Raising queens has helped my beekeeping enormously. I have been able to compare hives headed by home bred queens with ‘self-made’ queens. The latter tends to occur when bees swarm or when I make a ‘walk away split’. I leave them with one queen cell from which to […]
I may have discovered some laws of physics hitherto hidden from me. The obvious one that I have suspected for some time is that the weather will always turn rubbish when lime trees flower. It’s pretty safe to say that the weather will mostly be rubbish anyway. This is […]
It’s a busy time for bees and beekeepers in my little corner of Cheshire. Here’s a quick update from the Walrus Honey apiaries.
When I interviewed Murray at his home in Perthshire in 2017, I asked him about honey production. Firstly I wanted to know how much honey he makes. (That’s with an ‘h’ not an ‘m’!) Average Crop per Hive Murray: Our long-term average? We don’t really count the blossom […]
I stumbled upon a fantastic resource for beekeepers concerning the monitoring and management of Varroa mites by the Honey Bee Health Coalition. There is some comprehensive guidance, including videos plus a neat decision tool to help decide whether to treat and what the treatment options are. A few […]
If beekeeping were an Olympic sport, I would not be on the podium receiving a gleaming gold medal whilst listening to ‘God Save The Walrus’ and trying to hold back tears of joy. Hopefully, I would avoid the wooden spoon award for the last place; somewhere in the […]
Some weird stuff is going on. There I was, getting on with my life and feeling great when the Gods decided to remind me of my insignificance. Admittedly I’m one of those who tend to see the negatives in things; it’s what allowed me to be good at […]
Here in the UK, and presumably, across much of the northern hemisphere, we are in that beautiful time of the year when optimism reigns supreme. I’m optimistic that this season will be a great one. The bees appear optimistic; they are busy and growing and, in some cases, […]
Video clips showing how to use Randy Oliver’s varroa model and making hive floors. If a picture is worth 1000 words, what about a video?
I’ve been thinking about bees and beekeeping. Most people who know me have figured out that bees occupy 95% of my brain, although other things sometimes make an appearance. Arsenal FC once took up much more brain than it now does; it was downhill after Vieira left. I […]
