Is there method in this madness? As you can see from the photograph showing part of one of my apiaries, there is plenty going on. One might even conclude, upon initial investigation, that the resident beekeeper is a raving lunatic. While this may be true, this smorgasbord of different types of hive actually works quite … Read more
Every year, about now in my part of the world, a new intake of future beekeepers starts evening classes run by their local beekeeping association. These courses are generally excellent from what I’ve seen. Beginner classes are the right way to go for somebody with little knowledge of what’s involved. You need to understand honey … Read more
Mites, Weather & Queens I’m a beekeeper, so the majority of my posts are probably about varroa mites, the weather and queens. So many of the problems I’m likely to face are covered by these things. Varroa mites are a significant problem for honey bees, and that doesn’t look likely to change soon. The weather … Read more
The honey flow seems to have slowed down for a while, and my bees are less desperate to swarm. Last week I discovered that three of my hives swarmed even though I had checked them, which goes to show how easy it is to miss the odd queen cell. The majority of my colonies used … Read more