Novice Beekeeper

External inspection yesterday, and everything looks normal. I first mowed and trimmed about the yard including the water trough. I then blew off any debris and litter from the belting under the hives. I wanted to clean this area up because the bees were "divebombing" again. When returning with their harvest many were hitting the landing board and falling back, or just missing it entirely, and plomping down on to the grass. They would invariably, gather their wits and male a clean entry soon after. I read on Novice Beekeepers that it's common, when harvesting some plants, that bees literally  take on too much weight to fly. This is exactly what I suspected when I was watching their activity last week. My next concern is that the hives may become honey-bound, they fill the frames woth capped honey. This is a problem as the colony outgrows the space and then prepares to swarm. I'll  need to be vigilant to any warming on the weather and ensure I provide a super for ...

Well, the Winter Solstice has just passed and things are vastly different when they were when I took charge of my first hive on January. Drought, record breaking heat and bushfires all up and down the eastern seaboard have given way to crisp chill mornings and clear days woth temps soaring to 20 deg. on the hottest afternoons. I dread next summer though, overnight I hear on the BBC World Service that a place in the Arctic recorded 38 deg, 18 deg above it's previous maximum. So summer here might be another bee-killing stinker. But for now, which is all I can work with, it's all dandy. My two hives, just baby nuc hives on autumn have become too heavy to heft. I'm actually concerned they will outgrow their space and think about swarming. So as soon as this weather shows sign of warming a fraction (or should I be looking out for a nectar flow?), I'll flip the lids and check. I should have a couple of supers at the ready regardless. I've not been idle on the bee front....

Bees busy again yesterday, coming and going at a great rate at a temp of about20c max.lots of bright yellow pollen coming in too, one girl had a yellow  necklace and  two full bags! Filled water.

It's official. The temperatures have dipped to the teens most days, the nights are single digit and the rain seems to be more on than off. I read on my new favourite Beek, Sue Hubbell (dec.) that the Italian bee has a habit of getting out quickly to work as each little day of sunshine. That's what my bees have been doing. Of it's raining, nothing doing, but as soon as the sin shines they're out raiding the blossoms about Merewether. They actually cause traffic jams at the entrance and still, they are friendly or non-aggressive. That's so good, a comfort to any new beek worried whether hos bees have plenty of life and honey on the larder. I'd love to open up each hive and check, but it upsets the heat stores and fractures the propolis joins on the hive. So I'll have to wait another 10 weeks or so. On the cool winter days I've not been idle either. If  I'm not reading social media posts about novice beeks with problems or watching The Bush Bee Man vi...