Of 14 fullyloaded swibine/apidea not a single queen mated... plenty of swallows it seems at that site!
Had far much better joy with the double BS boxes... more bees but at a different mating location.
Not a super year for honey... but must say my native near native bee stocks have doubly out...
Could be Dandelion... still flowering intermittency in our orchard.
Blue chicory also out now, apparently one of the favoured herbs in grass mixes in Cornwall... bees all over it!!
Chons da
We run quite a few BeeHiveSupplies pollys.... usually run out of supers and find that the standard cedar jobs fit just fine..... and the polly roofs fit too!
Chons da
And there was me thinking it was the friendly welcome that the Cornish give to tourists and the fantastic pasties!
Blowin a hoolie outside at the moment... feel sorry for all the free campers who have had to camp out in the carparks with the toilet facilities closed!
Chons da
Remember attending a Bee Health Day does NOT make you the go to person for disease identification.
Your SBI is the only real authority as they get to see 100s of colonies a year and know what normal looks like.....
With some pest control companies charging in excess ( or is it excessive) £500 to eradicate bees from cavities, chimneys and other places the common beekeeper should or can not safely access...
Check to see if pest removal is covered by their household insurers!
Chons da
The Summer season may well be over in your neck of the woods.
Get the crop off... treat for varroa and feed for winter.
If they survive the Winter, find the queen in the Spring and requeen then... doing it now may be too late for the colony to produce winter bees if you loose the new queen, and...
Quote:
Originally Posted by For want of a better word View Post
Well done!
Will buy you a pint in the Vic? when all this pandemicamonium is over
Chons da
You're on.
Keep the Shiny side up!!
Yeghes da
Dave
Open a new post and let those barking mad sleeping dogs lie?
! you do not need a certificate to breed bees.... probably someone running a course localish to you?
Chons da
I have one large apiary site with 20+ OSB hives and a half dozen or so OSB nucs
No queen excluders
Only Cornish Native Black bees
Produces more honey than any of my other apiaries.. year on year.
Rarely need to use the smoker.
Feed 2:1 / Invert for winter as with any other colony that has had...