate in order to mate.    After mating the queen returns and starts laying.

 

This year, inclement weather has prevented newly hatched virgin queens from heading out on their mating flights.

 

We were on the point of despair with the nucleus we set up earlier with brood and nurse bees from the prolific G Bees.  We thought that, as beginner beekeepers, we had just got it wrong.  So, it was with complete astonishment that, at the most recent inspection, we observed clearly visible eggs, nice fat white larvae and sealed brood.  Hooray! We have a queen laying in that colony even though we haven't seen her.  Now we just need to ensure that she and her bees are adequately fed until the colony has enough foragers to sustain it.

 

Since Queen Joan went missing we haven't seen any eggs, larvae or sealed brood in the G Bees' colony.  Three sealed queen cells were left in the colony and all queens appear to have hatched but the first, or the strongest, of those will have despatched the other two.   We have been waiting what seems like an eternity for evidence of a laying queen.   This isn't helped by the fact I lost my varifocals about the time that Queen Joan disappeared and I wasn't sure whether there weren't any eggs or I just couldn't see them.  Last weekend we even started to make enquiries about buying in a queen.  As a result:

 

a) We were reminded that it can take 3 weeks for a queen to mate and start laying;
 

b) We learnt that we are not the only beekeepers experiencing a long queenless period this year.  This is because it has been unseasonably cold, windy and wet at the wrong times and that left  the queens struggling to get out;   
 

c) We have to wait another week before we can be sure that we don't have a queen.

 

We've got to hold our breath helplessly for  a few more long days! 

 

The S Swarm And Liquid Gold Update 2

 

After two weeks the oil seed rape honey has set really solid.    As you can see from the curl of honey on the spoon in this photograph, when you scoop it out it resembles a wood shaving produced by carving.  The colour is almost white but it is deliciously floral and still creamy when you eat it, albeit with just a hint of granularity.   I don't particularly like honey but this is scrumptious.

oooOOOooo

 

I missed a call from Sue last week reporting a swarm of bees in a flower bed outside the main door of her office building.

Luckily, she called Dad too and he went out straight away with the swarm gear to take a look.

Swarm gear:
straw skep (or carboard box)
beekeeper's suit, gloves, wellies
large sheet
smoker
board
saw and/or loppers (for cutting branches)
water spray
brick (for propping up skep/cardboard box)

He found a small swarm on flowers low down near the main office door.   It was in an awkward position as he couldn't get his skep under the bees.   Instead of dropping them in to the skep, he had to prop the skep slightly above the bees and try to use smoke to encourage them to crawl up inside.

Unfortunately, this didn't work, so wearing all his gear as a precaution, he scooped as many bees as he could with both hands, depositing them gently in the skep.   Then he inverted the skep wedging it up on one side with a brick (which was part of the swarm kit), covered the whole thing including the rest of the swarm outside the skep with a large plastic sheet because it was raining and he left them overnight.

It was a relatively cold and blustery night.   The next morning he returned before breakfast to find all the bees had crept into the warm, dark and cosy skep so he tied it in the sheet and took the bees back to the out apiary at the farm.

As the weather wasn't clement enough to prop the skep up on the ground outside the hive and let the bees walk up a board into a clean hive*, he shook them in to the top of an empty hive and left them to settle in.   They were furnished with some empty frames in the brood chamber and a couple of frames of stores.  By the afternoon they were starting to fly around the hive to orient themselves.   This will be Queen Sue and the Sue Bees if they choose to stay with us.

 

* It is my ambition to watch bees process up into a hive - everyone who has seen it tells me it is really a magical sight to behold.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Queen Joan hasn't been seen for two inspections.  

 

Last year we didn't see Queen G ever but I saw Queen Joan when I marked her and the week after that so to miss her for two weeks is a bit of a concern.   It's entirely possible that she has left the hive with a small swarm but, quite honestly, it's not obvious because the colony is so large.

 

Keep reading for more news........

Liquid Gold Update

It isn't liquid anymore!

After less than a week in the jar, the mainly oil seed rape honey we extracted last week has already set solid enough for a spoon to stand upright, unsupported in it!  

 

The honey is a pale honey colour.   The texture is smooth and reminds me of Vaseline in the way it half clings to a spoon in a cowlick shape when you scoop some out.  

 

We like the flavour which is mild and floral; not at all what you would expect from the loud and vibrant yellow flowers it’s made from.

 

How much more solid will it get?  I have childhood memories of oil seed rape honey that was so hard it would bend spoons....   Our aim is to eat the honey before it solidifies rock hard and we advise those people to whom we have given jars to try to do the same!

Liquid Gold

 

 

The field next door but one has  oil seed rape in it this year.  These vibrant yellow fields are cultivated for their oil rich seeds and we use this golden, nutty flavoured oil both for cooking and in salads.    The G Bees’ hive entrance faces this field and we noticed that they are making a beeline straight to and from this forage, notwithstanding that the wisteria and pheasant eye narcissi are flowering prolifically closer by in the garden.   The problem with honey made from oil seed rape is that it sets very hard, very quickly.   It can set so hard in the hive that even the bees can’t make use of it.  The Authorities, therefore, recommend extracting oil seed rape honey before the flowers turn from yellow to green, in fact even before the bees seal their stores with wax cappings. 

Noticing that the fields around us are just losing their vibrancy and have a greenish tinge, we organised the hive after this week’s inspection so that the heaviest super containing honey was on the top with a clearer board underneath.  This board allows bees to go down in to the other supers and brood chamber via a kind of no return valve called a Porter Bee Escape but not return to the top super.  (At least that’s the theory; last year, the G Bees glued the Porter Bee Escape open with propolis so they could move both up and down freely!)  

Equipment list for extracting honey

• Wheelbarrow
• sheet
• Extractor
• Oilcloth tablecloths
• Large enamel tray
• Uncapping knife
• STUTBABC (Super that used to be a brood chamber)
• Stool
• 2 x glass jugs
• fine mesh sieve
• honey jars 

 

 

In the morning, there were only 2 or 3 bees in the top super so I whipped it off before the G Bees noticed and put it straight in to the Annex for the honey extraction operation.   This involved spreading 2 large oilcloth tablecloths on the floor to catch spills.   We borrowed a food grade nylon extractor.  First you slice off any wax cappings (using the uncapping knife and large enamel tray). The frames sit in a cage inside the extractor and with minimal effort turning the handle on top, centrifugal force flings honey onto the walls of the extractor from where it dribbles down to the sloping floor via a mesh to catch bits of wax or other debris.  

 

Once the honey is extracted, the wet frames go into STUTBABC until all are empty and then back into the cleaned super to go back on the hive.

I replaced the “wet” frames on the G Bees’ hive immediately after the extraction so they have plenty of space to make more honey – they are bursting at the seams…

After a couple of hours’ settling time, I lifted the extractor onto a small stool, stood a 2 pint glass measuring jug under the tap with a fine stainless steel sieve on top and opened the tap.   Honey glugged out slowly.  I had a moment of concern when the sieve started to fill but nothing passed through but eventually, a thick column of honey oozed through in to the jug.   I had prepared 10 honey jars expecting to get maybe  3 or 4 jars as it's so early in the season but wanting to have some spares ready.  After filling 9, I got two more out of the cupboard but that wasn’t enough and eventually, I filled 14!  

We haven’t heat treated the honey to make it stay runny;   we haven’t “seeded” it by heating it and mixing in honey with crystals of a particular size which is done by some to achieve a creamy set texture:    this is natural honey, as made by the G Bees, just run through a filter.