The beekeeping season is fast receding into the distance as the first frosts of autumn appear and, finally, the wasp numbers start to diminish. By now colonies should be heavy with stores, either collected by the bees or provided by the beekeeper. There is relatively little actual beekeeping to be done this late in the […]
Another apiculture-flavoured tale of daylight robbery, literally, to follow the post on hive and bee thefts last week. However, this time it’s not dodgy bee-suited perps with badly inked prison tats offering cheap nucs down the Dog and Duck. Like other offenders, the robbers this week wear striped apparel, but this time it’s dark brown and tan, […]
So-called kewl floors have underfloor entrances that are pretty-much rodent proof (so you don’t need mouseguards in winter) and are easy to seal when needed for transporting hives or administering vaporised oxalic acid. They are very easy and inexpensive to build. The last batch I built were all fitted with a Correx landing board that protruded a centimetre […]
The majority of my full colonies are on kewl floors. Some call these ‘floors with underfloor entrances‘, which is a bit more of a mouthful. These floors have narrow ‘L’ shaped entrances; the bees are forced to access the brood box through a 8-9mm high or wide slot, negotiating a 90º bend en route. For the majority of the […]
When I moved to Fife this summer I didn’t have space properly arranged in advance for my bees – poor planning I acknowledge, but there were quite a few other things I was juggling with at the time. The garden at the new house was just about big enough for a bait hive but I had a […]
I’ve bought and used a number of Abelo poly hives this season. I’m going to review these once I see how the colonies perform overwinter. However, one of their ‘features’ is an integral landing board that forms part of the removable floor (colonies 1 and 3, facing, below). Landing boards are great. They provide a […]
There’s a saying that goes something like “Ask three beekeepers an opinion on … and you’ll get five answers”. And if it isn’t a saying, then it should be. Have a look at the online forums and you’ll see numerous threads with multiple – often wildly contradictory – answers. This can be a problem for experienced beekeepers […]
In mid- to late-August the forage here is pretty-much finished, with the exception of himalayan balsam in some of the damper areas and along streams. In my main out-apiary stores are running really low in the hives now that the honey supers have been removed. During a recent check by the regional bee inspector (clean bill […]
Floors can be as simple as a sheet of ply with three lengths of softwood to raise the brood box up slightly. However, open mesh floors are increasingly preferred, providing good air circulation and easy Varroa monitoring. Inevitably the design of the floor also influences the entrance to the hive. Dartington-type hives incorporate an underfloor […]