Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
A glorious day, and the daisies have popped up almost overnight! Great to see such a swathe of these: they are not only good pollinator plants but also provide some nice tall cover for mammals. The blackthorn has gone over now, as has much of the hawthorn but this late spring does mean the traditional … Continue reading Themosolar Swarm Update
I was called out to a swarm (thanks Georgia!) at Arlington Reservoir yesterday evening: handy as I needed a swarm for the vacant Thermosolar hive about 500 yards away as the bee flies - in fact I did think there was a possibility that they could be a swarm from the occupied Thermosolar. The other … Continue reading New colony in the Thermosolar Hive
At last: some Spring-like weather! Lots of swarms around so I had planned my day to visit the Thermosolar bees remarkably well. They were looking bonny - here's a slo-mo: https://videopress.com/v/qPLzPAur?preloadContent=metadata I didn't do a particularly invasive check as there were people on site and the bees aren't the friendliest colony, so I checked the … Continue reading Spring Thermosolar Check
It's been really cold - down to freezing overnight - but I was aware the Thermosolar hive is very well insulated and the bees might be needing more room as the cold may not have checked their progress in the way that other hives would. Bees need to expend a lot of energy keeping their … Continue reading Thermosolar Beehive
The Thermosolar hives at Berwick are based on a standard National hive, but with some modifications. I have a video below showing the basic organisation and construction: https://youtu.be/INQ-1wzutWE The Thermosolar ceiling is only used during mite treatment hence why I just have the roof at the moment. The occupied hive was flying well considering how … Continue reading Look inside the Thermosolar Hive
It was brisk and breezy despite the sunshine at the Berwick site today, so I was wondering if the bees would be flying. I've not been to check on them since the autumn, so I was keeping my fingers crossed for signs of life at the Thermosolar hive. I watched carefully and sure enough: foragers … Continue reading Checking on the Thermosolar Bees
Just a brief visit to the hive this time as I knew the small one was queenless, and the other hive needed its empty super taken off now they've cleaned it up. It was a beautiful day and the bees were very calm. They have a lot of Varroa so I need to perform a … Continue reading Thermosolar hive check
I braved the heat this morning to go and visit the Thermosolar bees at Berwick. The original colony was its usual feisty self, so I removed the top box containing the tubs of cappings, which they had duty sculpted in to new comb. They were not at all pleased to see me, and it was … Continue reading DLQ at the Thermosolar Hive
I collected a swarm from another beekeeper a few days ago, and as they were a prime swarm (by all accounts) and are managed, but not treated for Varroa, I thought they would work well down at the solar farm in the Thermosolar hive. I took them down to the site the following evening, so … Continue reading New colony in the Thermosolar hive
Thankfully, it is perfectly possible to continue to care for honey bees while still respecting the social distancing/essential travel restrictions, and this hot weather and abundance of flowering trees has meant all the bees have been extremely busy. I have combined all my contractual visits in to one 'Bee Tour', hence the sudden crop of … Continue reading Thermosolar update
