Thistle Down.

First, a correction to yesterday’s write up: I was concerned about the “dark masses” in some of the brood cells, in fact they are an optical illusion. What can be seen is the dark shadowy bottoms of the cells. I don’t have to call in the bee inspector after all.

Went to Newbattle Apiary today, partly a bit of one to one instruction but mostly to check up on a few things. Three weeks ago, we’d seen the colony for the first time and it was a mess; only enough bees to fill a single brood box but supplied with two brood boxes and a honey box. Giving  the bees too much space means that they have to keep it warm, which wastes energy. Consequently, we had amalgamated the two brood boxes into one, removed the other one away and left them the honey box in case they needed it. In disrupting their living arrangements we must have left a little brood out of the main cluster and so it got chilled and died which we found last week. By today they had cleared up the mess, which was a bit of a relief, so we could search for the diseases which seem to be widespread this year.

The first extra is of capped brood cells, similar to yesterday’s blip; you can see one dead pupa (just over half way up the centre of the image) more than half way through its metamorphosis, eyes (two large compound eyes and the three smaller ocilli (simple eyes like ours)) and antennae clearly visible. On the adult bee you can see the compound eyes and just two of the ocilli, the third being lost against the black face. This yellow bee is of Italian descent compared with yesterday’s “black” bee which is Scottish.

The second extra is of the same larva that I pulled out on the end of a tooth pick, as soon as I had released it we had a tug-of-war with some bees that seemed to want it with one of them even stinging it. Of particular interest, to me at any rate, is that its eyes, and only its eyes, have developed hair. It must be diseased )although it looks o.k.) and, in retrospect, I should have examined it for mites, and has either died of its diseases or been killed by the bees who would sense that there was something amiss.

We have put a mite sampling tray in the hive and will probably treat for mites at next weeks club meeting.

The actual blip is of a thistle seed head in the apiary garden.