sustainable beekeeping ∙ baking ∙ chickens ∙ wildlife
The weather was a balmy 21℃ today and I took a trip to Berwick to check the bees in the Thermosolar hive. I was curious to see how much they had by way of stores and Varroa, as they had quite a bit of building to do when they first moved in (eight 14 x …
I have been waiting for the weather to cheer up enough to go and check the Thermosolar bees at Berwick, and today I took the plunge, otherwise I feared it would be Christmas before I got to them! The brooding skies weren't terribly promising, but I wanted to at least check all was well, and …
Last time I checked the Berwick Solar Farm bees, I put the inspection board underneath the mesh floor to see if there were any varroa mites. As the bee groom themselves and each other, the mites drop off, fall through the mesh and can be counted. Of course, it's only a proportion that appear, so …
The Thermosolar hive's greatest attribute is its state-of-the-art Varroa control procedure, using the power of sunlight to gently heat the hive to a temperature for a short time, which doesn't harm the bees, but does kill the mites. I wanted to know if the bees do have a mite load, so I put the inspection …
Another hot day - this time at the Solar Farm at Berwick. Yesterday evening I had taken the bees down to the site, ready to be transferred this morning. Travelling at night is easier as it means the bees are kept cool, and they settle overnight ready to head out and orient to their new …
It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day yesterday, perfect for the delivery of the Thermosolar hives from Devon to the solar farm at Berwick by Nick Oldridge, from The Naturesave Trust. Tom Worsley of Thermosolar came along to set them up and give me a quick run through on their operation and management. Sarah and …
I was invited to be involved with this project at a solar farm near me, using a newly developed type of hive to help in the fight against varroa, a parasitic mite which can debilitate honeybee colonies and cause secondary viral infections. Currently the treatments available are chemically-based and have a harsh effect on the …
Wayward Bee 