I’m not really sure what brought it on but late on Sunday afternoon I suddenly had the urge to build a bee hotel. We’d already inspected our honey bees during which Moirgan was stung by one, but I persuaded him to come out into the garden again to help. It had warmed up a little now,...
The Easter holidays continue and we were all of work and school on Wednesday. Morgan had a friend coming to stay for a sleepover and we had an afternoon out planned so I started the morning with some work followed by a quick run. Anna was still in bed when I got back but I...
Whilst away for the weekend at Steve and Biddy’s wedding, we managed to fit in a couple of quick geocaches. Usually geocaches take us to cool and interesting places that we wouldn’t otherwise go, but this time it was a little different. We were already somewhere that we wouldn’t necessarily be and there just so happened...
After a couple of days work the garden is finally under control ready for the summer. We’re having a garden party for our 10th wedding anniversary later in the year so it would be good to get the garden looking nice for that, but what with everything else, fitting in the work to get it...
Thought I’d share this warning from FERA with everyone as I guess it isn’t just beekeepers who could keep an eye out for them and report any sightings. As many of you know, the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, is a predator of honey bees and other beneficial insects. It has recently extended its geographical range from...
We all went to the National Library last night to watch a private showing of the film ‘More Than Honey’ with the Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association. Not only was it a pleasant evening with our fellow beekeepers, but the film itself was amazing. It’s a documentary providing an in-depth look at honeybee colonies in California, Switzerland,...
Just some photos of some of the flowers that are currently out in the garden. And one of the Alium border which is looking as though it could put on a good show this year.
It was far too wet and miserable last weekend for any proper beekeeping, but we did manage some – or rather, Anna did. We hired the steam wax extractor from ABKA and extracted all of the old, dark brown wax from old frames that we had lying around. It’s a fairly mucky job but the...
With temperatures ‘soaring’ to 19.3ºC at the weekend it was a perfect opportunity to take another look at the bees and carry out a hive inspection. Pollen We had no real reason for doing so other than the fact that we are itching to get started with some proper beekeeping this year. The hives were...
The weekend turned out quite nice in the end. After a fairly damp camp with the Scouts up at Devil’s Bridge on Friday night, the sun came out on Saturday and temperatures reach 17.3ºC, the hottest day of the year so far. A First Time for Everything I spent the afternoon cleaning cars and working...