Monthly Archives: December 2011

This morning I took my daughter-in-law, Ally, with me to oxalic a couple of hives in an apiary a few miles down the road.  She has a hive but no bees yet.  I’d let her have some of mine if … Continue reading →

I went this morning to meet my new apprentice, Sammy (presumably short for Samantha) in Weymouth. I have met her only once before, at a BKA apiary meeting.  We headed for Portland and I warned her, if questioned by a … Continue reading →

I didn’t get as many done yesterday as I intended. I started at Sandhills where I have a National and an apprentice, Dave.  The idea is that next year, if the bees survive and thrive, we will split the hive … Continue reading →

Bees are working my Mahonia today, Boxing Day!

I went to pay some rent for an apiary – at a jar of honey/hive/annum it works out at about £77,000 an acre! – and, on the way called in to see the bees and give them a dose of … Continue reading →

I’ve just been talking with Bees for Development when I rang to give an on-line donation. I had handed them a cheque at the National Honey Show but they gave it back suggesting that, instead, I sign up for the … Continue reading →

I made up some oxalic acid solution this afternoon with the intention of administering it to my hives over the next week or two in order to knock the varroa mites on the head. Here’s the recipe: take a plastic … Continue reading →

All my comb honey has gone now. Most of it went via the corner shop, letting them have it for £4 a lump (roughly half a pound but measured in grammes because the numbers look bigger and nobody understands them) … Continue reading →