I made some sugar syrup this morning: 2kg of sugar mixed with 1200ml of water, heated gently. Delicious. Tasted as sweet as Coke. My girls were going to love it and having harvested their honey a few weeks ago this was the least I could do for them. Like any healthy relationship, it’s a balance of give and take.
I was looking forward to the morning inspection with the same thrill as date night. I was not anticipating any problems or hard conversations, just good times. I had removed the newspaper a week ago (due to combining hives) and had witnessed loads of bees toing and froing – 10 a second were shooting out at some stages. I had more bees in this hive than at the height of Summer. Some might say this is too little, too late … but having a strong colony going into Winter is positive.
The result of today’s bee date:
- There were 10 bees in the top (weak) brood box – so that was easy to remove. Good.
- About 10 drones dying above the Queen excluder – so I helped the bees and got rid of them. Good.
- Strong brood box full of bees – every frame teaming. Good.
- I am still not using smoke and the bees are amazingly gentle – no stinging, no aggressiveness – it feels like they know and trust me. Good.
- No capped brood, larvae or eggs – eek! I was not expecting that. BAD. VERY BAD. Crikey – was another colony going to die on me?
This is when beekeeping can be a headache. You just want to enjoy the bees. You don’t want problems. Just good times. But as the saying goes “The course of true love never did run smooth”. I guess the principle is that real relationships have real problems. And that there is something more fulfilling in having to work through problems.
But the truth is I much prefer “plug n’ play” and auto-setup than fiddling around at the back of the television, phoning help-desks and seeing relationship councillors.
Read More
- What Is Going To Kill Them First – Find out what happened next
- Feeding Bees – A how-to guide
- Combining Hives – A how-to guide
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The latest BBKA News says there should still be some brood at this time of year. Mine has about three frames of brood. Have you been able to find the queen?
Hi Emily. Thanks for asking. I don’t have a good history of finding the Queen. I saw her once about 2 months ago. I will check for eggs in a few days time.
Hope you can find her/eggs. She runs away from the light, so sometimes she can be hiding in the brood box. It’s easier to find her if you have an assistant who can check the other side of the comb as you hold it up.
My assistant (Dad) has been rather busy these last few weeks, but I hope to get him along soon. It’s amazing how busy these retired folks can be.