It was May 1st; I never seem to get round to writing these things up when they happen. The weather had been very unusual, we’d had a warm winter, right through to early Feb and then cold and miserable right… (READ MORE)
I washed my beekeeping jacket tonight and thought I would share what keep my pockets to do the task at hand – From the top – lighters (have a spare), multi-tool (pliers, knife, screwdrivers), compass & thermometer, keys to the… (READ MORE)
A hatch, a hatch !! So the dark patch / hole between the two bees with their bums in the air is a hatch, where a queen has cut her way out and emerged from her cell. This means she… (READ MORE)
So three cells have been made; three out of 30, but I only need one queen. Well I say three, but two of them are heavily combed over, so maybe that means they are dead in the cells. As I… (READ MORE)
I did my queen rearing today. As the donor hive only had 4 frames of brood I didn’t want to leave them short at this time of build up. I grafted tiny larvae from cells using a paint brush. I… (READ MORE)
I, err, cough, chopped some queen cells down before finding the queen. Then I looked back and could not find eggs. OK you caught me doing something stupid and now I think it is queenless. BUT, I have a plan…. (READ MORE)
On Sunday I opened a hive and found 7 frames with brood on. Not just national frames, 14×12 national frames, the ones with more cells per frame than a commercial ! 7 is the magic number, it translates as time… (READ MORE)
Whether you are new to beekeeping or an old hand there is always lots to do in preparation for spring which is not a long time away. With the bees coming out of winter with low numbers it is one… (READ MORE)
I visited my hives today and there as been a sad loss. One colony at Hastinwood apiary has perished from this world. The outer insulated cover I made was blown off and was found 30 feet away. Meanwhile the hive… (READ MORE)
It’s that time of year again where I check on the bees and they get stroppy at me and the obvious result ensues. I should learn to wear a veil, tsk tsk… Anyway, I had a semi inspection at the… (READ MORE)