Beekeepers love their equipment. Both bought and home made.
OK so every beekeeper will know that you can NEVER have enough storage for all your equipment. If you have enough storage then you simply don’t have enough equipment!! I have been looking at using some of the outside storage for the old boxes, feeders, queen excluders etc. and stuff. My wood shed was built … Read more
Important going into winter that the hive hearts are operating properly. You may have noticed that the data was becoming more and more sporadic on the site as the batteries ran out. It was therefore time to get in there and change the batteries. Should be a really easy thing but I had typically made … Read more
I am a huge fan of the Swienty Breeze suits. I have used them myself for many years and find that they are very protective without the sweat of overheating when I am doing things. I should say however that I am an active beekeeper. My bees are a good 500 M walk away through … Read more
Asian Hornets are a disaster for beekeeping in this country. They have arrived over from France and have begun to spread across the UK since 2016. Luckily their numbers are still fairly low but it is really important that they are found and removed by the authorities. Asian hornets are an invasive species and eat … Read more
So the super mild weather showing 13 degrees at the end of November has given me the opportunity to add a little extra winter feed. I have tried to set up my hives for winter so that even when cold I can check on the sugar remaining in the winter feeder box and add more, … Read more
So it is that time of year where the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Time to wrap up the hives for winter. We have a mild winter here in the UK so I don’t plan to do much. The poly hives are great for this as they retain heat much … Read more
Flow frames are great, but they are a pain to over winter. Luckily with low quantities of wax they don’t get wax moth larvae eating their way through them and destroying them however they do get a little mouldy. They are then a pain to clean before deployment in the spring. A steam cleaner is … Read more
As is always the case with my beekeeping I have one harvest a year. Like other years the harvest was end of August and beginning of September. It is a difficult job judging when to take the harvest. You want to have a period of good weather where the flow is in full stream. Too … Read more
OK so anyone who uses flow frames will know that after a year or so they get a bit manky. Chat forums are full of people asking how to clean them or if they should clean them at all etc. I always tried not to clean them but this year they are particularly grubby. I … Read more
So I tend to do wax once a year. Everyone does wax differently and I have tried many ways. The important thing to realise is that wax gets messy, Seriously messy. So be prepared for a big tidy up. Equipment Good sized bucket to store the dirty wax. Old fashioned Steamer Juicer / cordial maker. … Read more
