yesbut

My swarm control method of turning the inside of the hive into a chaotic disorganised gappy mess before I went on holiday worked a treat. So well that someone else's bees came along and set up shop in the PMS deadout right alongside.

What you won't want to hear is that in general the NZ honey industry has seen better days. Honey prices except high grade Manuka are in many cases below the cost of production, inventories of unsold honey are high. Every man and his dog chase Manuka areas, there is great competition for them. There are more beekeepers and bees in NZ at present than ever before, a universal complaint is overcrowding and unethical dumping of beeyards all over the neighbour's patch. I can't imagine any commercials on here who would encourage you to move here with beekeeping plans.

I'd be more interested in holding W B S Earp's sixgun I'm afraid.

I would expect the extractor in question has the reverse...."cup" machined into the end of the spindle..

Funny how no-one looks past the day and month of a post !!

Splash out and buy a nice shiny book that can live on your kitchen table. You'll end up referring to it lots. And as soon as you start buying other beekeeping stuff you'll probably think the $44.95 is good value !

The bees will cover the frames and the inside of the boxes with both wax and propolis. Do you have a copy of Practical Beekeeping in NZ by Matheson & Reid ? It's compulsory .

I would'nt be too precious about about wax dipping, assuming you're not embarking on setting up a massive outfit. Ordinary pine will last quite a few years with a good coat of paint on outside & top & bottom edges .

On the other hand, if there're only one or two hives and no time pressure towels on top in between are no bother at all, and once my stock of staples are used up...The mistake I made with towels this year, I put one too many in between and effectively starved one hive out.

There's a whole new un bee related topic there.

Waddaya know, a backcountry bloke approving of something DoC's done !

Dave do you really believe that any of us understand what this means, or is it a wind up to see who goes WTH first ?

Maybe they think they think beeks might get into a bit of wasp control while they're there..It's not a case of priorities, DOC are bound by law to allow a concession unless there's a compelling case against a particular one.

What are you actually doing opening them all up ?

You still got your black bees Roy ?

Viper's Bugloss in the rough ground.

Ok so you're not marching out the back door straight into their flight path. Requeen .

Going by how much I have to pay for a leg of lamb, I'd say quit the bees & grow sheep !

Looked at their flight paths ?