Budding Cottage

I got these before my major sting reaction!

(Above – the day after the sting in the hair on the scalp!) Bee allergy One of the main things that happened over the last couple of years; was that I got a double sting in the scalp in Autumn 2012 when the bees were defensive and the winter bees were probably carrying a good […]

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 […]

It is now entering into summer 2014 and I realise that it is almost 3 years since I last blogged about the bees. Where did the time go? Certainly the bees have keep on going, and I will try to back track to fill in some of the gaps.  Looking back, the hives have increased […]

bees and me During my placement at Kingstone in 2012, I had the opportunity to support the school in caring for its beehive that had been recently bought in as part of an enrichment programme.  Several children and staff were interested in learning about the bees; and we donned suits and worked with the bees […]

Beekeeping for all The Midland and South Western Counties Convention of Beekeepers ]9th to 11th September 2011   To round off an eventful first year beekeeping I decided to book in to go along to the entire conference since it was being organised by the local Gloucestershire Beekeeping Association.  The conference is organised on rotation […]

So, this overwintering business, its not as simple as that…feed the bees – treat the bees – great, but then what do you do with worked comb, virgin foundation and all the other bits and pieces that have littered your apiary all summer and that you have slaved over putting together? Virgin foundation – it […]

Over wintering Well, going into the winter there are many different bee keeper perspectives.  Most of my hives that I have gone with, are trying over wintering on a brood and a half.  That said, at least two are only on a single brood box for the winter, so we shall see what works well […]

Off we went, with some trepidation, to the orchard hives (F and G) to see if there was a harvest to plunder.  Surely these girls, who had been established colonies for some time, would have something to show for their summer?  Well, we managed to take a super and a 3/4 from them i.e. about […]

The construction continues as I build up a supply of supers and brood boxes for emergencies and to be more set up for next year. Dad has built from scratch a national hive, and painted it white.  It now has pride of place in the field awaiting any possible swarms for next year.  In the […]