My time here in New Zealand is drawing to a close. I have managed to interview three different beekeepers and have had a great time too, plus I have picked up a bit of a sun tan. All three interviewees were generous with their time and gave me plenty of interesting material for my book. … Read more
It is six days since my son and I began our long journey to Christchurch, New Zealand, on the other side of the planet to our home. It was a LONG journey and even though I splashed out on Business Class we were pretty messed up by the time we landed 30 hours after leaving … Read more
How to prevent swarming? I previously wrote about some potential factors involved in the swarming of honey bees and why swarm prevention and control are so important for the beekeeper. The idea that we can prevent swarms is probably misguided; it is after all what bees are programmed to do, it is how they reproduce, … Read more
Before I get all technical on the beekeeping front I must share with you that I have just started a dog poo (or poop as our North American friends would say) wormery in my back yard – I’m a backyard wormer! The idea is that I establish a colony of worms and then, once they … Read more
Now that the days are getting longer bees in healthy colonies will have swarming on their minds, except that they don’t have minds, but you know what I mean. Obviously they have to build up to it, so it isn’t going to happen tomorrow, but the preparations will be underway. Honey bees reproduce by swarming … Read more
All UV images are by Craig Burrows Karl von Frisch (November 20, 1886 – June 12, 1982) was a very clever man who received the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his work in the field of animal social behaviour. I suppose he is best known for the discovery of the “waggle dance” by bees, which … Read more
There is a saying which goes something like “ask 10 beekeepers the same question and you’ll get 11 different answers!” This makes things very difficult for anybody starting out as a beekeeper, which is why I would recommend taking some classes run by your local beekeeping association, normally run in the Winter, before getting bees … Read more
At this time of the year the issue of tax raises it’s grim visage, with online filing of returns having to be submitted by 31 January. I have just been sorting my tax return out, and to distract me from the pain I had a look at taxonomy, which is slightly less complex than tax, … Read more