Davidb

I’ve done the following for the last 5 seasons on 35kg to 45kg and it’s worked perfectly. if there are any crystals warm the honey gently. The one time I had to do it, I put mine in the utility room on a wet day when the tumble dryer was on and the room at abt 25C. once there are no crystals or if no crystals to start with, slowly mix about 5% of your previously creamed honey, ( the first year I bought one jar of creamed clover honey off a fellow beek) into the liquid honey stirring slowly for about 10 mins. You want to introduce as little air as possible. Let it sit for a day in a warm room then jar it. Now put the jars in a cool place and don’t touch for a week at least. The ideal temp is supposedly 12C and I’ve got an old fridge that on its warmest setting is conveniently 12C. voila, Creamed Honey?

I’ve just harvested 4 hives and taken off fully capped and the 3/4+ capped frames. However, I’m left with 8 frames that are less than 50% capped. What do I do with them? Should I put them back and hope the bees cap them, but I’m aware I need to get my autumn treatments on fairly soon. Should I keep them off, treat where necessary, then put them back on for the bees over winter? I don’t want them on the same time as treatments. What’s the advice? cheers

PhD research shows Varroa are Werewolves not ?‍♂️ Take a look

True, but current subscribers would know the make up of the current content.

Hi all, Should I re-subscribe, or is it still pretty useless in terms of educational content? As a hobbyist of 10 years in NZ & UK I enjoy reading educational Beekeeping articles. I have subscribed to -The American Bee Journal -New Zealand Beekeeper (up until 3 yrs ago) -UK Beecraft Magazine The first and last are full of articles on all things Beekeeping. Excellent magazines. As a hobbyist im not interested in the commercial side nor the political rubbish, just learning more, seeing what others are doing and keeping up to date with research. I’m just struggling to sign up again if it’s the same old stuff. cheers

Snow ❄️ ⛄️ down to 800m here today! Brrr. Ladies all tucked up, could just see them hanging off the bottom bars when I peeked in the entrance, none flying. 2C overnight tonight. I think I’ll be checking the stores if the sun comes out tomorrow.

Thx for all the advice!

Hi, I’ve got 2 hives that I removed Varroa strips a week ago. Both have 1 honey super on (from old drawn comb) and the girls are filling it fast and have started capping frames. I want to add a second super but only have new foundation, no old comb. I was going to move a couple of frames up into the new Super to help the bees move up. Should I just let them get on with drawing out the foundation or would a feed promote them drawing the foundation? My worry in doing this is that that the syrup will end up in the honey frames. thanks in advance!

Hi, I have 2 hives, here in N Otago, looking strong and just finished the spring varroa treatment. I was thinking of splitting one hive and putting a virgin queen , from a good source in. Are there any recommendations as how to introduce her? I’ve read and watched various ideas and as with all else Beekeeping ‘ask 3 people get 4 answers” thx David

Here's a link to the BBC's mini series Hive Alive. 2x 1hr programmes. Interesting stuff! enjoy

Easy as. I've had 2 hives for 10 yrs. inspect once a week during swarm season, requeen every 2 years, provide space. No worries. Split if you want to, not because you screwed up and didn't look after your ladies.

Stops bees drowning in syrup. They can cling on to twigs etc

Having 1 weak and 1 strong hive I had been wondering the best way to even them up. I've been running all 3/4 boxes, brood & supers due to back issues, however I couldn't turn down when a friend offered me a full depth brood box hive. Normally I would swap some brood frames between hives but with different sizes I couldn't. Having spoken to someone they suggesedt just swapping the positions of the weak and strong hives. Surely this would cause a lot of infighting when all the field bees come back to the "wrong" hive? Anyway, I did it and it has worked perfectly! Two even hives! Highly recommended. My guess is that the incoming field bees overwhelmed the guards and as they had nectar or pollen with them they were welcomed. Does anyone have a similar experience?

It would be good to get an expert opinion on their reliability. However, I doubt that beeks inspections are >99% accurate!