Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
A crisp cold day at the Berwick Solar Farm, and the redwings were out in force on the hawthorn shrubs as they are still festooned with berries. Two buzzards flew up from the large puddle in the parking area; I normally see snipe. As the sun was shining on the hive entrance, there were a … Continue reading Thermosolar Hive in Winter
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar Hive in Autumn
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar Varroa Count
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar update
I needed to check the bees in the Thermosolar hive hadn't glued their roof down again, and for that I needed the propolis to be really soft. It's a hot day today in the south east, and while I was there I thought I would put a honey box (super) on too, so they have … Continue reading Super Thermosolar
The Thermosolar bees have been in their hive a couple of weeks and I wanted to make sure they had settled in. They were very active, and not very pleased to see me! I didn't have my smoker so I might have to use that next time - the smoke distracts them and masks any … Continue reading Thermosolar update
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar Bees
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar Hive Installation
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 … Continue reading Thermosolar Hive at Berwick Solar Farm