5th August. .

5th August. We were supposed to be treating the bees for varoa mite today, but Mike had forgotten his book to record who had it done, so its put back to next week.  So we checked through, I found my queen, and there were lots of babies in various stages of growth.  Johns hive was ok, and we left the feeders full of sugar water.  The idea with feeding them is to make them breed more babies, and these bees will last 6 months through the winter, against 6 weeks in the summer. They will then produce the next generation in the spring.  So they need lots of food to get them through the winter, and young bees too.  The owner of one of the hives was away, so we found a feeder and put it on the crown board of her brood box.  The bees had been running around on the crown board, and when the feeder went on they all made a bee line for it, so they must have been hungry.5th August. We were supposed to be treating the bees for varoa mite today, but Mike had forgotten his book to record who had it done, so its put back to next week.  So we checked through, I found my queen, and there were lots of babies in various stages of growth.  Johns hive was ok, and we left the feeders full of sugar water.  The idea with feeding them is to make them breed more babies, and these bees will last 6 months through the winter, against 6 weeks in the summer. They will then produce the next generation in the spring.  So they need lots of food to get them through the winter, and young bees too.  The owner of one of the hives was away, so we found a feeder and put it on the crown board of her brood box.  The bees had been running around on the crown board, and when the feeder went on they all made a bee line for it, so they must have been hungry

29th July

We both went to check the bees tonight.  The doctor had rung to say she was trying to find out what to do next, and  I went with John to look at my girls.   I was a bit nervous of checking them, but they were a lot calmer, and we looked through quickly so’s not annoy them.  The queen cell had hatched, so perhaps they are calm because they have a calmer queen.

22nd July

I didn’t go be keeping tonight under doctors orders.  My neck, nose and hand  had swollen up, and I went to the doctor.  She said she’d get a blood test, and not to go to the apiary, so John went to check everything , and found a queen in both brood boxes,  and  new queen cells, so it looks like both queens will be replaced.  Hopefully mine will be nice and peaceful, and Johns will be more proactive, and build is hive up.