The garden hives are very busy now, and the split colonies are growing well. I still have 9 or 10 hives to fill, so am hoping to make a few more splits soon. I've been very busy making new hives and the frames to go in them. I still have 4 supers to make and … Continue reading Garden Hives
Active Bees
The bees are lovely and active today, which is great to see. I have been making new hives all day yesterday and today as I have some new colonies of bees on the way, plus I need to make a few more splits. I have a few empty nucs which I can use, but I … Continue reading Active Bees
Population Explosion
I managed to get the inspections done on the hives in my garden today - all queens seen, all laying well and a fair few drones in the hives, especially the double brood hives. I have one weak hive, on about 6 frames, but there is a lot of sealed brood so numbers will pick … Continue reading Population Explosion
Start of a new season
I did the first proper inspection of the year today, checking all the hives in my garden. All were lovely and strong, plenty of bees and brood, but one was a bit low on stores, so I will have to keep my eye on that one. I moved the overwintered nucs into hives for them … Continue reading Start of a new season
End of season work
I'm taking advantage of the decent weather and painting a load of new poly mating nucs so I think it's time that I tidy up the stands for them too - 'insect friendly' paint being used, of course. I also have some new Maisemore's 6 frame poly nucs to paint. I use Valspar "Oxford Blue' … Continue reading End of season work
An Inspector (or 5!) came calling…
I had a visit from the National Bee Unit today, two bee inspectors and 3 auditors (why are there always more bean counters?). The auditors were checking that the bee inspectors carried out their work as per ISO standard, and that they were using and filling in the correct paperwork. The National Bee Unit (NBU) … Continue reading An Inspector (or 5!) came calling…
Looking good
I inspected all my garden hives and nucs today, and merged some of the mating nucs to make larger colonies for over-wintering. I have to say, I am very happy with the queens I have produced this year, they have all come on really strong, have lovely brood patterns and are very calm. I got … Continue reading Looking good
Autumn Jobs
By now, most beekeepers will have finished the harvesting of the honey, unless they get a second honey flow from plants such as balsam and heather. The Ivy will start to flower soon, and provide more nectar, but it is a very bitter honey and many don't take it but instead leave it for the … Continue reading Autumn Jobs
New Queen, New Palace
I moved the nucleus colony with my new breeder queen into a full-sized hive today, it was too hot to wear a bee suit or jacket, so I wore just a hat and face veil. I'm pleased to say that even though my smoker was lit, and on standby, I did not have to use … Continue reading New Queen, New Palace