What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Erichalfbee]

Returned from the vet today, my 10 year old dog has approx 2 weeks to 2 months (best guess) to live, with ongoing lymphoma.

Oh poor Poot and dog. Chemotherapy is really effective but only for a short time. I always offered it as it hardly impacted on quality of life and made the dog so much better but more importantly gave the owner time to come to terms with the prognosis.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

sorry to hear that Poot....

hives going crazy again today which is nice to see...read the EBKA article about Tanzania which was interesting with my uganda connections!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

sorry to hear that Poot....

hives going crazy again today which is nice to see...read the EBKA article about Tanzania which was interesting with my uganda connections!

Rachel and Bhatendi has done some great work with the beekeepers on Kome island, we're hoping for some more great results from there. Rachel is now our fundraising guru at Bees Abroad and her work on 'the big give' really gave us a great boost after the funding losses during the lockdowns.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Rachel and Bhatendi has done some great work with the beekeepers on Kome island, we're hoping for some more great results from there. Rachel is now our fundraising guru at Bees Abroad and her work on 'the big give' really gave us a great boost after the funding losses during the lockdowns.

excellent....keen to continue to hear more...i have a series of park rangers and villagers who are keen to start in rural uganda as we discussed before....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

excellent....keen to continue to hear more...i have a series of park rangers and villagers who are keen to start in rural uganda as we discussed before....

we have quite a few projects in Uganda so it's worth you contacting BA.
I remember the ear bashing I got off SWMBO when she went out to Uganda on a totally non bee related project, being a person with an impressive self built reputation, she was horrified to be greeted with 'Ah yes, you're the wife of N'tate Em, the Lesotho bee doctor - when are you going to send him over here?'

 

[Cuckmere couple]

we have quite a few projects in Uganda so it's worth you contacting BA.
I remember the ear bashing I got off SWMBO when she went out to Uganda on a totally non bee related project, being a person with an impressive self built reputation, she was horrified to be greeted with 'Ah yes, you're the wife of N'tate Em, the Lesotho bee doctor - when are you going to send him over here?'

who is BA?

yes, interested in Uganda...ive spent 8 years in total there and got good friends all over the country...even considering a lodge construction

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

who is BA

Bees Abroad, you can submit an enquiry form

 

[JamezF]

I laid a load of packaging cardboard on the ground and piled about a tonne of woodchip on top to make what I hope will be a vegetation-free (for vegetation, read "mostly nettles") area for hive stands when I move them from their current location. We've saved a lot of cardboard over the last couple of years and most of it has been used as weed suppressant in the veggie plot. This allowed me to use up the bits that I didn't like the look of for the veggie beds.

I was working next to a colony I moved into the apiary late last year -- a swarm that made a home in a stack of brood chambers that had obviously been bumped and left a space for them to get in and build wild comb. This year I need to get them to move into a proper brood chamber. They were quite busy, though I had a fair bit to do today so didn't stop to watch to see if they were bringing in pollen. I'll check them when it's warm over the next few days.

James

 

[Moobee]

Returned from the vet today, my 10 year old dog has approx 2 weeks to 2 months (best guess) to live, with ongoing lymphoma.

oh how very sad, sorry to hear that Poot

 

[Moobee]

I laid a load of packaging cardboard on the ground and piled about a tonne of woodchip on top to make what I hope will be a vegetation-free (for vegetation, read "mostly nettles") area for hive stands when I move them from their current location. We've saved a lot of cardboard over the last couple of years and most of it has been used as weed suppressant in the veggie plot. This allowed me to use up the bits that I didn't like the look of for the veggie beds.

I was working next to a colony I moved into the apiary late last year -- a swarm that made a home in a stack of brood chambers that had obviously been bumped and left a space for them to get in and build wild comb. This year I need to get them to move into a proper brood chamber. They were quite busy, though I had a fair bit to do today so didn't stop to watch to see if they were bringing in pollen. I'll check them when it's warm over the next few days.

James

Are you following the no dig philosophy of veggie growing James?

 

[Newbeeneil]

I dislodged the mouse family that I evicted from a dead out a week or so ago. They had taken up residence in the poly insulation in the adjacent hive!

 

[JamezF]

Are you following the no dig philosophy of veggie growing James?

I am

I converted the main veggie plot (about 12m x 13m) last winter, together with the 30'x14' polytunnel and a 10'x10' greenhouse. This winter I've extended the veggie plot slightly so it's now roughly 14m square and I have a vague plan to build a passive solar greenhouse which will also be no dig (no worries about putting a fork or spade through underground pipework if you're not using a fork or spade

Last year was I think the most productive year we've ever had, with the exception of squashes which really didn't do well at all. This year will be interesting now I think I know what I'm doing I'm not going to attribute the success entirely to going no dig, but I think it's fair to say that it helped quite significantly.

Possibly the most difficult bit is making sure I have enough compost. As we're fortunate enough to have space to store it, in 2020 I bought a six tonne lorry load of council green waste compost, and did the same again last year. I'm hoping I won't have to buy any in for next winter as I'm really working on composting as much as possible at home. By the summer I'm hoping we can be composting all our kitchen waste for example, so there'll be no food recycling going out for collection at all.

James

 

[user 20297]

Not my apiary...it was found in my car. interestingly, at the location of my new out apiary, 200 metres above sea level. I have no bees there, so it either hitched a lift or it's someone else's or one of those famous wild bees. As it's chosen my drink bottle with remnants of sugary orange cordial, when I needed a drink myself I left it a slurp.
Obviously, it's most likely doomed, but I couldn't ignore it, could I?

 

[Wilco]

Checked the fondant levels on the hive of a friend I'm sort of mentoring and gave him a second hand suit I'd given some TLC to.

Starting to think about getting things into position for 'deployment' in a month or so.

 

[Moobee]

I am

I converted the main veggie plot (about 12m x 13m) last winter, together with the 30'x14' polytunnel and a 10'x10' greenhouse. This winter I've extended the veggie plot slightly so it's now roughly 14m square and I have a vague plan to build a passive solar greenhouse which will also be no dig (no worries about putting a fork or spade through underground pipework if you're not using a fork or spade

Last year was I think the most productive year we've ever had, with the exception of squashes which really didn't do well at all. This year will be interesting now I think I know what I'm doing I'm not going to attribute the success entirely to going no dig, but I think it's fair to say that it helped quite significantly.

Possibly the most difficult bit is making sure I have enough compost. As we're fortunate enough to have space to store it, in 2020 I bought a six tonne lorry load of council green waste compost, and did the same again last year. I'm hoping I won't have to buy any in for next winter as I'm really working on composting as much as possible at home. By the summer I'm hoping we can be composting all our kitchen waste for example, so there'll be no food recycling going out for collection at all.

James

Brilliant! I’ve been no dig and organic for five years now and it’s definitely the best tasting and most productive veg so far although lack of wasps last year meant some issues with black fly which I had to hose from loads of crops. It’s also much kinder to your back apart from humping compost!

 

[Cuckmere couple]

I laid a load of packaging cardboard on the ground and piled about a tonne of woodchip on top to make what I hope will be a vegetation-free (for vegetation, read "mostly nettles") area for hive stands when I move them from their current location. We've saved a lot of cardboard over the last couple of years and most of it has been used as weed suppressant in the veggie plot. This allowed me to use up the bits that I didn't like the look of for the veggie beds.

I was working next to a colony I moved into the apiary late last year -- a swarm that made a home in a stack of brood chambers that had obviously been bumped and left a space for them to get in and build wild comb. This year I need to get them to move into a proper brood chamber. They were quite busy, though I had a fair bit to do today so didn't stop to watch to see if they were bringing in pollen. I'll check them when it's warm over the next few days.

James

how do you find it as a weed suppressant for veggie beds....i hear people using it along lines of the no dig approach etc but havent heard much in terms of outcomes

 

[JamezF]

how do you find it as a weed suppressant for veggie beds....i hear people using it along lines of the no dig approach etc but havent heard much in terms of outcomes

Where I've used it, with either woodchip or compost on top, it seems to have worked pretty well. It's not perfect and the occasional perennial weed (dandelions are the main problem in the veggie plot) gets through, but the reduction in numbers of weeds overall makes dealing with them so much easier.

James

 

[JamezF]

Brilliant! I’ve been no dig and organic for five years now and it’s definitely the best tasting and most productive veg so far although lack of wasps last year meant some issues with black fly which I had to hose from loads of crops. It’s also much kinder to your back apart from humping compost!

Yes, we had a similar lack of wasps last year which allowed the caterpillars to run riot. This year I intend to net all of the brassicas (against flea beetle initially, then the butterflies), but I'll also put in a sacrificial planting of nasturtiums that the caterpillars are welcome to feed on (and we can use the flowers in salads too).

James

 

[E&MBees]

Brilliant! I’ve been no dig and organic for five years now and it’s definitely the best tasting and most productive veg so far although lack of wasps last year meant some issues with black fly which I had to hose from loads of crops. It’s also much kinder to your back apart from humping compost!

Tagetes work well as a companion plant for runner beans. Their strong scent masks the runners and I find black fly are kept at bay this way.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’m trying basil with the tomatoes in the tunnel this year. Last couple of years we’ve had marigolds that grow up like 3ft shrubs!