New Wedding Speech Writing Services

Help Is At Hand With New Wedding Speech Writing Services

Speechy Logo
Speechy – Wedding Speech Writing Service

This might seem a bit of a random post, but read on to the bottom and you’ll see how it relates to bees.

When my wife-to-be found me struggling with my groom speech she knocked out a really good first draft that got me started.  Then I had to write a best man speech – and I again, struggled.  In fact, speaking with friends at the time, many were hiding in darkened rooms and stressing about the speeches they had to write.

This highlighted an opportunity to help people with their wedding speeches and my wife has launched a wedding speech writing service utilising the talents of professional TV Scriptwriters (Heidi used to work @ the BBC).  And it’s coming to a marquee near you.

Speechy sell a range of wedding speech templates, including for best man, groom and father of the bride templates and recently had launched an AI wedding speech writing tool.  They are all excellent.

PS – THIS IS IMPORTANT – Heidi says the more ‘likes’ I get her the more time she’ll spend extracting honey with me.

What I Learnt From Making Ross Rounds

What I Learnt From Making Ross Rounds

As I have mentioned in earlier posts (links at bottom of page), with 2 young children and a busy job, I need to make beekeeping as low intervention as possible. This led me to consider section honey as both a time saver and an opportunity to make something really beautiful that also keeps the natural goodness of local honey.  When I discovered Ross Rounds sections (easy assembly, reusable, bees like the round shape), that was it, decision made.

Opening The Ross Rounds Sections

The video below is a novice beekeeper, who has never made sections, and is not very practically-minded, with a wife who is a bit twitchy around bees. It’s definitely not professional, but it does show how easy it is to remove the Ross Rounds sections … watch out for the flying springs:

My First Ross Rounds Honey Sections 2016
My First Ross Rounds Honey Sections 2016
Cutting foundation from Ross Rounds sections
Cutting foundation from Ross Rounds sections
Removing wax from Ross Rounds section
Removing wax from Ross Rounds section

Packaging The Ross Rounds Sections

Another amateur video of me removing the Ross Rounds frome the racks and packaging them in their plastic containers.  It is all very quick and easy, with a beautiful result.

Ross Round Section - You Keep The Plastic Ring On Section
Ross Rounds Section – You Keep The Plastic Ring On Section
Fitting Two Halves Of Completed Ross Round Section
Fitting Two Halves Of Completed Ross Rounds Section
Very Very Delighted Beekeeper With Ross Rounds Section
Very Very Delighted Beekeeper With Ross Rounds Section
Eight Ross Rounds Sections (the 2016 haul)
Eight Ross Rounds Sections (the 2016 haul)
Ross Round Section In Sealed Bag Ready For Freezing
Ross Rounds Section In Sealed Bag Ready For Freezing

Extended/Uncut Video

If you want to watch a novice beekeeper trying to work out how to package Ross Rounds for the first time, here you go.  There are lots of long pauses as I observe and try to work out what to do.  It’s like watching my boy trying to work out how to assemble his toy plane … but in this case, it’s an adult (I trained as an engineer … seriously!)

Conclusion

I am delighted with the results:

  • Eight sections (each weighs about 200g net)
  • Attractively packaged
  • Easy to assemble at start of season and harvest at end of season
  • Minimal time required (approx. 1 hour to assemble 3 racks at start of season and 1 hour to harvest and store racks at end of season)
  • A happy beekeeper!

This is my first effort.  I don’t think it has been a great year for honey production, with warnings by the National Bee Unit to feed bees. I have since bought and read Richard Taylors “The Comb Honey Book” – so I know  a bit more.  Richard refers to making section honey as an art form … and I am starting to get that.

This book has led me to think that next season I am going to try two methods of making honey sections: (1) leave alone – I will use new anti-swarm method I have discussed, and leave the bees to fill the Ross Rounds; (2) possibly try some shook swarms into a super and then queen excluder and 3 Ross Rounds boxes.  I’ll write more in due course (subscribe to keep updated).

I will definitely purse Ross Rounds sections next year, and probably every year.  “I will get good at it!”

Read More

  • Honey Sections – I consider the advantages, disadvantages, options (square, wood, round, plastic) and make a decision to buy Ross Rounds
  • Ross Rounds Assembly – I put the section racks together and place on the hive
  • My Hive Records – worth a read, now up to an unplanned 7 colonies (including 2 nucs)
  • Feeding Bees – This is what a lot of people are doing right now
  • Varroa Management – This is what a lot of people are doing right now
  • Beekeeping Calendar – I keep updating this based on my reading and experiences
  • Anti-swarm method that I reference in my conclusion above

Thermosolar Hive – Kills 100% Of Varroa Mites

Thermosolar Hive – Kills 100% Of Varroa Mites

There is a very new, very innovative, potentially very exciting beehive currently looking for crowd funding (closes 25 June 2016). It’s inventor and team claim this hive can kill 100% of varroa mites without chemicals – and I’m inclined to believe them.  I would be very interested to know what you all think – please comment.

Thermosolar Hive
Thermosolar Hive

Thermosolar Hive – How It Works

  1. Varroa mites are killed at temperatures above 40C.  Honeybees, their brood and the frames are not affected at this temperature
  2. The beekeeper removes the outer cover of the hive and the thermosolar ceiling is exposed to the sun and heats the hive.  The required temperature is reached for a 2 hour period using this ceiling, a specially designed hive body and sensors that tell you the temperature reached in the hive
  3. All the varroa on brood get killed as do varroa on house bees (this represents high proportion of the varroa).  Varroa on flying bees or bees outside the hive, do not have a long life (3-5 days) , these varroa go to reproduce and then get trapped under the capped brood and hence the second treatment 7-14 days later ensures 100% of mites killed (you will want to treat all hives in apiary at same time to ensure varroa transferred between hives get eliminated in treatment 1 or 2)
  4. I.e. no chemicals are used to kill the varroa, only the heat from the sun
Thermosolar Hive - Ceiling & Sensors
Thermosolar Hive – Ceiling & Sensors

How To Use It

  1. With 2 treatments spaced 7-14 days apart, they claim 100% of mites will be killed
  2. Each treatment involves heating the hive to 40C-47C for a 2 hour period
  3. It is recommended that this is done twice a year.  Before you put supers on for the honey flow and then again after the supers have been removed for harvesting
  4. More information: Thermosolar Hive

Thermosolar Hive – The Evidence

  1. 100 beekeepers have tested the hive in different environment conditions and there are case studies on their website that the hive works and kills Varroa with great success. Link to case studies.
  2. A university has used 5 Thermosolar hives and compared the results of thermotherapy with other hives where the thermotherapy was not done. The research is completed and their article is in review phase in scientific journal. Roman assures me that the results are excellent
  3. The Thermosolar Hive team provide evidence here: Research
  4. Furthermore Dr. Roman Linhart has good credentials: 25 years as a beekeeper (some of that as a professional), a doctorate and 10 years developing this hive.  More about Dr Roman Linhart
  5. I have also written more about this hive at Further Answers & Video

I am not here to promote this hive – I want to know your thoughts.

Crowdfunding

If you want to help this team fund this new beehive, please go to the crowdfunding site: Indiegogo.  This page also allows you to buy one (or more) of their hives.  It also has a video on this hive.  Worth a look.

Other Important Information

I had a whole load of questions when I read about this hive, a lot of which are answered on their website. Here are some of the key facts, that might save you time from hunting on their website.

  • You need to buy their hive, you can not simply put the thermosolar ceiling on your hives
  • You can buy the hive now from the crowdfunding site: Indiegogo.
  • First deliveries estimated to be December 2016
  • This hive has other claimed health benefits for the bees – please visit their website
  • The FAQ page will answer many of your questions
  • Company based in Czech Republic

In Conversation With Dr. Roman Linhart

Dr Roman Linhart
Dr Roman Linhart

I have been in email conversation with Roman, the inventor and founder with respect to answers I could not find on their website. Here is a sample:

Q1. Are your hive boxes more insulated than standard cedar frames?

They are insulated more, insulation of the hive is equal to 6 cm of polystyrene, although polystyrene is not used for it (special foils are used). The only place where the polystyrene is used is the outer cover which is outside the hive.

Q2. What material are the hive boxes made from to make it more insulated than standard hives?

Boxes are made from 3 segments: wooden outer part made of high-quality wood (very important because some wood can be damaged if the temperature during treatment went over 40°C); special thermo-foils reflecting temperature back to the inner parts of the hive; inner segment used for preventing the bees of getting into contact with foils.

Q3. What do the windows do?  Help warm it up generally? To allow one to look in?  But bees like dark space?

It is not only a window made of glass. It is more complicated device containing glasses, coatings, insulation and active layer. It is not possible to see inside and there is no light entering the hive this way, so it is dark inside as in classical hives. They are used to slightly help with thermal support of the colony and also help during the thermotherapy, when the main source of heat is activated. Main source is thermosolar ceiling placed under the outer cover (roof). However, it is usually used only two times per year. Windows are used permanently with the exception of very hot summer days (above 35°C) when they can be shaded. They help during the winter, with early spring development of the colony and it thermally support the brood, part of honey used for heating the brood is saved (there is significantly higher honey yield, especially in the spring). Most importantly it limits the reproduction of the mites, because only slightly higher temperature above normal brood rearing temperature damage the mites (36 – 38°C for a long time is already a problem for Varroa). Many of the beekeepers who have tested the hive have zero mites fall after the thermosolar treatment at the end of summer or in the beginning of autumn. It was caused by the long term thermal support by the windows, because mites have been already eliminated even before thermosolar treatment itself (but it does not happen in all cases, so the thermosolar treatment and the device for it is necessary). Long term thermal support with slightly higher brood temperatures damaged them and prevent their reproduction. It also helps the colony, according to our experience and also experience of the beekeepers, colonies in Thermosolar hives are usually strongest in the apiary.

Q4. I use 14×12 nationals.  Is your brood box available in this size?

Thermosolar Hive can be manufactured in any dimension, however, we recommend that the brood box is higher than 20 cm. So 14×12 is ideal.

Q5. Is your hive compatible with racks of Ross Rounds?

We haven’t got experience with Ross Rounds. But as I see, they are used in the honey boxes, so there should be no problem with it.

Q6. Can I just put regular supers on top of the hives or my Ross Round racks?

Thermosolar hive is special construction, there are many parts that are necessary and there is also insulation. It is therefore compatible with the frames, but not with supers of regular hive. So you can’t put classical super on the thermosolar super because their dimensions are different. We provide Thermosolar hive with 3 supers. They are used as brood and honey supers. You can use your Ross Round racks without any problems in the thermosolar super used as the honey super.

Q7. This treatment cannot be started until external temperatures are 20C.  In the UK, most beekeepers would have a super on by this point, even with a 14×12 brood box. I assume you would need to shake the bees off the super and then start the treatment?

There are two treatments in the spring, which are optional and two treatments at the end of summer, which are important, because you need to protect long living winter bees. So only the treatment in the late summer (usually August or beginning of September) is necessary. I hope you have at this time day high temperatures over 20C. This does not mean that you need to wait until outside temperature reaches 20C to start treatment, but you can start in the morning if you know that temperature around noon will be higher than 20C. Treatment is done at the time when no honey supers are mounted and the season is over, you don’t need to move bees from honeys super to the brood box. It is also possible to close the hive entrance and this measure is often done in the early spring when outer temperatures are not high enough. However, this measure is not ideal for beginners, it is better to start with an easy thermotherapy.

Q8. What temperature kills small hive beetle?  Maybe 40-47C is enough to kill this parasite too?

I am not sure about small hive beetle. I don’t know any studies or experience with its elimination by heat. Also we don’t have this pest in our country, so our experience is limited only on the literature.

Q9. Do these temperatures kill other parasites?

We are sure that it helps on Nosema Apis problem, thermotherapy is one of its solutions.

Q10. When is the university paper coming out?  Which university?

It is Palacky University in cooperation with University of South Bohemia. We are not sure about the exact date.  They have told us about the results (which are good) and that the article is finished and now in the review phase. It might be a few months.

Q11. Can one use a normal queen excluder and clearer boards with your hive?

Yes, queen excluders are no problem, the clearer boards are the same. You just need the right dimensions and you can apply it normally.

Q12. I have read and emailed you the research paper that says brood can be killed above 40C. What is your evidence that this is not the case?

I have read the same article you emailed me some time ago and have a knowledge of other similar themes. In the paper you sent, strong and long-term deviations from the normal brood rearing temperatures are what is damaging the brood. In the paper, the brood was at the higher temperature for 24 hours per day, day-by-day of its rearing. The Thermosolar Hive thermally supports the colony and this can raise the temperature to 36-38ºC on hot, sunny summer days. However, this temperature is maintained for only a few hours per day, usually about 2 to 5 hours. And not every day – it can be cloudy or outside temperatures can be lower to achieve this. So in normal summer in England, it can be in average 2 or 3 days per week, so lets say approximately 4 to 15 hours per week. This is a huge difference if compared with 168 hours per week in laboratory. This slightly higher brood temperature a few times per week damage the varroa mites and disable their reproduction. That is why there are no mites at the end of summer in most of the hives even without the 2 hour thermotherapy treatments at 40-47C. If we talk only about the thermotherapy treatments, it is done only 2 (or optionally 4) times per year and higher temperatures are maintained only for few hours. Another important point during thermotherapy is humidity. Humidity is much lower than normal. It is the same effect as if you go to sauna. There can be temperatures even higher than 100ºC and you can enjoy it. Humidity is the key, because there is a very low humidity in the sauna. If the humidity would be high, you can’t survive 100ºC. It is the same with our thermotherapy: short term heating with low humidity is without problem. Young house bees stay on the brood at temperatures between 40-47ºC, because they don’t have hardened cuticle and can cool themselves as we do in sauna. The rest of the bees with hardened cuticle is in lower parts of the hive with lower temperatures. However, practice is the most important for us. We and beekeepers who use the hive know that the brood is not damaged and the bees in Thermosolar hives are very strong and have higher honey yields. This is probably the best answer from practice. If the hive would damage the brood, the opposite would be true.

Q13. And what about hot countries and states?  Is the Thermosolar Hive relevant to them?

States like Texas are completely ok. If there are very hot sunny days over 35C, it is better to shade the windows. Hive is insulated, so is better suited against hot weather than classical hives (heat does not enter the hive thanks to insulation). Only the windows (oriented South-South-East) can make the difference. In the summer they work best in the morning until the noon. Around 12:00 sun is high on the sky and only small part of sunrays shine on the windows. In the afternoon this situation deepens even more – sun goes slowly down, but it moves to the west, so energy from the sunshine is minimal. Therefore sunny days with temperatures around 30C are ok. And when there are very hot days reaching 40C, beekeeper needs to shade the windows. It is easier for bees to cool down this hive than if it was a classical thin-walled hive.

In Conversation With Professor Francis Ratnieks, University of Sussex

I have been in email conversation with Professor Ratnieks, Labatory of Apiculture & Social Insects (LASI), leading expert on honeybees.

He needs to see the published University research and evidence (mentioned above) before being more convinced by this new hive.  And this will not be available until later in 2016.

He pointed me to a 2010 review “Biology and control of Varroa destructor” [link opens the PDF] by Peter Rosenkranz, Pia Aumeier & Bettina Ziegelmann and particularly to Table 2 where it says “… application of heat to isolated brood combs or whole colonies … is effective (especially on brood mites in treated brood combs) but costly on a time and material basis”.

Conversations On Beekeeping Forums

I have been onto a few beekeeping forums to gather opinion. This is evolving. In summary, some people are hopeful others are sceptical.  There is a level of debate, often laugh-out-loud and humorous, some happy that inventors are looking at ways of combatting varroa without chemicals and  some with concerns it will harm the brood.  I asked the Thermosolar Hive team re this concern on harming brood which is in the Q&A above.

Interesting links provided on forums:

My Conclusion

I agree with Professor Ratnieks – we need to see the University results – out later in 2016.

Dear readers – grateful for any questions and comments.  You never know Roman or Jan might come and answer some of them.

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Ross Rounds (Honey Sections) – Assembly & Harvesting

Ross Rounds (Honey Sections) – Assembly & Harvesting

Firstly – I hope your beekeeping season is going well.  I’ve got some healthy hives at present and the nectar flow is definitely on, as is the swarmy season.

Section Honey Comb

I am very excited.  I mentioned earlier this year I had bought three racks of Ross Rounds sections to make comb honey (link to this post at bottom of page). The boxes have sat unopened at the back of the garage but have very much been at the front of my mind.  I had little niggles about whether I would be able to assemble the racks and would it work, will they make honey?

I managed to get a couple of hours to myself on the late May Bank Holiday Monday to crack on with it and banish some of the worry.

It took me about 60 minutes to read the literature, open the box, have a play, go on youtube and then finish the job. I took my own video, further down.  It’s really easy.  It takes about 20 mins to assemble a rack and if all goes well I’ll be popping out sections over the next few months rather than putting aside a day for extraction.

Section Honey Assembly
Section Honey Assembly – May 2016

I’m smiling now … will I be smiling in August?

The idea is that the bees come into the sections which contain a thin foundation, lay down honey and cap it.  Then you take off the rack pop out the sections, put in a round container that neatly fits the section and hey presto … gourmet honey.  The best.  The Holy Grail of honey.  The bees knees.  That’s the idea. The next few months will reveal the truth.

Busy Beekeeper

Having assembled the sections and with a flush of newness and excitement, I am now starting to think that honey sections is definitely the way for me.  I say this because my free time is so limited with work, 2 young kids and the regular admin and jobs that need doing.  At my current stage in life I would actually prefer to make no honey than spend a day extracting.  Hence, sections.  Either (A) I get nothing; or (B) I get gourmet honey.  Either way, I save myself a day of extraction.  If I don’t get anything for a couple of years, hopefully I’ll find myself with more time and go back to spinning the honey.

Ross Rounds Assembly - May 2016
Ross Rounds Assembly – May 2016

Ross Rounds Assembly

Here is a 2 minute video of me assembling Ross Rounds. It’s very home made with the little man making an appearance (so to speak) and the mother-in-law not realising I am in the process of making serious beekeeping videos!

Ross Rounds Assembly – My Top Tips

  1. Don’t panic (like me when faced with anything vaguely practical) – it’s quite easy and fast.  A lot faster than assembling a super
  2. Place the white plastic rings in the brown plastic section racks.  The smooth bit goes on top and the shaped bit is the side you push in.  You need to line this up as you push it in.  If you’re still not getting them in because the ridges do not quite line up (I had this problem in year 1 and year 2, hopefully I’ll remember in year 3), then try rotating the white ring 90 degrees.  You’ll get it
  3. There is a piece of wood and 3 springs to push the racks close together. I basically squeezed the spring in between this piece of wood and the side of the wooden rack (I’ll take a photo soon and add to this post)
  4. You are good to go

Ross Rounds – On The Hive

You want to avoid oil seed rape nectar in the honey sections as it granulates very hard and it will be inedible. Hence, my plan:

  1. Place a regular super with frames on each hive that needs one during oil seed rape season, i.e. approx. mid-April to end May
  2. After oil seed rape nectar flow, put honey sections on top of brood box and then if the super contains any nectar, place that on top of the honey section rack, otherwise remove that super.  (The idea is that the nectar from the oil seed rape can be used to draw out the wax in the honey sections and when blended with other nectars, will not set too hard)
  3. Let the bees draw out the frames and lay down the nectar
  4. When capped – remove, take home, pop out sections and if there is time left in the honey season, assemble sections again and add to hive.  Any uncapped sections can either be jiggled around whilst on the hive, or put back on for finishing off when you have popped out the other sections
  5. At end of season, I plan to dissemble racks and start with fresh foundation in the following year

Ross Rounds – Harvesting

I haven’t done this yet, but as soon as I have, I’ll update this blog. Basically:

  1. Split the two halves of the plastic frames
  2. Push out the sections, cutting off spare foundation between the round sections
  3. Put the 32 sections into 32 containers
  4. Freeze it to kill off any possible wax moth spores
  5. Take out of freezer 24 hours later, or when you want

The sections are 1lb each (454g).  You could put in two layers of thin foundation per plastic rack and then create two 1/2lb sections (227g).  But I figure this will increase the ratio of wax to honey a bit too much and also, create more work.

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Photos Added At Later Date

Ross Rounds - Placing Foundation In Frames
Ross Rounds – Placing Foundation In Frames

The individual brown plastic frames are known as “Visicheck” frames.

Ross Rounds - How I Put Springs To Push Wood Into Plastic Racks
Ross Rounds – How I Put Springs To Push Wood Into Plastic Racks

Swarm Control – The Rhythm Method!

Swarm Control – The Rhythm Method!

Kind of.

This is not a method of contraception.  Do not practice this at home!

Over the last few weeks, I have been practicing what I am calling the Rhythm Method of swarm control. It’s a bit risky and probably a lot less than 80% effective, but due to the urgency of the situation (so to speak), a feeling of wanton abandon and perhaps a lack of responsibility (?) this is what I have been doing (i.e. not doing anything) for the last few weeks.

Calendar-Based Method Of Swarm Control

I’m calling this the Rhythm Method as it is a calendar-based method to estimate when the swarmy season is upon us (mid-April to mid-July in UK, mainly) and due to the lack of other swarm prevention / management techniques.

Basically, I have been working at home 2-3 days/week and not getting away at weekends.  I’m around.  At about 12 noon on warm, sunny days (there have been about 5 in the last month) I see if any bees are checking out my swarm traps with pheromone lure and go to look at the hives.

Bees Do It

So I’m not trying to prevent a swarm, much of the literature says it is pretty much inevitable anyway.  What I am trying to do is allow my bees to do what comes naturally and swarm and to catch the swarm.  The benefits are: (A) letting the bees do what is natural, (B) a brood break for both swarm and the colony that is left behind, which is good for reducing varroa; (C) the pure joy of catching a swarm (good for the beekeeper); (D) a new colony and (E) less time spent on swarm prevention.

Well on Friday (27 May) I went down the allotment and was greated by the roaring of swarming bees.  The swarm had not landed and filled the air in a hemisphere that stretched to 20 metres from the hive.  A beautiful site.

Time to lie on the grass and let the bees do their thing around me.  Unfortunately, there was no one to photograph this wonderful site and … it didn’t happen as I had a load of jobs to do.

Time For A Cup Of Tea

Actually, coffee and filling the dishwasher.  But tea sounded better for a British beekeeper and this blog.

Being a bit more experienced in beekeeping these days, I went home and returned an hour later to find they had landed on the side of the hive from which I guessed they had swarmed.  They were right over the entrance.  This confused me.  Was this some sort of secondary swarm, or a swarm that had only partially committed to swarming?  Had the prime swarm gone?  It didn’t look very big in any case.  Eek.

Swarm In Awkward Position

This queen was not clipped but for some reason the swarm decided to return to and cling to the side of the hive from which they had came.  See below.

First Swarm 2016 - From Near Hive
First Swarm 2016 – From Near Hive

Confused Beekeeper

I still consider myself pretty much a novice. I observed.  I spoke aloud, to no one but myself.  I paced. What to do?  (My reaction as I’m action-orientated). What was going on?  (Hhmmm … time to reflect).

I can tell I am no longer a novice, as I did not panic and try and call Brian!

I scooped bees and tried to find a queen in the swarm, which I expected/hoped would have a blue dot on her back.  No luck. Was this a second swarm with a virgin and hence unmarked queen?  No idea.

Part 1 – Time For Action

I moved the whole of the hive to the far corner of the allotment.  You can see it with the green Bee Cosy in the photo below. By the way 14×12’s are heavy!  Then picked up the hive floor and stand and chucked the swarm into a nuc which contained drawn frames. I got less than 40% of swarm into the nuc but the rest immediately started going in.  That was a good sign.

Rationale of my manoeuvre:

  1. Hope the queen is in the swarm
  2. Let’s make a kind of artificial/natural swarm in the nuc
  3. The swarm and flying bees should go into the nuc – which they did
  4. Original hive, had queen cells and hopefully no queen, hence should continue normally and any flying bees might head to the nuc which is fine.  (I culled some of the queen cells.)
Swarm Caught In Nuc
Swarm Caught In Nuc

Part 2 – Checking The Nuc

Two days later I checked the nuc and it had the queen with the blue dot.  She had not started laying but the bees had started bring in lots of nectar and pollen.  I gave them a proper hive.

So my swarm management method has been 100% effective so far.  This percentage can only drop.

“A Swarm In May Is Worth A Bale Of Hay”

That’s what they say but what does it mean? (Any comments on this gratefully received).  Does that mean they’ll produce honey this year?  Any bee eggs are not going to mature for 21 days.  Many bees in the swarm will have died by then (bees live about 40 days at this time of year)  This is not going to be a colony at full strength.  Anyhow, I added a rack of sections (see Ross Rounds post).

Yours, eternally hopeful.

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A Year In Beekeeping – The Results Are In

A Year In Beekeeping – The Results Are In

This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (December 2015).

As the 2015 beekeeping year came to end and I packed away my suit, my sanity and any excuse I had to desert my wife with the two toddlers, it was time to evaluate. Had I succeeded or failed; enjoyed or silently suffered; protected my bees or squashed a few too many? And how, my dear friends, does a beekeeper actually evaluate a year in beekeeping?

Unlike a football manager I don’t have a league of success where I can rate my achievements (or lack thereof). So what do I look for? Is it producing buckets of honey or above average winter survival rates? Is it learning new skills or having more colonies than you started with? Or is it just surviving the year? Well it’s a bit of all of that …

Kick Off

My beekeeping year started with disaster. By April my four colonies had all expired. I can’t be sure, but I think it was due to a combination of the following factors: moving two hives to an exposed location in the middle of winter, an old queen and possible nosema.

Lesson learnt: don’t listen to some of those old knowledgeable dudes. Not feeding the bees or not insulating their hives might work for them but not for novices (three years in and I still count myself as one). Hefting hives and colony insulation is the way to go for beekeepers like me.

The Transfer Window

In April, I bought two nucs of bees from a Mr Bee. As the name suggests he’s a bit of a don so I was happy with my new team and confident they would lead me to beekeeping glory.

I was optimistic. Some might say overly optimist. I was the Jose Mourinho of the allotment; talking about the strength of my team, the buzz of the crowds and the perfect conditions. My coat wasn’t quite as swanky as his but I perfected his arrogance and knack of talking nonsense – without the threat of an apiary ban.

I regularly visited the bees and all looked good. From a distance at least as I was trying the ‘hands off’, observe the bees, theory of beekeeping. I realised I quite liked my beekeeping visits now that they consisting of simply having a coffee.

Unexpected Attack

They came from nowhere. I didn’t see it coming. Then all of a sudden the wasps were on the attack. They were like the Bayern Munich to my Bristol Rovers. No hope …

And of course it wasn’t just the bees feeling the imminent threat but the neighbours and more hysterically, my wife. Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have better sealed the winter syrup laden supers I decided to leave in the garage. Yes, perhaps that didn’t help.

Teamwork

In some ways the bees have been kind to me this year. Only one sting and I caught a swarm that went on to become a strong colony. (I highly recommend swarm traps and the pheromone lure by the way).

However… and it’s a big however… the hives only produced 5 x ½ lb jars of honey. Yes, that’s the total result from 4 hives, 50 hours of effort and about £500 spent on nucs and equipment.

I also had to let my toddler know the plan for a pop-up honey stall at the end of the garden might have to be put on hold. That was a toughie. I had to agree with her, they were indeed ‘naughty bees’.

The Final Minutes

I started my countdown to winter in August, as me and my bees were not going down without a fight this year.

I firstly treated the colonies with Apiguard and then started feeding in September. They still had a high varroa count in October and it was warm enough to use MAQs strips. I then tried to be more scientific measuring the weight of the hives to ensure they had enough stores to see them through (each side of hives hefting at 15Kg by the end of October). I made sure the hives had minimal air space and wrapped them up in an insulated, waterproof and breathable jacket. Looking proper snug I regained a certain smugness.

Beekeeper With Insulated Hives
Beekeeper With Insulated Hives

The Final Result

So in conclusion – me and the bees have SURVIVED. And that’s the real test of a beekeeping year.

With two kids under three years of age and a full time job, often the beekeeping can become a bit of a “to-do” list. There’s loads of parts of it that I don’t actively enjoy (you know the tidying up, sterilising equipment, carting loads of hive bodies around) but I know I’ll have had a successful beekeeping year when I get a bit more time to do the bits I do enjoy (the inspections, the honey extraction, the ‘watching them sessions’!)

And it’s because I’m hunting down some more quality time with my bees that I’m biding you farewell for a bit. I’m not sure when I’ll next write for this lovely BBKA magazine but please keep in touch through my blog. And wish me luck.

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September In The Apiary

September In The Apiary

In many ways my beekeeping year starts and ends in September / October.

These two months are crucial in order to get the bees through the winter, in order for them to have a successful spring and summer, in order to get them through the next winter.

Hive September 2015
Hive September 2015 (Reduced Entrance)

Over the last few weeks this is what I have been up to in roughly chronological order:

  1. Applied Apiguard to reduce varroa population
  2. Started feeding the bees with Thick Syrup using Jumbo Feeder.  I am aiming for the hives to weigh 15Kg on each side using a spring balance by the end of October. I have stopped feeding for the time being as they have enough and are starting to bring in nectar from ivy. Note: I am aiming for total of 15Kg of stores as using Bee Cosy. Nationally, 18Kg of stores are quoted as being required.
  3. Added roof insulation – 2.5cm of foam, to reduce the amount of space/air that the bees will warm up
  4. Cleaned up brood boxes, supers and other hive parts using hive tool, freezer, hot air gun at 600C and B401 to protect against wax moth. Read Bee Hygiene for more information.
  5. Stored spare hive parts in garage
Apiary 18 September 2015
Apiary 18 September 2015

October In The Apiary

As I have said before, I’m aiming for hives to weigh 15Kg on each side and when the temperature is consistently sub 7C I’m going to put on the Bee Cosies – the bees are going to love that.

Bee Cosy
Bee Cosy

I’ll also add mouse guards and take varroa counts.

Please help – I’m looking for a month by month guide to how much stores bees consume in the UK.  Grateful if anyone can email me or post this information.

Read More

  • My Apiary Notes – gives all the detail of what I am up to
  • My Beekeeping Calendar – I keep changing and updating based on what I am learning through reading, discussion and experience. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this

Top Tips For Preparing To Winter Bees

Top Tips For Preparing To Winter Bees

Chris Wray, the Bee Cosy guy with a mission to insulate our bees, is back with his top tips to help keep our bees through the winter. Go Chris, I’m all ears:

Getting a colony of bees through winter can be quite a challenge unless you the take the right precautions and prepare properly. Here are my top tips:-

  1. Make sure you have a viable colony with a good laying queen before the end of autumn. You can often spot a failing colony by the bees –  not flying in good numbers on sunny days  – seeing that they are anxious (walking quickly over their frames) – not bringing in pollen – or if you’ve seen hive weight drop despite good weather and forage . If weak or failing, combine or make the decision early in autumn to re-queen if possible.
  2. Check for stores – do more than just heft the hive – use spring balances to estimate hive weight – deduct 10% for the possible error in this method – deduct the weight of the hive plus drawn comb and say 2kg for the bees! – My colonies consume between 8 and 12 kgs of stores in the winter (end of October to end of March) depending on their size (with a Bee Cosy fitted) so I plan to have at least 12 kgs of stores – ideally 15 kgs – depending on the strength of the colony. In practice, for a strong colony, at the end of October you are aiming for a spring balance to read 15Kg on each side of the hive (remove the roof before you weigh).
  3. Feed 2 kg :1 litre sugar syrup if stores are short – warm weather is best- between 12.5 and 15 degrees depending on the level of sunshine during the day – Don’t overfeed! – They may still be able to bring in stores from Ivy if they need it and some empty cells for winter brood rearing and clustering is better than a brood full of stores.
  4. Varroa treatment – pick a week when the weather is fair – ideally with some sunshine to raise hive temperatures – the later the better as there will be fewer varroa in the reducing winter brood and more will be impacted by the treatment you choose. Do what you can to keep heat in the hive – varroa treatments work better the warmer the hive.
  5. Hive check and prep – take off queen excluders, replace glass crown boards with wooden ones, reduce draughts in and around the hive, check for gaps between floors / brood boxes / supers / roofs – fix mouse guards. I prefer to leave the plastic trays in my OMFs in and reduce air flow through the hive.
  6. Reduce unnecessary space to help your bees keep a good hive temperature – If you have roofs with big empty spaces fill them with paper / carpet / foam – and if you have small colonies where there may be 3 or 4 frames not occupied take empty frames out and replace with blocks of insulating foam cut to size (see photo below).
  7. Check you have your Bee Cosy fitted! – as well as reducing the stores needed in 2 above, it will also help with points 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Insulation Foam In Brood Box
Insulation Foam In Brood Box

Good luck for Winter 2015 – let’s hope it’s kind to our bees!

Thanks Chris. I recommend everyone visiting the Bee Cosy website to learn all about how modern hives compare to trees as a home for the bees and to understand better the insulation requirements of bees.

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BBKA News: Which Is More Complex – Keeping Bees Or Children?

BBKA News: Which Is More Complex – Keeping Bees Or Raising Children?

Raising a fully functioning child who isn’t addicted to Peppa Pig, Hula-Hoops and screaming ‘no’ to perfectly reasonable requests not to engage in life-threatening behaviour is undoubtedly more stressful than managing a bee colony. My two kids are to blame for my overly salted hair and not the bees.

Beekeeper & Baby
Beekeeper & Baby

However, as I look at the two books currently residing beside my bed (Toddler Taming and Beekeeping: A Seasonal Guide) I realise each of the disciplines have a claim to being the more complex.

Both bees and small children refuse to follow the rules and often fail to understand that we are trying to help. That said, they are usually happy to get on with it whilst we observe.

Still, we-who-love-them hope that one day, by reading the right books, talking to the right people, finding the ‘secret’, we will finally get them sussed.  Yes, one day we will get them to sleep through the night and to produce lots of honey.

So as I continue to research the theories behind child-rearing and bee-keeping, I wonder which is taking more toll on that grey matter of mine. And to work that out, I devised a completely non-scientific comparison study.

Feeding

Bottle or breast. Baby-led or purees. The blue spoon or the impossible-to-find pink one. Feeding a child can be tricky, with militant campaigners on either side. The older generation seem to think us lot are insane with our Annabel Karmel recipes books (yes, she teaches us how to mash broccoli) but we need to put our £30 baby sized food mixer to good use. My mum says it wasn’t that complicated in her day but now of course we know how dangerous food can be! Whole grapes (choking hazard), nuts (allergy) – quite frankly the kitchen is a danger zone for the first 18 months.  Child Brain Toll (CBT) rating: 3/5

Ideally bees won’t need any feeding but weighing the hives and calculating how much stores they need for the winter does take a bit of thinking.  Making the fondant or syrup is my kind of cooking.  I might have over-fed bees my bees last autumn and I’m sure this contributed to my dismal survival rate. Bee Brain Toll (BBT) rating: 3/5

Health

With kids you get them vaccinated and try to make sure grandparents don’t get them addicted to chocolates and ice cream. At the first sign of illness, the wonder drug that is Calpol comes out. We now buy magnums of the stuff.  CBT: 1/5

Bee health is extremely complex.  We have to be the doctors and nurses. We have to diagnose and treat.  Ideally – even a general inspection should be done to the same hygiene standards as open heart surgery. BBT: 5/5

Sleeping

This is when rituals can become complex.  A lot has been written about getting babies to sleep and it’s a hot topic.  With our eldest, we had 12 months of “bouncy time”, involving up to 30 minutes of jumping on the bed between bath time and reading, followed by a song and rocking.  She never slept in the cot during the day meaning that when we were exhausted we still had to take her out in the pram for her daytime naps. Luckily our second child read the instruction manual and has been much more compliant. Nine months in we even get the odd night when he actually sleeps through the night.  CBT: 4/5

OK, bees don’t sleep, but I’m going to include over-wintering in this comparison.  This activity involves a varroa treatment in August; in September checking the bees are disease free, have a laying queen, are a strong colony, have enough stores and fed as required; in October providing insulation and a mouse guard.  You only need to do this once per year per hive (compared with 3 times a day per child) but it’s more complex than “bouncy time”. BBT: 5/5

Development & Play

I must have said “da-da” to my children 10,000 times before getting any reward.  I definitely wore out a pair of jeans with each baby as I helped them toddle around the house. And play – they got that all by themselves!  Not complex, just repetitive. CBT: 1/5

Bees go through the cycle of house worker to forager all by themselves without any input from the beekeeper. I’m not sure if bees play, perhaps the drones, but they do dance! BBT: 1/5

Behaviour

If my eldest does any more moaning, I’m going to sign her up to the next series of Loose Women.  Whilst child experts on TV can make improving behaviour look simple, it’s an issue for all parents.  From trying to get your infant not to drop the spoon again for you to pick up, to the benefits of sharing, these are difficult messages to get through. Persistence and a firm voice is key – as are threats of a CBeebies-ban.  CBT: 5/5

Bee behaviour is fascinating. Preparing to swarm, swarming and the social aspect of storing honey for the winter for future generations.  But they get on with this all by themselves.  I can’t train them not to swarm, or to lay comb in straight lines. In a way it’s easier knowing we cannot take responsibility. BBT: 1/5

Results

So, the unweighted “Brain Toll” totals from above are:

  • Children: 14/25
  • Bees: 15/25

Conclusion

Bees might have just won this complexity battle but both disciplines are equally worth the effort. Both bring me joy, challenge, a smile and pride.  And with all this external focus, they might even be helping me to “regain my sanity”.

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Supering Up & Supering Down

Supering-Up & Supering-Down

Supering-Up – What Is It?

Supering, or supering-up, is when beekeepers add supers (the small boxes for honey) on top of the brood box.  This is where the worker bees store the honey that we can then harvest and extract.

How Many Supers Do I Need?

Beehive packages usually come with 2 supers. An average honey yield in the UK for a hobby beekeeper is the equivalent of 1 super, so in theory 2 supers would be enough most of the time.

However, in a good season you might have 3, or even 4 supers, on a hive (though probably not every hive). You could manage on less if you harvested and extracted during the season.

I now have 4 supers per hive.  This is based on the advice of Ian McLean (National Diploma In Beekeeping), 40 years experience and who has written for the “in the apiary” section of the BBKA news.  In turn, his advice is based on his experience and research by “Rinderer & Baxter” who gained 30% more honey with the practice described below as compared with the 2 supers approach.

His advice also appeals to the optimist in me.

Bee Hives - Mid July
Bee Hives – Mid July

When Do I Add Supers?

In advance of the Spring nectar flow – which is approximately mid-April in the UK.

The standard advice is to add another super when 7 of the 10 frames in the super below are covered in bees.

Ian’s advice is to add 3 supers at the start of the Spring nectar flow. The theory is that the bees use all the space in the 3 supers like a drying room, allowing the water to evaporate off the nectar and thus produce more honey.

What If I Have Flat (Not Drawn) Foundation?

  • If all your supers are flat foundation – use 2 supers. This will encourage them to draw them out
  • If you have one super that is drawn and one super that is flat – put the super with flat foundation on top

When Do I Remove Supers?

You can remove supers and extract them at any time so long as the comb is capped.

In areas of oil seed rape, it’s pretty much essential to do an extraction after the first nectar flow before it granulates in the comb – about the end of May.

Many beekeepers do one extraction at the end of the Summer nectar flow – about the first week in August in the UK. I aim to remove the supers in the last week of July so that the bees still have surplus nectar to forage whilst I add Apiguard and then they forage on ivy in September/October.

The 4th super is used when you remove the 3 supers for harvesting,  You put this super on the hive to give the 60,000 bees the space they need rather than squashing them into a brood box. The foundation can be flat, you are just making space for all the bees. They are unlikely to draw the comb at this time of year.

Variation – Just Using 3 Supers

I think you could try a variation to the method described above. You could put the 3 supers on at the start of the Spring flow, but at the end of Summer you could make up 2 supers of capped honey and leave a super of uncapped or partially capped honey on the hive. I have been advised to place this super below the brood box at the end of the flow so that (a) you can place the Apiguard on top of the brood box and (b) as the bees go into Autumn and Winter the cluster will start at the bottom of the hive and then make their way up giving more stores and better ventilation (see post link below).

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Brood Comb – Photos

Brood Comb – Photos

It’s warming up here in the UK with the temperatures pushing an unseasonal 19C. I am sure many beekeepers have had the excitement of their first inspection of the year. I even managed to find the queen that evaded me last year and marked her for good measure.

It is vital to be able to read the comb and understand what healthy comb and diseased comb looks like. Below are some photos and descriptions. At the end of the page are some links with further information.

Please email me any other photos you would like published on this page.

Healthy Brood Comb With Capped Worker Brood

Capped Brood
Capped Brood
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright

This is what we like to see. Many of the uncapped cells you can see are following the lines of the wire that strengthens the foundation.

Healthy Brood Comb With Eggs In Cells

Bee Eggs In Cells
Bee Eggs & Larvae In Cells
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Healthy: Single egg in centre of cell, eggs in every cell
  • To spot eggs have your back to the sun and tilt the frame

Brood Comb With Multiple Eggs In Cells

Multiple Eggs In Cells
Multiple Eggs In Cells
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Cells with multiple eggs or eggs at side of cell or spotted pattern of egg laying means you have a poor/old queen, drone laying queen or laying workers. Laying workers eggs are unfertilised and develop into drones; the signs are similar to those of the drone-laying queen, except that the brood pattern is often less compact. Also there will be multiple eggs present in some cells, often on the side walls as well as at the bottom of the cell.
  • Treatment: Older queens  or queens running out of sperm – re-queen.  Laying worker colonies are best destroyed.

Healthy Brood Frame With Eggs & Pollen

Honeybee eggs and larvae
Honeybee eggs and larvae

Super Frame With Capped Honey

Frame Of Capped Honey
Frame Of Capped Honey

 Capped Drone Brood

Drone Brood
Drone Brood
  • This was drone comb created below a standard brood frame which I then culled as part of varroa management. Drone brood is slightly wider and stands out more than worker brood.

Brood Comb With American Foul Brood (AFB)

American Foulbrood (AFB)
American Foulbrood (AFB)
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Bacterial disease
  • I find it helpful to remember that A in AFB is for “After” and E in EFB is for “Early”. “After” because the signs are visible after the comb is capped.
  • Signs of AFB: cappings sunken, perforated, might look wet; spotted brood pattern; foul smell. Insert a matchstick into a suspect capped cell and it comes out a ropey, gooey mass

Brood Comb With European Foulbrood (EFB)

European Foulbrood (EFB)
European Foulbrood (EFB)
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Bacterial disease
  • Larvae die before they are capped (unlike AFB which die after capping)
  • Signs of EFB: twisted larvae in base of cells, larvae light brown colour, sunken cappings, a our smell (but not as foul as AFB)
  • Matchstick test does not work

Chalk Brood

Chalkbrood
Chalkbrood
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Chalkbrood
Chalkbrood
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
Chalkbrood Dummies On Hive Floor
Chalkbrood Dummies On Hive Floor
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Fungal disease

Wax Moth Damaged Comb

Wax Moth Damage To Comb
Wax Moth Damage To Comb
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright

Deformed Wing Virus

Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)
Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright

Damaged Comb Due To Varroa Mites

Damaged Comb Due To Varroa
Damaged comb or unfinished brood capping can be an indication of high varroa infestation
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright

 Varroa Mites On Honeybees

Varroa Mite On Honeybee
Varroa Mite On Honeybee
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright

 Nosema

Nosema Apis - Dysentery On Frames
Nosema Apis – Dysentery On Frames
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Protozoan disease affects intestinal tracts like dysentery in humans.
  • Signs: slow build up in spring, bees aimless in front of hive, dysentery inside and outside hive
  • You can only be sure you have Nosema is by identifying the spores under a microscope. Read more at my recent post Nosema – Advice Required.

Bald Brood

Bald Brood
Bald Brood
Source: BeeBase, Crown Copyright
  • Signs: small patches of normally developing larvae with uncapped or partially capped cells.

Read More

  • Bee Hygiene: Gives more detail on honeybee diseases, including some PDF downloads from NBU and how to avoid spreading disease from hive to hive
  • Varroa Management Guide
  • Catch up on events in My Apiary – it’s been a disastrous winter – but I’ve learnt a lot

BBKA News: Melissophobia – Fear Of Bees

Melissophobia (or Apiphobia) – Fear Of Bees

This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (No. 222 – April 2015).

I feel I need to come clean.  I have mixed emotions when inspecting bees, alternating between delight and wonder, to slightly nervous and occasional panic.

Melissophobia is an unreasonable fear of bees.  Surely, there should be a word for a reasonable fear?  With a particularly aggressive colony, my fear seems reasonable. Those little buzzing things sting.

Having a fear of bees is somewhat unfortunate for a beekeeper but it must be quite common. Surely most beekeepers heart beat increases when they hear the roar of 60,000 bees – especially if you have kamikaze bees.  Not all beekeepers can be the type that are happy to inspect their bees with little more than cotton wool in their nose and ears. Surely some, like me, are what they call metrosexuals (i.e. men who have been known to run away from spiders).

Fatalities due to honeybees are rare.  In October last year it was reported that a beekeeper in the UK (with known anaphylaxis) died of a honeybee sting and the article I read quoted an Office of National Statistics official that a man last died of a bee sting in 2012 in the UK. There seems to be a higher proportion of deaths attributable to bee stings in the USA, where in 2000, the World Health Organisation reported that, there were 54 deaths attributable to bee stings (from a population of 281 million people and where 90 people/year die of lightning strikes). Perhaps, this is due to an increased prevalence of Africanised bee.  So with these low rates of fatality it is apparent that my fear is not rational. I know that probably the worst I’ll get is some painful stings, a swollen leg and a lack of sympathy from my wife – but still, when you’re faced with a hive, it’s not just a bee you’re contending with, it’s thousands of them. Yes I know that the average adult can safely survive a thousand stings, but what if they ALL get me?!?

Facing The Fear

Of course the recommended treatment for phobias is to face your fear, something I will be doing quite a lot over the coming months, with the first inspection of the hives imminent.

This year though I’m going in prepared with my apiary armoury.

In my early days I had some lovely bees and thought that smoke was an unnecessary accessory. As the bees created stores and had something to defend I became a smoker.  I now have a bucket-sized smoker. I am resigned to being the Dot Cotton of beekeepers.

Smoking Hive
Smoking Like Dot Cotton

Clothes-wise, I have learnt that trainers with socks over jeans does not provide much protection especially when you stand in front of the hive entrance.  I have discovered that bees don’t sleep and that feeding at night does not mean that the bees won’t fly/pour out of the hive.

bee sting reaction
Bee Sting Reaction

I currently find myself with a particularly aggressive colony*. When I remove the crown board the bees surge upwards and pour out of the hive like a scene from my worst nightmare. They attack every weak spot.  Down my boots.  Through gloves.  They even sting the tips of my ears where they touch the suit.

I now wear marigolds under my regular gloves.  I tape up my boots. I wear thick shirts and jeans under my bee suit. I wash my gloves and clothes regularly to reduce any sting pheromones that might linger and that would initiate more attacks.  I have all the rumoured remedies on hand (onions, toothpaste, lemons and half the contents of Boots). Any pretence of me being a brave-beekeeper is well and truly annihilated.

When I do an inspection, of this aggressive hive, I’m in and out and do the minimum required. I have decided they are impossible to inspect after June.

My Skin Breaks Out In, Err, Hives!

Usually I go through the normal cycle of pain, swelling, itching and very tired for a few days if I’ve been stung by upwards of ten bees, but one time due to a combination of being stung and high anxiety – my skin broke out in, er, hives. It was so bad even my wife was sympathetic. This is all somewhat ironic considering I started beekeeping as a way to de-stress.

The solution is obviously to get some nicer bees. Ones that like their beekeeper and welcome a yearly raid of everything they’ve spent their little lives working towards.

My plan is to requeen as soon as possible this year (June) and an old boy has offered to come and jointly inspect the colony in April and perhaps requeen with some of his more gentle Queens.  I think he thinks I am either doing something terrible to the bees rather than me having a particularly aggressive colony.  Either way – it will be fantastic to see an experienced beekeeper working with this colony and see if he is able to charm them.

Advice

It’s always good to know how other beekeepers handle their hives. Have you found any impenetrable material to protect us from stings? How do you make your inspections less risky? If nothing else, how do you illicit more sympathy from your other halves when you do get stung? Do let me know if you have any ideas.

* When I wrote this article for BBKA News I did have an aggressive colony, but unfortunately I lost  it at the end of February (Post: Colony Post-Mortem).

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BBKA News: Is Beekeeping The Perfect Hobby?

BBKA News: Is Beekeeping The Perfect Hobby?

This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (No. 222 – February 2015).

In my twenties I thought a hobby involved spending money I didn’t have, embarrassing myself and waking up with a hangover.  I called it ‘socialising’. As I entered my forties it was obvious I needed a different sort of hobby; one that didn’t raise an eyebrow from the doctor or leave me eating leftover curry for breakfast.

I don’t know where the beekeeping idea first came from but I was immediately attracted to it and three years on, it’s safe to say it ticks all the boxes.

As I watch my middle aged mates squeeze into their lycra outfits to go running, spend far too much money supporting their football team or get injured playing golf (yes it’s true!), I bask in knowing I’ve found the perfect hobby. Obviously I don’t tell them, but seeing as you already know, here’s a reminder why Beekeeping Is The Perfect Hobby.

People think we’re brave

For many, beekeeping is the stuff of nightmares.  They can’t believe we seek out something that’s essentially a weekly Bush Tucker Trial. They think of us as brave masters of our hives; the Bear-Gryls of the allotments.

The truth is obviously somewhat different.

For me, well, let’s just say beekeeping challenges my fears and is more akin to a white water rafting experience.  With the roar of 50,000 bees at close proximity, insects inspecting me and trying to find a good spot for a hot stinger, my heartbeat doubles and I sometimes come home a quivering wreck (I have a particularly aggressive hive at present that I will requeen in the spring).

But while it’s obvious to me and my wife that I’m far from brave, there’s no way I’m telling my motor-biking mate Mark that I’ve spent good money on two layers of impenetrable material to protect me from my hobby.

Me and an aspiring beekeeper
Me and an aspiring beekeeper

We make something wonderful

We produce one of the most delicious, indulgent products in the world. No wonder some varieties are sold for up to £70/lb. On toast, on porridge, dribbled or guzzled. Honey is the Ferrari of foods.

And of course a by-product of this is that we can actually sell our honey. Admittedly this may be some way down the line once you consider the cost of hives, protective gear and numerous accessories – but eventually, we can be in profit – unlike my friends who spend several hundred pounds a year on a Man U season ticket.

Environmental smugness

I’ve always been a bit of a recycling hard nut and enjoy doing my bit for this planet of ours. To find a hobby which makes me happy and makes the world a better place is a result!

When I find myself go-karting on yet another stag-do, I console myself with the fact I’m a beekeeper.

We get to be our own boss

In my dreams, I’d like to run my own multi-million global conglomerate. So far I remain a small employee in a very big company but at my apiary, I am boss, officially in charge of thousands of little workers.

And I don’t mean that flippantly. Here my decisions actually matter. If I don’t feed the bees at the right time, they could die and that’s genuinely upsetting. If I protect the hives from varroa, then I’m more likely to have a high yield and I’m very pleased about that.  The bees need the beekeeper.

So far, I’ve been a caring boss (if somewhat incompetent) but at least I know I won’t embarrass myself at the Christmas party.

People are interested in beekeeping

Someone once said, “hobbies of any kind are boring except to people who have the same hobby” and I can relate to that. I tune out when my friend Russell talks footie scores or my wife updates me on Jennifer Anniston’s engagement (she considers reading Grazia a hobby).

Beekeeping, however, is a hobby that people do want to talk about. Even the blokes down the pub want to get involved in a chat.  Everyone has so many questions (some of which I can actually answer). ‘How many bees are in a hive?’ (50,000), ‘How many types of bee are there?’ (lots), ‘Do you get scared?’ (I give an ambiguous response).

We get a cool outfit

There’re a few hobbies that demand a certain look from their followers. Golf for example. Now I quite like the idea of wearing loud, checked trousers (I also like the idea of a bone through my nose) but my wife insists I couldn’t pull it off.

The beekeeping suit, however, makes us look like we mean business. It makes us look like we’re entering some futuristic alien convention. And it’s surprisingly forgiving … not like those skin-tight shorts some of my friends wear to ride their bikes.

It’s better than a week in the Maldives

Yes I’m sure the Maldives are rather nice, but nothing beats being elbow deep in bees to make you forget your week at work or the list of ‘to dos’ waiting for you at home. It is the ultimate distraction, and it’s often found in a lovely countryside location (or at least a bushy bit of the city). It’s also a lot more convenient and cheaper than the Maldives, though I must admit, you’re less likely to get a tan or a cocktail when you’re beekeeping.

Other beekeepers are rather nice

We don’t have to interact too much but when I’ve needed guidance, other beekeepers have been very helpful with their varied advice. I’ve found the community to be passionate, opinionated but generally lovely. There’re also a few mad characters out there and some very impressive beards, both of which I appreciate.

I write short posts about my latest beekeeping exploits on my blog, www.talkingwithbees.com, and I’d love to hear more about why you think Beekeeping Is The Perfect Hobby.

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Aggressive Bees & A Physiological Reaction

Aggressive Bees & A Physiological Reaction

Aggressive Bees Produce More Honey?

Some people think aggressive bees make more honey but I have seen no evidence of this.  I have only experienced terrifying attacks and their relentless and uncanny ability to find any weak spots in my protective gear, which now includes marigold washing-up gloves under my leather gloves.  See video below.

I apologise for some muffled swearing at the end.  I thought I was fully protected and I thought bees only walked up … but apparently they can also walk down … down my boots in this case, plus they got one of my ears (again).

Is anyone else having the same level of aggression from any of their hives – and if so, what’s to blame? Is it nature, nurture – or just they don’t like the look of me? I mean these bees are not just a bit annoyed by my visits – within seconds of lifting the lid I have 15 stings protuding from my gloves!

And I thought these bee suits were meant to protect us but even with my DIY layer of insulation underneath (thick shirt / jeans and my trusted marigolds), they are still finding routes to attack (seemingly especially fond of my ears and ankles).

Even when I make my retreat, they don’t accept their victory graciously, no, they follow me 100 metres with one even escourting me to my front door, and attacking again when I re-emerge five minutes later. No wonder I have a persecution complex!

My Physiological Reactions

20 minutes after the above video I was in a mild state of shock. I could see that my arms and legs were covered in hives (skin looks like it is having allergic reaction) and I noticed that my ears felt like they had been injected with wax. Apparently I was shouting. I think the hives (on the skin) and ears were stress related rather than bee venom related as they had settled down after an hour.

Here’s a photo of my feet the evening of the stings. Stings in the ankles are painful. The feet swell by 30%.

For hours (and days) after the experience I could still hear their buzz in my ears. I flinched at small sounds. I jumped nervously when my wife touched my shoulder.  I have, it must be said, become a nervous beekeeper!

Ankles After Bee Stings
Ankles After Bee Stings

Re-queening Aggressive Hives

Despite all the above, I’m not giving up on beekeeping! So what’s my plan of counter-attack?

Next June I will re-queen with queens that are proven to generate gentle bees. Re-queening now runs the double risk of the bees not accepting the queen and of winter losses.

So how am I going to co-exist with these bees for the next 10 months? My wife and I can generally talk through our differences, and though she can be quite scary at times (“I’m gonna get you in the night” – terrifying), at least I don’t get beaten up or swell up as a result. I know this blog is called “talking with bees” but there is no opportunity for any bee whispering with these aggressive bees. So I think the only interim solution is to put a top of the range bee suit (made from kevlar?) on my Christmas list and looking at my wife’s reaction to events (she doesn’t like to see me getting hurt) – I might get one.

Post script: Sherriff (the top quality bee suit manufacturer) have now supplied me an Apiarist Bee Suit.  So far, so bee tight!

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5 Things That Improved My Sanity This Week

It’s been a good week and this is why – in order of what cheered me up the most:

  1. I discovered the bees were alive (phew)
  2. The sun has started to make an appearance
  3. I got into the allotment, did some digging and planted some seeds
  4. I bought an assembled brood box and stand (and saved myself a day)
  5. I bought some new work shoes …
    1. for £21 – half the price I though I’d have to pay
    2. from my local corner shop – so I didn’t need to go into town
    3. and they’re synthetic – meaning I don’t need to polish them
    4. and I no longer need to try and hide my old work shoes behind chairs and under the desk as they were not polished for the five years I have been wearing them
Spot The Difference
Spot The Difference!

So that £21 bargain brought me a lot of pleasure. Is this my equivalent to shopping therapy?

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Guest Beekeeper With No Pants

For the sake of any American readers, what I mean by pants is underpants – but this should become apparent as the story unfolds.

On a Sunday morning in July, this Summer, I went for a run, had a shower and then put on my thickest pair of pants as I was to inspect the bees later in the day.  Despite it being another hot day there was still something comforting about my thick pants.

I considered sending my mate Anthony (who was to join me later for a bee inspection) a jokey text about wearing armour plated pants, but I thought this was just going overboard as I had texted him earlier telling him to bring some cotton wool for his ears and nostrils.  Okay, these thoughts amuse me during my moments alone.

I showed Anthony and his son some empty supers and explained how a hive worked and then stepped into my full bee suit and wellies, secure in the knowledge that I had three layers of protection in the most sensitive of places should the bees attack me.  I gave my mate the ‘guest half suit’ and it did cross my mind that his trendy jeans looked a bit on the thin side.

Here we are, all excited:

Thriller Bees
Thriller Bees

I assured Anthony my bees were friendly seconds before he became my first guest beekeeper to get stung.  He made a lot of noise about it – these actor types like the attention.  I kept calling him to come back and to be fair he did come back for 30 seconds to get a look at the bee eggs and larvae.  We then headed home for some antihistamine ointment.

I popped up stairs to change out of my suit and jeans and get the ointment.  Anthony was keen to show me his bee sting and came up too.  It then also became evident he didn’t have any pants on (“he’d forgot to take them to his brother’s where he was staying the night”).

Let’s assume he wears pants 364 days per year out of 365 days and that he just got very unlucky to find himself dropping his trousers, showing me his sting and applying cream. Or perhaps the exhibitionist in him got lucky?

So the moral of this story is, if you are going to inspect some bees with a friend, best to wear pants.  Not just for that triple layer of protection, but so that in the event you do get stung on the upper thigh and want someone to look at it, it’s a bit less embarrassing for all concerned.

You can read more about this inspection in my hive notes from 21 July 2013.

Bee Update

All looks good. None flying as it’s too cold. They buzz when I tap the hive. No dead bees on the floor (amazing).

If you have been missing my posts, you might want to have a read of My Favourites.

Grieving For Bees

Yes, for people like my wife, grieving for bees may seem a little overdramatic and when I’m forced to watch another episode of ‘One Born Every Minute’ by the missus, I can appreciate that it is. Still logic doesn’t account for emotions, and my marital comeback is that ‘it’s my hive and I can cry if I want to.’

The death of a hive is not even a subject I can expect much matey compassion for down the pub (well not before five pints when even the chip shop being closed can seem slightly heartbreaking). Nobody seems to understand that I have been going through a grieving process but let me explain…

Grieving For Bees
Hopson B & Adams J (1976) Transition – Understanding and managing personal change

Please refer to the dotted (b) line on the graph above as the (a) line is for positive events which this most certainly wasn’t.

My Grief Cycle

Day 1. 6pm. Distress – Gut wrenching moment when I realised there was no bee activity. Compounded when I opened the hive and found dead bees. Thousands and thousands of dead bees burrowing into their comb looking for food that wasn’t there and starving to death. It turns out a mass insect grave is pretty horrific to look at. (See: Starving Bees)

I went back home, barely mentioned my heartbreaking discovery and went on as usual. Perhaps opening that bottle of Sloe Gin barely five minutes after taking off my bee suit might have been a hint something was up.

Day 1. 6.30pm. Disbelief – I couldn’t believe it. I thought the bees were tougher than this. I proceeded to do a good Victor Meldrew impression – i.e. “I don’t believe it”.

Day 1. 6.45pm. Denial – I needed to feel that the colony could live on. I made up some sugar syrup and went back out to feed their dying bodies. It was like armageddon in there but I didn’t feel at all like Ben Affleck.

Day 1. 7.00pm. Guilt – I was responsible for these bees and I obviously couldn’t be trusted. This was the worst feeling to handle especially as I couldn’t share it with anyone – least of all my wife who was wanting me to look after our daughter the next morning. I still had to maintain that illusion of competent carer…

Day 1. 7.05pm. Loss of confidence – My improving self-image / esteem as a beekeeper was at an all time low. Just as I had started to think that yes, one day, I too will be mingling confidently with those bearded old pros at the associations, it was now clear that would never happen. I would have to give back my ‘Brilliant Bee Keeper’ badge which I say my wife made me (but I so obviously helped with).

Day 1. 7.10pm. Anger – I was angry with myself. I had no one else to blame but myself. This was worse than when I rolled my parents car two weeks after passing my test and was consequently car-less for the rest of my teenage years. (Though I do have to admit, the loss of a hive probably doesn’t stunt my middle-aged sex appeal quite as much as the loss of wheels did).

Day 2. Bargaining – Just as I was about to take the hive apart, I found the Queen alive. I felt I could do something. I fed them again. Maybe I could be Ben Affleck after all…

Days 1-5. Chaos – Yes I had about as much success as Tony Blair being the Middle East Peace Envoy. After I fed them they were robbed, fights broke out, wasps had a go, there was carnage. I then decided to block the hive up. I then unblocked it a few days later. I did everything I could think of.

Days 3-5. Resignation – I began to accept the probability of this colony not surviving.

Day 6. Depression – There was nothing else to be done, this colony was not going to survive.

Day 9. Acceptance – I took the hive apart. I was now a beekeeper with just one hive. It is unlikely I will be making 50 jars of honey next year. My local monopoly on all things honey-related will have to wait.

Day 10+ Partical recovery so far, rather than a new confidence. I am now able to write about it at least.

I am starting to think about lessons learnt. Ironically, one may be that despite my aim to be as natural a beekeeper as possible, in this case more human intervention was needed. Those bees needed to be fed earlier.

Beekeepers Anonymous

I feel like there is a need for a beekeepers support group which can help us deal with our grief and help us on the beekeeping journey. I have created a page called Beekeepers Anonymous for this purpose. I’m happy to be the first to stand and say ‘Hello, I am Roger and I miss my bees’. Let me know how you guys have handled any loss of your own (and make me feel a bit more sure that I’m not alone!).

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It’s A Sticky Business

As most of you will know, last year there was a lot of beekeeping effort on my part – involving approx. 2 swarms, Queen Less colonies, high varroa and several panic attacks. And there was not a lot in return – 4 jars of honey, 2 of which were unripe and the other 2 scraped out of the comb. Read: The joys and guilt of harvesting my first honey for how my first harvest panned out.

This year however, I have actually PRODUCED! Or rather my bees have.

Yes – one of my hives has produced a surplus of honey – about 13lb which has filled 25 jars.  It might not be enough to sell to shops, but it does mean that I have enough to give to friends (very discerning ones) for Christmas. Not bad for three frames of bees with a Queen that I put in their new home on the 9th June!

Frame Of Capped Honey
Frame Of Capped Honey

I consider the success a joint effort. Yes the bees have worked hard (to produce this quantity the bees have flown about 700,000 miles – that’s the equivalent of almost two trips from the Earth to the Moon and back and visited about 26,000,000 flowers) and I, of course, have done the vital task of peering at them occasionally (a.k.a. “inspecting”).

If you find these numbers mind blowing, check out my new page on Honey Facts.

The process of extraction was fun, if time consuming and sticky. Here’s my STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO EXTRACTION

1 – FIND A LOCATION – And by this, I mean find somewhere other than your own home to do the extraction. In my case, it was my parent’s house. This was agreed with simply bribery and promises of a year long supply of honey.

2 – GET HELP – In my case, my Mum and Dad. Basically they couldn’t resist getting involved.

3 – DO NOT GIVE TOO MANY INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUR HELPER (and definitely do not “ssshhhh” her when she is trying to give advice) – Or your mum might decide she can, in fact, ‘resist’ the urge to help you.

4 – MARVEL AT THE CAPPED HONEY FRAMES – It’s true! The evidence! These bees really do make honey.

Fat Supers Full Of Honey
Fat Supers Full Of Honey

5 – CUT THE CAPS – Uncapping the honey is like undressing a gorgeous woman. Only a little bit less intimidating and even more fiddly.

Cutting Caps Off Frame Of Honey
Cutting Caps Off Frame Of Honey

It’s fascinating to cut off the wax cappings and watch the honey ooze out and reflect on the process that has resulted in this golden liquid, before putting it in the extractor (which I borrowed from a fellow beekeeper) and spinning it.

Frame Of Uncapped Honey
Frame Of Uncapped Honey
Honey Frames In Extractor
Honey Frames In Extractor

It’s surprising to see that the comb is empty after just 1 minute of spinning.  You think that you haven’t got much in the bottom of the tank but before you know it you need to empty it into a plastic tub.  And 14 frames later you might have filled that 30lb tub.

Empty Honey Frame After Extraction
Empty Honey Frame After Extraction

6 – STOP FOR TEA – It’s a long process. I optimistically started at 7.30pm thinking I’d be back in time for a bit of News at 10, but came staggering back home at 2am.

It’s a sad day when your late nights no longer involve snakebite, clubbing and kebabs, but tea, biscuits and your parents … Mind you, both have the same sticky floor effect.

Filtering Honey Using 1.5mm Filter
Filtering Honey Using 1.5mm Filter

7 – TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR JARS – Yes! Finally a use for my labels! I am inordinately proud of my jars. Have a read of my labelling advice page to find out what you legally need to put on there, and how to go about producing them.

Wotton-under-Edge Honey
Wotton-under-Edge Honey

8 – TIDY UP – Or promise to. I had to come back the next day. My Dad and I (I know, it’s shameful) both had a go at mopping up the honey but the floor remained sticky three washes in.

I’ve subsequently spent some time researching the best ways to clean up honey and it seems it’s … hot water and hard scrubbing. Exactly what you do not want to hear.

9 – REMEMBER TO KEEP THE WAX CAPPINGS – I put the wet frames and cappings back on the hive and amazingly they were dry within a few days.

Wet Wax Cappings For The Bees
Wet Wax Cappings For The Bees

This video shows how dry they were:

Bee Update

In brief – the Queens are now marked (unbelievable I know), the varroa counts are low, the colonies are healthy and currently have Apiguard on top.

All the notes on the number of frames of bees, amount of brood and stores, feeding and treatments are detailed in my hive records. These include photos and videos.

If you like this post please “like”, tweet, forward to a friend, subscribe, etc.

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  • If this post is the alternative guide to harvesting, I have written a more traditional guide here: Harvesting Honey

Manliness Already Under Scrutiny

Crikey. My first bee experience of the new season, and my manliness is already under self-scrutiny.

What is it about me (my character) that Pete ended up hefting my hive around? Is it something I could do something about … like press-ups?  Or is there somehow I could boost my alpha-maleness so that no one would even consider offering to help?

Or am I over-analysing this and is it simply that he is a strong-armed farmer and I am an office-working weedling? Perhaps I could help him out with some Excel spreadsheets? Probably not.

A similar thing happens when I am at Mum & Dads. If I don’t get asked to do the washing-up, I can definitely feel/anticipate the expectation … but somehow, before I even have the Marigolds on, Dad has started?

I’ve written a few times about the manliness issues that beekeeping has prompted. It’s not attractive! Have a read!!

“Every man needs a workbench”

Or do they?  Do we??

The memories of Heidi going through six days of labour were still very fresh, but the memories of building my last flat pack hive had faded enough that I bought another one.  So either I could pop round to Dad’s and borrow his Workmate … or, now I have a garage, I could buy my own workbench.

As soon as I had the idea to buy one I was very excited and however much I analysed my actual, functional need, there was little that was going to dampen my emotional desire to own a workbench.  I had to buy one.  Not a pop up one, but a permanent fixture.

A real man would chop down a tree and build their own, chunky workbench.  I went online, did my research and bought a flat pack workbench for £78.  I could justify £78.  £10 functional value, £68 emotional value.  (If you’re interested in this workbench follow these links: UK Link, USA Link).

I assembled the workbench in less than an hour.  Most of this time was spent wrestling the top shelf into the frame, but what a friend calls “the bodge hammer” sorted it out with a few bangs.

BiGDUG Workbench
Workbench

Now my workbench was assembled and a little damaged from my efforts, my sister asked what I was going to do with it?  I repeated the mantra that “every man needs a work bench”.  But she persisted and asked “what for”?  “I needed it”.  “What for”?  “To build my flat pack hive”.  “And then what”?  Errrrmmmm.

The truth is I want to be the type of man who has a workbench.  The type of man who goes in his garage and bangs away with other people fearing the development in progress and comes out proudly holding a box of no particular use.  I want my garage door to be the equivalent of a wardrobe door that takes me to a DIY Narnia where I am King.  I want to sometimes leave my garage door open so elderly neighbours walking past can see my shiny but well used tools.  I want my workbench to shout, he knows stuff, he makes stuff, and he can show Nick Knowles what to do with his wrench!

After buying the workbench, I was feeling newly masculated until I went to an NCT (National Childbirth Trust) house party.  I was given a tour to discover that the Man Of The House had a Harley Davidson in his garage …

If you liked this post and want to know where the manliness anxieties started, you might like to read I Am Not A Beeman.