Novice Beekeeper

 Keen  to test my new-to-me bike I set off at dawn for 12k loop.  When I arrived at the local cofee shop everything was still shut so I rode to the next coffee shop. I got numb hands, on the way out but shook that out ok. A twinge in my R knee held my interest though.  Here's us at the second coffee shop.  Unfortunately there was a massive queue of people driving grey SUVs and one even left this engine running for 10 minutes while he queued! As they didnt have a cyclists express lane I went next door and bought a Kombucha drink. I went to the grounds of an old church and while i was there a lady came in early to set up a Sunday kiosk that sold coffee.  I was the only customer, so I used thectoilwt, refilled my water bottle and had a lovely cup of Joe.   On the return i passed close by a kangaroo that he been hit by a car and decided to do the right thing. Amazingly I discovered a quite mature joey which I called in. A lovely Grench woman took him ...

 Just in case anyone troops over this blog in cyberspace,  I'm giving a brief update on my beekeeping off late  Well basically,  I am still going,  a bit more relaxed in attitude and enjoying my bees.  I have 6 hives,  4 of those are at my mum's place in a beachside suburb south of Newcastle NSW Australia's.  Approximately 33 deg . south if the equator. The for hives sponsors of the two i bought in early 2021 and the others are products of swarms from (i think) the oldest of the two.   My other two hives I also bought probably in August or so inn 2020. They are sited here on my property and although they lumbered along for a while,  the deliciously wet  summer has seen them restored to good activity and (hopefuly) shaker of the Chalkbrood and Small Hive Beetle that they arrived with.  I'm no longer corresponding with my Mentor,  who is also the seller of these two hives.   So far I've extracted some 25 litre...

 Just found a nice little vlog By the "out west blow-in" mob. Dip a paddle twice in wax Peel it off. Easy, make stacks But wait, that's not all To make it flexy, give it a roll.

 Yesterday I made two sets of frames from scratch, and I'm feeling very chuffed.  A few lengths of Structural Pine from bunnys hardware and a table saw.  It's pretty cool ripping down a length of large dimension timber into small pieces that bees need for their frames.  It really requires that you concentrate really hard,  use exacting measurements and even using dummy pieces to test saw settings. The satisfaction that comes from a tight fit puff two pieces off timber,  is immense.  The end product will allow me to assemble to deep boxes, to use in my new hives,  for some splits or even swarms.  In the long term it gives me confidence,  that with hard,  smart work I can set up hives fairly cheaply and begin producing honey.  There's nothing better to sharpen the mind than paying a few hundred bucks for a hive when you are lucky to bring in $10 for  a kilo of bottled product.  If you want to make hives,  talk to a...

 Well,  last week an old beek'r I know rang me out of the blue and made me an offer I couldn't refuse: two working hives for $250 a piece. The only condition was that I had to return his boxes.  Well  the story goes,  that one of his tenants ( a reliable source of income in these trying times), had complained about the bees shitting on his new black Mercedes comfortable. So they had to go.   I have a condition on buying stuff,  that I don't buy anything in tip top condition,  and I don't pay to price. With the greatest respect to the old fellow,  I reckon that his hives are not as peak output.  He tries hard and knows his stuff,  but he has too many hives tucked away in a shady and cold nook in the back blocks of a light industrial area. There's no way the bees would be warm or dry enough and I doubt they'd have enough feed. So there's some room for improvement,  and the price is right!

Yesterday I opened hive #1 amd found an amazing  amount of burr comb that had been built in just two days. I had no mind to undo their work, i left what was on the lid. Besides that, it was layered with bees, evening smoking and shaking failed to shift them. I  set the super aside, placed with waxes frames only, then replaced the super full of honey, amd fonally the lid. I left axed  st their efforts. After hive #1, I opened #2. It was bound up also, so I used a twisting technique to sever the no nb eycomb. I found a mass a comb filled with honey. Obviously i removed it. Shown here is about half the quantity . I put a queen excluder and new super on place and boxed it up. Afterwards, I mashed and strained  the honeycomb to produce nearly 2lg of light gold honey. I love bees!

HIVE OBSPECTION - 21 July 2020 Weather: 20 Celsius, calm, sunny. First inspection during Winter. Hive #1 - Brood Box and Ideal Super Lid stuck with  Burr Comb Many honey cells ruptured, but not too messy. As I had no Super prepared or with me, I sealed it up. Hive #2 - Brood Box Lid stuck, but due to the isk of upsetting Frames with  Queen,  the lid was replaced. Mentor suggested adding Super to prevent swarming but was not worried about honey flooding hive #1. FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATION Bees x 200? by entrance. Mentor  says clean half  of burr comb, remove preventers, get a super on quick. BEE WORK #1. Cleaned half of burr  comb and put empty (no frames), on top This  quieted bees somewhat,  but not totally. FURTHER WORK Two days time, add supers. Replace honey frames in Brood Boxes x 1 each for Q space. Ensure Hive Mats are fitted.  .