Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
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
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 … Continue reading Spring Check of the Thermosolar bees
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