Tag: Michael Palmer

Buckfast Breeder Queen with numbered disc
8 May 20 Walrus

Making Queens!

Buckfast Breeder Queen In my area, we are entering the busiest time of the beekeeping season. Colonies are expanding rapidly, and some have swarmed or are about to. Spring/early summer is often like that; a massive amount of nectar and…
Queen Rearing
Polystyrene Nucs (Denrosa Apiaries)
4 Feb 20 Walrus

Nucleus Power!

Polystyrene Nucs (Denrosa Apiaries) A nucleus hive, customarily called a "nuc" is just a little hive. I have heard it pronounced "nuke" and "nook" and I imagine non-beekeepers wonder what weapons of mass destruction have to do with bees. Many…
Beekeeping Equipment
Mike Palmer moving a barrel of honey
3 Dec 19 Walrus

Dreaming of 2020

Mike Palmer moving a barrel of honey I often like to have some theme for my blog posts, but today I'm just writing whatever pops into my head. There are lots of things to say about bees, but after a…
Steve Donohoe
Murray McGregor shows a winter cluster
14 Nov 19 Walrus

Winter Survival

Murray McGregor shows a winter cluster How this Walrus does it I harvested my last honey in August and treated for mites as soon as the honey supers were off. This works for me. Many beekeepers leave the harvest until…
Winter
Air Conditioning units on a roof
27 Sep 19 Walrus

Hive Ventilation

Air Conditioning There are many things in beekeeping which cause furious debate. One part of this, which this demonstrated below, is that different beekeepers deal with different environmental conditions. Here are some extracts from Interviews with Beekeepers on the subject…
Beekeeping Equipment
Walrus Honey Label on a jar of honey
6 Sep 19 Walrus

Keeping High Standards

The Walrus makes great honey! It's that time of the year when it's time for me to start to get my hives ready for the winter. I'm currently treating all of them with Apivar, which means that the evil varroa…
Autumn
The Fool
18 Jul 19 Walrus

Mistakes!

The Fool In beekeeping, as in life, everybody makes mistakes. Even bees occasionally make them. The hard part is owning up to them. Douglas Adams said, "a common mistake that people make when trying to design something foolproof is to…
Beekeeping
Gate to walled garden at Dromoland
18 Mar 19 Walrus

Bee Boles and Blarney

Gate to walled garden at Dromoland Last week I hopped over the Irish Sea for a short stay in the ancestral homeland. I had volunteered to be Mike and Lesley Palmer's driver for a few days. Mike had finished his…
Steve Donohoe
Actors from the Crown and Victoria
28 May 18 Walrus

Are Your Queens Majestic?

Actors from the Crown and Victoria Are Your Queens Majestic? Anybody who has been reading my blog for a while will no doubt form the view that I am obsessed with queens. I'm talking about queen honey bees, not what…
Queen Rearing