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Honey Pot Tales

Here you can read about some of my adventures in beekeeping.

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Matt

A new beekeeping season - 2011

Thursday, 31 March 2011 00:00

The season has started well with all my hives making it through the winter. I fed the 2 Langstroths sugar syrup but the bees didn't take nearly as much as they have done in previous years.

The Warre is now in its third year and seems to be doing well with bees coming and going.

Last year proved to be a better year than I had expected producing 55lb of honey. I decided not to take anything from the Warre though. Maybe this year?

Checking my Langstroths

Saturday, 12 June 2010 00:00

Took a look at my Langstroths today. I don't disturb the new colony too much. I don't see the queen but there's brood and pollen. The other one's fine too. It's not quite as strong as I'd like and it would be good to see more brood. Maybe the queen's not a good layer? She was new last year so should be ok.

There's some honey but I won't have nearly as much as last year (45 lbs) and the oil seed rape is nearly over.

Wrist protection

Wednesday, 09 June 2010 00:00

I've solved the problem of being stung on the wrists! You know those sweat-bands tennis players wear? They're perfect for the job!

Added another box to the Warre

Sunday, 06 June 2010 00:00

Added a second hive box below the first on the Warre, which is known as a "nadir". I do this on my own so don't get a chance to look underneath the first box to get a glimpse at what's going on.

Anyhow, all seems well and the bees are very placid. I'm torn between curiosity to know what's going on and feeling good about not disturbing them too much.

Checking a friend's hives

Saturday, 29 May 2010 00:00

Today I looked at two hives for a friend. She says that they've both swarmed so is not sure what I'll find. The super on the first colony is heavy. There must be a lot of honey. I'm envious! There's no sign of a queen but several queen cells and quite a bit of capped brood. I add a second super. The bees are not pleased to see me and I'm attacked on the wrists again.

The second hive is much weaker. The super is empty and there's not much brood.

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