As well as checking all my out apiaries today, I did the first grafts since my incubator packed up and killed all my queen cells. I brought a frame of young brood home, wrapped in a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out, and chose day old larvae to graft into cell cups. … Continue reading More Grafting
Heavy Flow
We have had a week now where the temperatures are 30°C or so. This has sent the bees into overdrive, with lots of Blackberries and white clover to forage on, and they are filling supers really fast. https://youtu.be/-tq2tX5aJXI Almost all my hives have 3 supers on now, and 2 of those are virtually all capped … Continue reading Heavy Flow
Queen Marking
Finding The Queen Generally this poses a problem for beginners, as indeed for some of the more seasoned beekeepers, who are not accustomed to examining their colonies on a regular basis. Perhaps the ability to spot the queen may be described as a gift, which comes with experience in the routine handling of bees. The best … Continue reading Queen Marking
Mixed news in the garden apiary
Another hot and sunny day today here in Dorset, what better weather to be messing about in a bee suit moving heavy hives around - said with tongue firmly in cheek. I inspected the 11 colonies in my garden apiary this morning, with mixed results. Some of the new virgin queen introduced to nucs have … Continue reading Mixed news in the garden apiary
New Incubator
Royal Mail have just delivered my new incubator, I've removed the egg turning mechanism (like most beekeepers incubators, they are actually for chickens eggs) and it looks like I could get 100 queen cells/cages in there, easily. Now to plug it in and test it......
Good News at Last
I checked my hives at Lytchett Matravers today, and all is well. As with my other sites, and due to the "June gap" the bees have been using the honey as there is insufficient forage for them at the moment. One hive, into which I placed a virgin Queen on the 8th June, has come … Continue reading Good News at Last
The many uses of beeswax
One of the great benefits of keeping honey bees is the potential of the many homemade uses you can find for the beeswax the bees produce to build their honeycombs. There are dozens and dozens of uses for beeswax. I’ll include the following: Basic Information About Beeswax Great Uses for Beeswax Around the House and … Continue reading The many uses of beeswax
One saved, one dead
After the failure of my incubator, I managed to save two queens still in their cells. They should have emerged Wednesday, but the lower temperature slowed them down. I saw one trying to get out of her cell, so decided to help her by removing bits of wax with my tweezers. Unfortunately, due to being … Continue reading One saved, one dead
East Devon beekeepers at forefront of battle against Asian hornet
via East Devon beekeepers at forefront of battle against Asian hornet | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
Incubator disaster!
I checked my incubator last night, like I always do before I go to bed, and was horrified to see that the temperature was only 24°C when it should be 35°C. I checked to see if the temp setting had been inadvertently changed, but it hadn't. I opened the door, and found the fan constantly … Continue reading Incubator disaster!
