Budding Cottage

Chris very kindly agreed to come over and give me the benefit of a second view on a couple of my hives.  Extremely generously, this second view extended to all 6 hives eventually and a marathon 3 hour beekeeping practical session… I am still playing around with advice on brood versus half brood; and trying […]

Well, I knew that a lot could happen in a week, but was taken aback by activity in Hive A and Hive C this week. Hive C As ever, being little gannets, the food had gone.  The surprise was that the bees have built wild comb linking the eke for the apiguard with the crown […]

Introducing two new hives from Lulsley, Worcestershire; and one optimistic Padgen maneouvre: Well, with the chance to gain additional hives with colonies, and help out a fellow beekeeper, I decided to buy from a keeper in Worcestershire. Night moves We turned up, Mr C, Mum, Dad and me, at 8pm with rope, ratchet straps, gaffer […]

The more I learn, the more I read, the more I think…the more I have questions and moments of indecision. When  I first started I was happy to peek into a hive and pull it apart frame by frame, having a good nose about.  Now I am stalled by questions, questions, questions. This week I […]

As a beginner, it was with a small amount of trepidation and some excitement that I greeted the chance of having the LAN group come and visit my little apiary, and to meet the fabled Dave Sutton, Regional Bee Inspector. Hive B: We started by looking at the swarm I captured from Malvern on 8 […]

After the addition of a new swarm I have been working on the apiary to plant bee friendly plants and to ensure a water source is nearby.  Whilst watching the 3 hives however, hive B looks very quiet in comparison.  I took a peek under the crown board on 4 June to see how things […]

On 1 June my neighbour wandered over and asked if I was interested in a swarm of bees that was in his orchard.  An immediately dive to the bee suit, box and sheet and I was off. There used to be a beekeeper who kept bees in John’s orchard, but over the winter his bees […]

A visit to the bees today during a sunny patch of the day.  I wanted to check their sugar syrup levels, which I had topped up last week.  Sure enough they were guzzled dry. Hive A were busy drawing comb in their first super.  I didn’t check the brood box as they seemed very busy […]

Today since it was lovely and sunny, and the temperature at the hives was 21C, I decided to check progress in both hives. Hive A had started off with 6 frames on 4 May and a lively queen with Brood at all stages (BIAS). So 15 days in I wanted to see how far they […]

Grabbing a short break between spells of rain, and before it got too cold, I whizzed a peek into the bees to see how they were: Hive A – doing well in just over a week and have expanded from the 6 combs to draw wax on at least 3 more.  Most busy on the […]