A day out with a queen rearer

[gavin]

Great to spend some time with an experienced queen rearer ......

Here's a queen in one stock opened for the first time this year. A site for the less pure stocks rather than those used for breeding. You might recognise the soft Belfast tones.


http://youtu.be/BMEIAO9EJMo

In the shade, tucked away:

http://www.sbai.org.uk/images/jon_shed2.jpg

His favourite mating site with drone colonies behind the fence, nucs for rearing queens to the right and platforms for Apideas in the shade at the left.

http://www.sbai.org.uk/images/jon_queensite.jpg

[drumgerry]

And there was me thinking it was a reincarnation of George Best! :)

Seriously though....looks like good times Jon and Gavin. And opening hives in March - you can tell it's the bright sunny south. No hope of that here yet.

[busybeephilip]

Still plenty of space left on that site for more hives even counting the boxes you cant see, just flatten the raspberries, cabbage and spud growing area ( maybe not the spuds) and thats another 30+ boxes at least ......

[GRIZZLY]

Plenty of gaffer tape in evidence. There will be plenty more correx available after this next election.

[busybeephilip]

Some of the posters are up already and Jon's gona be dissapointed - they are much smaller than usual

[Jon]

Yep. Those cheapskates with their small posters have no regard for beekeepers.

[gavin]

Still big enough for a crownboard, a couple of dummies or a small pile of Apidea frames :).

[busybeephilip]

probably big enough for a 5 frame nuc roof but too small to make a nuc body from, maybe some of the other parties will be more extravagant