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
Expanding
I had a very busy day today, expanding my home apiary, making splits and introducing new queens. I also had a friend drop round with three virgin queens for me to put into my queen bank as the next three or four days are forecast for rain and thunder storms. I built a new stand … Continue reading Expanding
Walk away split
Today, I went over to one of my apiaries at Lytchett Minster and made a walk away split from one of the very strong hives there, in order to prevent it from swarming. I was able to take away 4 brood frames and a frame of stores, still leaving the original hive in a strong … Continue reading Walk away split
Splits and Queens
I went over to my Lytchett Matravers Apiary this morning to split a double brood National hive to make two hives. This is quite straightforwards; Put a new stand and floor to one side, over a metre away from the existing hive remove the roof and crown board from the existing hive, place the roof … Continue reading Splits and Queens
Making increase
I went to my out apiary at Lytchett Matravers today to carry out the first stage of a vertical split, so that I could make two colonies from one hive. I opened the existing hive, found and isolated the queen, then selected 3 combs of brood, shook all the bees off and placed them in … Continue reading Making increase
Handle with care
I purchased a lot of new hives in the winter sales, probably more than I should have (like you do) and decided that splits and swarms would not get me all the bees I needed, so I had to splash out £540 on three over wintered nucs which were delivered today. You can bet your … Continue reading Handle with care
Recovering from winter losses
The winter of 2017/2018 seems to have seen larger than normal losses across the UK, with forum and social media reports of up to 80% losses for some beekeepers. Colonies fail for many reasons; Disease, queen failure, starvation, lack of forage and cold wet weather restricting foraging activities and forage availability, amongst others. Luckily, I did … Continue reading Recovering from winter losses
