Author: Steve

I carried out my first inspection today of my remaining 3 hives. They all had brood, 2 hives were across 5 frames and 1 was across 7.  Some way behind last year, but last year was very mild. Still plenty

Yesterday I noticed that one of my hives was evicting undersized drones. I realised this probably meant the the queen was infertile and could no longer lay fertilized worker eggs. At this time of the year queens can’t get mated

After leaving the varroa inspections boards in for 96 hours I checked to see the results of the treatment.  The first hive had a huge mite drop, this is the hive I treated using a homemade thymol treatment. I think

The first visit to my hives in 2015 was in order to apply oxalic acid to the bees to kill the varroa mites that are not in the brood.  Today I had a number of other members of SBKA with

I have been concerned about the store levels in my hives recently, one in particular.  So I decided today to add a slab of fondant on top of the frames of the lightest hive. The others should be ok until

Fitted mouse guards to my hives today, a bit late this year but I didn’t fit them at all last winter. 

No hive inspections at this time of the year, the main job is cleaning all the equipment for the spring.  So far I have cleaned and scorched all my free shallow and deep boxes, about 30 or 40 frames with

With windy weather forecast for the next couple of days, I have added some extra weight on top to hold the roof on.

http://www.sleafordtarget.co.uk/Sleaford-Beekeeping-Association-urges-residents/story-23062053-detail/story.html

Just a quick look at my hives today to check they have taken enough stores down for winter.  They all seemed to be a bit light on stores for this time of year but had stopped taking down the sugar syrup. As