dansar

Why would anyone want to wean themselves off coffee?🤔🤪

Not totally bulging at the seams but definitely growing. This is the 2 frame nuc that I have been feeding protein substitutes and sugar syrup all winter. They finally graduated to a second brood box today. By the End of October I think they will be ready to split and add a mated queen to The queenless half. Bam! doubled a hive count instantly and plenty of time to build up for the summer honey flow.

We did OK saved and paid most of our first house off quickly. After that we moved, started a family, down to one income, 3 kids all had major health issues for first 6 or 7 years of their lives. Healthcare drained our savings. We are only now just starting to get back on our feet through sheer determination and literally blood, sweat and tears. Friends that know what we’ve been through say they don’t know how we did it. Team work, we tell them, you have to be a team.

Kowhai = mildly toxic to Bees

And that’s how I wore out my lower back 😳😆 when I was in my early 20’s I was stacking 50+ tonne a day of timber for kiln drying. I was paid by m3 and was earning more a week than my manager😁. Worked 6am till 3pm and really enjoyed it until......argh my back!

You see me in the photo? It’s not too much effort. More technique rather than brute strength.

Yeah that season was the one before 3 summers of drought😁

I do now have FD for all my hives now. No more 3/4. Planning to fill all my FD supers with new colonies after honey extraction so I’ll decide then if I keep FD or use 3/4 next season for honey supers.

Ha ha. I have been double digging that garden for nearly 10 years now. Close to 600mm of topsoil now😁

Once upon a time when we had a honey flow start in January I was supering every week. The Summer was amazing, it was before tourists new about Te Waihou Blue Springs and you could swim over to the spring days on end of 35 degrees and 90% humidity it was an amazing summer.

That was polywoven packaging strap. can be bought through Secure Load in Tauranga, Packaging House, RL Button and other’s packaging suppliers.

Contact Aerofast directly for buying just the webbing.

Next time I’m at the Apiary I’ll take a pick of the whole tree. Lots of things growing on it so I may have not been looking at the host tree.

Karaka. Is this Karaka? This particular tree has a very old Rata vine climbing through it and a few other epiphites up in it higher branches.

I had read that. It seems it would be good honey to blend with a sweeter type. although I get the feeling this crop will never see a flower. i wonder if I can convince them to sow another 10 acres just for the bees🤔😁