Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
We are suddenly having a heatwave, with temperatures doubling from the cool rainy conditions last week. I don't like to disturb my bees beyond the end of July as they are usually understandably defensive and they are working hard to glue the hive together ready for winter. This hot spell will mean plenty of foraging … Continue reading Late July Update
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
Lockdown restrictions and social distancing have made it a bit challenging to visit the bees at West Rise Junior School's Bee Sanctuary. Normally at this time of year we would be in the throes of BeeFest, the annual celebration of not just bees, but simply being outdoors and appreciating nature - a mandate which the … Continue reading High Summer at the School Apiary
I was invited to come and talk to the Year 6 children at Western Road Primary School in Lewes, East Sussex, about honey bees, as they have a feral colony living in the roof of their school building. They have been there at least a few years, and are not normally particularly noticeable, but since … Continue reading Primary School Bees
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 was called out to a swarm at Pevensey Bay, which is right on the beach here in East Sussex. It was in someone's garden, and they had no idea where it had come from, and didn't know of any beekeepers locally. I do know of one nearby, but hers had not swarmed. The bees … Continue reading Black Bees
I have taken the decision to shelve all my face-to-face courses as the uncertainty continues, and the possibility attendees--or me--needing to self-isolate on an ad hoc basis as the lockdown lifts makes trying to plan dates rather a nightmare, and that's before the social distancing measures that need to be in place. I am very … Continue reading Vlog!
I collected a swarm on May 7th, which was a cast from a beekeeper's hives. They were low down in a shrub, so not a difficult collection! https://videopress.com/v/9AdthtTK?preloadContent=metadata I put them in a nuc box and checked them ten days later as they were certainly not tiny enough to definitely be a cast, so I … Continue reading Patience…
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
One can never tell how many swarms there are going to be for any given season, and I was surprised to see so many people on the Association's list...swarms are deemed the sign of "failure" and bad management, yet here are tens of people wanting them to repopulate their apiaries after losing colonies over winter. … Continue reading Swaaaarms