Budding Cottage

The  history of this apiary is varied.  It all started with two hives from Worcestershire, which were distinctly feisty bees.  They were joined by some bees who swarmed into the orchard (which has lovely low branched trees ideal for collecting swarms from). Anyway, in 2012 it all kicked off, with the hives constantly throwing swarms […]

Hive 5 When the LAN group visited, hive 3 had been about to swarm; so we took several frames of brood and stores from it, including two nice queen cells; and then created hive 5. Today on inspection the bees were building up nicely from the nuc of bees taken from hive 3 before it […]

Hive 4 In May when the LAN group visited, we looked very closely at the hive.  It had been not building up in the way that I had expected.  In addition the bees seemed too quiet – so our friend the retired bee inspector had a closer look. The hive was suffering from the result […]

Hive 3 This is becoming a bit of a tower hive. It was visited by the LAN group when it was due to swarm; so we took an artificial swarm from it (into hive 5) and knocked down some queen cells leaving two of the best behind.  However that was a few weeks ago, and […]

Hive 2 I am strangely fond of this hive of bees.  It faces the gate as I come into the apiary and they always seem busy, catching the sunlight early. In May I found the queen and popped her into the brood box (after overwintering on a brood and a half).  I then left them […]

Hive 1 – original  hive I think the bees have swarmed. The hive is just packed full of drones. I could’nt move for drones. There is no uncapped brood or BIAS but the cells are polished up ready indicating that someone is around and expected to start work soon. There are a couple of torn […]

Feeding the girls to help them into winter – and its proving to be a sizeable challenge. Today (28th) Chris kindly helped me tackle the Apiary 1 girls as he prepared to move the nurse bees from the wild garden.  This was a great boon as I had a sore shoulder and arm, making lifting […]

There has been an outbreak of European Foul Brood in the area, and so the DEFRA national bee unit has swung into action, prioritising visits to apiaries within 5km or so of the outbreak.  My apiaries were on their list! Initial alarm that there might be something wrong in the hives, but a welcome opportunity […]

So, Hives B and C….the two swarms that are so different. Hive B has for some time worried me because it had the varroa problem and was so slow to develop.  The queen was lovely and placid and the bees nice, if fidgety, but they did not thrive.  So a course of thymol should have […]

It has been two weeks since I managed to catch up with the girls – so time to check what they had been up to. First good news in the Pagden hive (Hive D) – there is brood and looks like a queen is in place and laying.  What a relief. They are busy filling […]