Recent content by chipper

Sunday: My landlord alerted me to a swarm hanging in the apiary. We duly went along and collected it, about the size of a rugby ball. We will have a go at getting it through the winter. We have put it in a poly nuc. Box with drawn comb. My previous latest swarm issued forth on October 1st. The...

Today...finally finished feeding...3 weeks later than I aimed for.......Very little Ivy came in this autumn hence the late top ups needed... Overall have fed 4000kgs to 280 stocks incl. Nucs...about 14kgs a colony...or 30lbs.... Way more than usual...

Will overwinter 220 full colonies and about 60nucs...Expect to lose about 10%.... The long term average for me... As I have only just finished feeding... Used 4000kg of syrup....more than usual but here the Ivy barely yielded... I can already see 5 full colonies and a couple of the nucs are...

Since my 50th birthday ...Have each winter planted a tree for each year of my age.... Last year 63 trees.... Some of the Tetradiums are growing well some make very slow growth...No explanation... Have found Cherry...Bird Cherry...Hawthorn...cheap to buy as hedging whips or easy to grow from...

This comes as no surprise to me... You only have to look at the uniformity in pricing of all anti varroa treatments from the UK suppliers to see there is some kind of price fixing going on Possibly this extends to other kit too... We are at the manufacturers mercy as home made medicines are too...

I have tried LOTS of different Q introduction methods.... The most successful method... 2 Frames stores on outside... 2 Frames part stores /part empty cells ..in middle...for the Q to start laying with enough young bees to cover the 4 Frames if possible .. I take these from 4 different hives if...

I have some Queens coming from Himmerlandske Bier over the next 3 weeks...Due to a cancelled order I have some spare... These are excellent honey getters ,quiet and calm and have low swarming tendencies.You can visit their website.... £40 each Free 1st class postage or guaranteed 24hour delivery...

Usurpation.....have seen this once in 30years.... Have several times caught swarms around my apiaries which didn't come from my hives....

Shook swarming if timed well can be a great way of getting the disease levels down in a hive...also getting rid of a great percentage of the Varroa mites... IF I had only a few hives I would do it annually.... Any loss is soon made up and swarming is suppressed....

After checking all colonies ...Winter losses at about 10% in large stocks Not so good with the over wintered Nucs with 10%lost and several weak stocks For me an acceptable average... Based on 30years experience One apiary has 50%..inexplicably it has Nosema ..not present elsewhere...

Now back to £2400.... Methinks a few lucky ones got the deal earlier today...!

Have twice found myself being watched by a Drone....! Nowhere is safe these days... Wasn't able to find out who was watching...

I usually have a roll of aluminium foil... Great for plugging up holes...reducing entrances...

Watched bees collecting pollen from the Salix Aegyptiaca Also Gorse, Mahonia and winter flowering heather coming in... Far too warm for my liking...

Sheep have a habit of rubbing against the corners of hives...they keep away when bees are flying but tend to venture closer when not... I would fence the corner off...A tipped hive is a nightmare to deal with...