[google1] I always have a nightmare with propolis (aptly named bee glue which is a substance made by bees 
from the sap of trees) and it gets everywhere but especially on the gloves. In the interests of preventing a transfer of disease and also to keep everything look clean, it is best to try to get the propolis off the beekeeping gloves.
Read more below for information from BJ Sherriff who supplied mine: Read the rest of this entry »
It has been so hectic lately that I have simply not had time to put any blogs together to discuss my
stings, my new suits, my battles with the inevitable swarms and the fantastic weather we have been having. Therefore I thought I would play a little bit of catch up with my latest challenges dealing with a Spring honey extraction.
There was such a strong honey flow that I have almost broken several vertebrae lifting various supers off my hives (though I have to say the Omlet hives split supers have been a joy to deal with). I total I would say I have about 3 supers to extract. Read the rest of this entry »
So, having seen that the frames are being filled pretty quickly in the National Hive and having not been able to offer the Omlet the two supers I
should have done (read that blog article here), I realised I needed an emergency frame building evening! I didn’t think I would need them this quickly but it seems that the bees are being pretty active.
A point to note from doing this last year when I did all the building (funny to see this written last year) was that the nails I was using were too long (it meant the nails were sticking out from wood which wasn’t great – i knew myself too well knowing that at some point during the inspections I would end up stabbing myself on the nails and……I did and mistook it for a bee sting until I did it three times in a row on the same frame!). Therefore as a point of note I have used 20mm nails for the main joints and then 15mm nails for the nails to secure the foundation to the frame. I hope this helps people as it seems to have worked this time round.
So, 12 frames built, I go to bed slightly happier than earlier this evening!
I think I experienced what is called the Beekeeping panic today. It was the hottest day of the year so far in 
the UK and as a result I knew that my bees would be loving it (especially as all the fruit tree blossom would be coming out any second). The problem was that I had just put a super on one of the hives (thank god I had that ready to go) but the other was not ready in the slightest. To top it all off I hadn’t removed the hive entrance blocks.
Standing outside the hive this morning (which I only did as a fluke as I wasn’t even going out to the hives today) was like watching the busiest of motorways on the worst rush hour ever. To top it all off there would be a multi-car pile up right in the middle of it. I decided there and then that I had to do something. Read the rest of this entry »
[google1] There are many beekeeping jobs to do in Spring but I think I have only touched the surface of what needs to be done. 
March is a time in the hive when everything is getting going and should the temperature get above the 10-150C range you will start to see bees flying around outside the hive (hopefully getting some pollen which is an indication that the hive is working as pollen is needed to feed larvae, an indication that the queen is laying)
Therefore here is a list of the jobs that I have done so far. However, I am sure this list isn’t exhaustive and so please help me by telling me what other jobs I have to do……. Read the rest of this entry »
So I receive an e-mail today from a beekeeping friend of mine with bad news “James, I have had a look at your bee 
photos and I think one of your hives has dysentry“. Here was me thinking it was great as they had both survived the worst of the winter and I am hit with this sort of news. Now, if I am honest, I had heard of dysentry and knew that this was not a good thing but I didn’t really know the details……I had to look it up.
So I picked up all my books and yes…..not a good thing. Essentially this is the bee equivalent of diarrhoea and could be caused by several things. The least of my worries would be that they had been kept inside for too long because of the cold weather, not getting a chance to get outside to defecate (bees will not go to the toilet inside the hive I am told). So that could be the best case scenario. Read the rest of this entry »
So the time has come for feeding my bees in Spring (or thereabouts anyway!) and so I had looked at the research. Appartently feeding bees with sugar syrup is a bad idea this early in the year because the syrup can freeze. Therefore Bakers Fondant was the recommended feed for bees. One slight problem however was not having the slightest clue what bakers fondant actually was.
As it turns out it is basically icing that goes on the top of cakes (as you can see from the pictures) but is appartently the best for feeding bees in Spring. So I did a little bit of research (as well as visiting various supermarkets and asking around with the response of several blank faces……fondant for bees? You’ve got to be kidding…..) and found that a great place for fondant (in the UK) was Bako which is essentially a wholesaler of baking products. Read the rest of this entry »
So, we are having a real cold snap at the moment and i am left wondering, do they bees feel the cold?
It is especially apparent as i have just been lucky enough to bring a new addition to the world, Edward, who was born earlier this week, but this has meant that i am paying attention to temperatures a little more than normal. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, so they can cost anywhere from £40 for a days course or over a £100 for a 10 week course, but are beekeeping 
courses worth it?
As many of you who follow this blog know, I initially thought that beekeepers were a certain breed of people and I was a little unsure about joining the party. I felt I would suddenly put on a few inches around the waist, be forced to grow a beard, drink ale (or occasionly cider) and have to start morris dancing as another hobby. I was pleasently surprised by the course I attended in that none of the above was mandatory and so I attended with vigor. What did I learn? Read the rest of this entry »
When I first stated beekeeping I didn’t have a clue. I thought you simply put a beehive at the bottom of the garden and
then simply drained the honey out of the side every so often from one of those beer tap type systems. I presumed beekeepers dressed up for a little bit of fun making out it was more serious than it was and felt it was more like a secret club of white boiler suited, bearded, morris men liking men over 50. How wrong could I be and especially when you consider you actually have to feed bees. Read the rest of this entry »
from the sap of trees) and it gets everywhere but especially on the gloves. In the interests of preventing a transfer of disease and also to keep everything look clean, it is best to try to get the propolis off the beekeeping gloves.
