Like a lot of people out there, I was one of those that aspired for years to keep bees. I’d visited a couple of apiaries and sat wistfully amongst the returning foragers and fantasised that one day I’d get my own hives.
However living in a terraced house with a small garden on a small island on the Kent coast didn’t really resonate with the apiary sites I’d seen. I’d read a pile of books & watched every YouTube video I could find and was a paid up member of my local BBKA.
But in 2020, with the Corona virus pandemic at our doors & lockdown looming I bit the bullet, took the plunge, jumped in where Angels fear etc etc.
With my starter kit unpacked and hive half built I ordered a nuc.
I did have a few moments when I thought “what am I doing?!!!!.
My plans were slightly scuppered by travel restrictions preventing me collect the nuc, but a local beekeeper offered me a swarm and Crash Bang Wallop we’re in business.
that first season was spent pampering my colony, feeding them up, treating for mites and many hours sat watching the entrance completely entranced.
I knew that I needed two colonies to be sustainable. So as soon as lockdown eased I purchased a nuc of Italian Ligustica bees which promptly showed signs of CBPV.
my first encounter with bee diseases.
it was horrible to watch the colony dwindle and clean up masses of dead bees daily. A visit from the local Bee Inspector confirmed what I’d suspected, a definite case of advanced Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus. Shaking out the bees and increasing space in the hive proved futile and they died out at the first sign of winter.
fortunately my swarm colony headed up by Queen Corona had no signs of CBPV and being only 10 feet apart, miraculously escaped cross contamination somehow. I’m now convinced that buying imported bees is a bad idea.
February 2021 was a bit chilly but the bees had been prepared well having been treated for mites in autumn and on the winter solstice, with a full nadired super of stores, insulation under the roof and added fondant. Fingers crossed
More to follow……
However living in a terraced house with a small garden on a small island on the Kent coast didn’t really resonate with the apiary sites I’d seen. I’d read a pile of books & watched every YouTube video I could find and was a paid up member of my local BBKA.
But in 2020, with the Corona virus pandemic at our doors & lockdown looming I bit the bullet, took the plunge, jumped in where Angels fear etc etc.
With my starter kit unpacked and hive half built I ordered a nuc.
I did have a few moments when I thought “what am I doing?!!!!.
My plans were slightly scuppered by travel restrictions preventing me collect the nuc, but a local beekeeper offered me a swarm and Crash Bang Wallop we’re in business.
that first season was spent pampering my colony, feeding them up, treating for mites and many hours sat watching the entrance completely entranced.
I knew that I needed two colonies to be sustainable. So as soon as lockdown eased I purchased a nuc of Italian Ligustica bees which promptly showed signs of CBPV.
my first encounter with bee diseases.
it was horrible to watch the colony dwindle and clean up masses of dead bees daily. A visit from the local Bee Inspector confirmed what I’d suspected, a definite case of advanced Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus. Shaking out the bees and increasing space in the hive proved futile and they died out at the first sign of winter.
fortunately my swarm colony headed up by Queen Corona had no signs of CBPV and being only 10 feet apart, miraculously escaped cross contamination somehow. I’m now convinced that buying imported bees is a bad idea.
February 2021 was a bit chilly but the bees had been prepared well having been treated for mites in autumn and on the winter solstice, with a full nadired super of stores, insulation under the roof and added fondant. Fingers crossed
More to follow……
