Our association got a new extractor on Friday and I volunteered to try it out over the weekend. It is a manual 4 frame tangental extractor, cheap and cheerful at about £220. I normally use my father's motorised job but this one worked fine albeit much more slowly. The advantage of a motorised one is that you can use the spinning time to uncap another 4 frames and you get the work done twice as quickly. I extracted 5 supers and got 112 lbs of honey although ...
Heading home after a full day of turnarounds at our self-catering cottages and a bit of grounds maintenance for good measure (it's going to turn to rain tomorrow), I'm absolutely whacked and ready for my evening meal. But what's this, Neonachina (who went back home ahead of me) driving like mad towards me .... 'Bees swarming again!" I get home to find a dense ball of bees clinging to the underside of a garden bench - and not the type you can move, but with 'planted' posts, so ...
Updated 07-08-2011 at 10:06 PM by Neonach
Under my new more methodical regime, today was - weather permitting (and it did) - down for a 9-day inspection, and I was looking forward to it because I might find that the Queens in two hives (let's call them B and C) had emerged. First up was hive A - the WBC - with last year's queen artificially swarmed into it fro hive C. All well and good - very industrious and making up numbers maginficently. Then hive B nearby, into which 9 days ago II grafted three Q cells: two don't now look viable, and ...
Updated 07-08-2011 at 10:07 PM by Neonach
3rd day. 26 July 2011 Yep, did it. 11:00am I`ve been prepared well - almost. Hive on the side, new feeder with syrup, screwdriver (my hive tool). I wore my occasional hat and veil, long sleeved jumper, builders gloves, tucked in jeans into my socks (they have multicoloured spots which I have noticed at the time - somehow I dont recognize colours until I have my coffee intake in the morning). Then, gently started to calming them down - in absence of a smoker, ...
FOREWORD: IF You are beginner looking to find out other first-time experiences - that's the blog for You. IF You are beginner and fan of long-sometimes boring-stories - I hope its for You. IF You are beginner and hate long stories - READ ONLY BOLDED PARTS IF You are experienced beekeeper - DON'T READ IT - Unless You want to have some laugh. 24.07.2011 Day first 10:00 I`m arriving at the destination of my new ...
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