[google1] I read this fantastic guest blog by Amy Leigh, a newbie beekeeper from San Diego, and felt I needed to share it with everyone. Amy’s blog can be found on her Benefits of Honey blog
We’ve come up with a list of 15 beekeeping innovations throughout history that has developed the industry to what it is today.
Let us know what you think and please feel free to add some more onto the bottom of the list………..
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 »
[google1] In all the reading and researching I have been doing April Beekeeping is all about swarm control. This is the case because the bee colonies will be starting to increase in size as the weather warms up and therefore space could become limited; and pretty quickly.
The interesting element for my beekeeping is that I run two completely different hives (An Omlet Beehaus and a 14*12 National Hive) and therefore they have completely different ways of dealing with swarm control.
The one thing I have realised is that should the (almost) inevitable occur and I see that the bees are looking to expand I am seriously underprepared on not just the equipment department but also mental capacity to deal with all that I need to remember! Read the rest of this entry »
The weather was perfect and I felt it was time I went for a 2nd inspection of the year. The bees were pretty active and I was having a mild case of beekeepers panic at the thought of what was going on in the hive. I had already managed to put one super on the National Hive but I hadn’t yet put anything on the Omlet hive. Now was possible the time.
I got to the Omlet hive and had prepared a game plan (I find I have to do this nowadays in preparation for what I might find!). The glory of the Omlet is that you can essentially put on half a super first unlike National when a whole super has to go on. I would like to think it was because it was planned but it was simply because I had only prepared 6 super frames. The Omlet super technique was perfect. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a lot of talk out there about what is the best beehive for you to use and so I thought I would summarise my findings. Being a beginner I thought it would be useful as I simply do not have any prejudice or bias to any sort of hive and therefore, hopefully I would give each a fair trial!
Most of my thoughts you will find in the following videos but I thought I would just summarise the differences between the modern and often criticised Omlet Beehaus and the traditional and romantic National Hive. The latter is the hive most used in the UK and has a huge following, though I did go a little bit off piste and opted for a gabled roof! Anyway here are my positives and negatives of each.
So, suddenly it has got a little bit more serious. Yesterdays inspection had two elements to it which were both equally important. Firstly the hopes of some capped honey and secondly the review of European Foul Brood. Its funny isn’t it. When I first started to write the account of my beekeeping year I really was approaching it as a jovial and often humerous story but I genuinely feel as if my attitude, respect and affection for the bees has grown immensely and I now see how serious it all is. These last two days have only emphasised that to me. Read the rest of this entry »
So D Day. Two major events were happening today. Firstly it was the rematch between me and my traditional hive. They won last week and I had to retreat but narrowly avoided a mad dash into the nearest pond. With my pride hurt I had taken stock and today was the day. Secondly it was also the day that I was due to open up the Omlet Beehaus for the first time since the nucleus was transplanted. Two things I was interested in here. Firstly had they settled okay and was the queen laying okay and secondly, as I had only transplanted “standard” frames into a 14*12 box what was going on with the extra space they had at the bottom of the frames. I was actually nervously looking forward to it.
Sitting outside having just tied in some tomato plants, having a glass of wine, bliss. It has given me some time to reminisce about Saturday. Despite feeling a little bit like a wet women’s blouse, upon reflection I think I did the right thing. If you don’t feel right you should pull away from the inspection. Thank you to everyone supporting this theory and making me feel like I did the right thing. Great stuff, whatever your motivations or whether it was to make me feel like a dry women’s blouse, it worked!
This morning I went up to the hive on a daring mission to cut the grass around the hive. It might not sound much but imagine, as a child, approaching a house of the neighbourhood weirdo who you had heard ate kids. You had been dared to knock on his door and then run away at the speed of sound. With your heart pumping you probably would have done it but would have felt nervous all the same even though you knew he didn’t really eat kids. That was the feeling I had last night. Read the rest of this entry »
I am feeling quite old today. Imagine the scene. I had to get the bus today into work as my car was getting its tyres changed. I got on the bus and immediately sat down. Upon reflection, once the bus got going I realised that I was on the side that the sun was streaming through. In the interests of a comfortable journey I moved sides. It was at that point I felt old this morning. I actually moved in the interests of a comfortable journey.
Matters got worse. As the journey continued the school children joined me on their way to school. With spots coming out of every inch of skin, hair down to their ankles and school ties tied in such an extreme way that they may well have been an Aberdeen knot for all I knew; the Windsor knot they most certainly not. Anyway, there I was minding my own business, dressed for work in a smart shirt with a half nelson tied tie and I had a brainwave. I must catch up on some reading….. Read the rest of this entry »
There is something quite satisfying about going up to a hive after putting a new set of bees inside and seeing them flying around quite happily. I have heard before that for the first few days the bees do something called orientation flying and the video below shows exactly that. It is nice knowing that I must have done something right for them to be flying around especially as I saw a couple of them flying into the hive with pollen attached to their legs.
needed to share it with everyone. Amy’s blog can be found on her Benefits of Honey blog
