Recent content by djg

Without wishing to cast doubt on a fellow beekeeper's estimate of his yields, I struggle with the assertion that anyone could reap 40 kilos per hive off the 67th floor at the Marriott NYC. Imagine the bees carrying all those heavy shopping bags up 67 flights of stairs....although, granted...

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I've just had >300/hive mite drop per hive 3 days after trickling. (Full Apiguard went on in late August) Just to say that people shouldn't be put off treating with oxalic at this time of year, whatever the merits of sublimation v. trickling, whatever the outlook for the temperature, now that...

Yes, I was up on the roof on Boxing Day. It was blowing hard, so I was happy to be an experienced trickler, rather than a novice vaper this time around. Usual light bee casualties and a heavy mite fall Day One, so for heaven's sake do one or the other ! Likewise, will be moving to...

Hi Hivemaker, I'm in Paris next week. This bloke certainly "mérite le detour" during my visit. http://howtospendit.ft.com/food/95733-bespoke-honey-alexandre-stern One for the connoisseur, or just the con?

rje66 Ah, the Mating flight. Yes, I took a deep breath and told it how it is. In two brief sentences. No issue for rural 8-year-olds (I don’t think that I’d have got away with it in front of urban 13-year-olds!) One other thought has occurred to me – be sure to obtain the Head Teacher’s...

Hi rje66, See my blog post about a school visit earlier this year: http://www.bermondseystreetbees.co.uk/2015/03/back-to-school/ I hope that you'll have as much fun as we did. And look what the children sent us in return: http://www.bermondseystreetbees.co.uk/2015/04/10-out-of-10/

psafloyd, Yes, indeed. Thanks for your thoughtful question. Interesting that the Beebase number of 641 apiaries which I used in last week’s calculation was lower than the 645 which the study was originally based on (645 apiaries x national average of 4 hives/apiary x 125% - to reflect 25% of...

Hi Finman, I acknowledge that your own options on siting hives for forage are different from most UK beekeepers. As usual, your observations are very valuable in that context. Most prospective beekeepers I meet in the UK have already decided on a site for the bees. That is part of the problem...

Hi charlievictorbravo, I’m encouraged that people are trying the AFI and asking questions. Asking the right questions is the necessary prelude to getting the right answers. I take your point about assessing your hive density data and I’ll consider how to improve the guidance for the 3 possible...

Hi Hivemaker, Thanks for "bringing the heather to the thread" I'm guessing that if you're taking the bees to a source of forage, like heather, you wouldn't need the Apis Forage Index, since you have already identified an area of prolific forage availability to your own satisfaction. Great ...

Hi sipa Thanks for your further comments I genuinely don’t understand your comment about lack of credibility. The Apis Forage Index identifies the key forage variables, introduces a weighting factor from beekeepers with many hundred years of combined experience and asks people to input their...

Hi oliver90owner, Your comment on monocrops is spot on. It is represented in Question 5 of the website’s 10-factor spreadsheet, as “All-year round Forage”. (Question 5 is a combination of 2 factors from the full 17-factor version : “Seasonality of Forage” and “Duration of Forage” which both...

Hi Thymallus, Thanks for your comment. I would be surprised if migratory beekeeping would skew the national Beebase data to the extent that the Hive Density data was unrepresentative of the reality on the ground. We use Hive Density as one of the 10 factors in the AFI - and believe that...

Hi Finman Thanks for your comment. I fully agree that pasture evaluation is difficult. That is why the AFI provides a simple template, asking 10 questions, each with only 3 potential answers. Several data providers make available detailed map-based pasture / land use information, so...