Picked up a little swarm in Horsham tonight. It was high up in an apple tree so I use the bee vac. Took them home and put them into the green and white Nuc. Lets hope they stay there. On this occasion I used the bee vac as a vessel and didn’t allow the bees … Read more
OK so I have had a busy weekend. The weather has been truly horrible. It has rained now for pretty much every day of the entire year. It is 22nd February and I think we have had more than 50 days of continuous rain. Last week on one of the few non-rainy patches I went … Read more
So late in the year I noticed that the green hive was empty on Station F. This was a real shame as the bees that were in there were from a lovely swarm that I pulled out of a gutter in Broadbridge Heath. From a near death experience to a happy and prosperous hive –> … 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
This year I am going to revisit my Queen cup method of queen rearing. So the idea is to breed up some drones whilst preparing the cassette to accept new eggs. Progress Red hive is double brood from the beginning of the season. 3/6/23 step 2 got everything together. 3/6/23 Step 3 inserted the cassette … Read more
Hive stands can take many forms and range from a simple paving slab or pallet to an elaborate all sing in all dancing construction. Ideally the hives should be a short distance off the ground so as not to hurt your back loading things on top, though be careful as if you are running lots … Read more
I guess that when talking about beekeeping equipment then hives are the place to start. There is a huge amount to think about before you start and it is really important to consider all your choices before you start as it is a real pain to change over along your journey as all your beloved … Read more
