Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
No doubt I’ve called a blog post exactly that before! Why would they decide to start swarming again at this time of year? The saying goes something like this: A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not...
After a couple of weeks away and therefore no beekeeping we were wondering how our bees had been faring as we drove home after our holiday. We didn’t quite get home though before the beekeeping began! As we drove out of Builth Wells about an hour from home, I had a phonecall from someone down the road...
Our beekeeping adventures continue and we have now taken the WBKA Basic Beekeeping Assessment. There is no obligation for beekeepers to do such things but as beekeeping has always been a hobby for us rather than a money-making or even honey-making scheme, this just seemed like another aspect to the hobby. Study Groups For us,...
For some reason, depsite the flowers on offer, our honey bees are rarley seen foraging in our garden. It’s nice when we do see them though and a good opportunity to snap them in action. I quite like this shot of one of them feeding on some Verbena.
Our bees have been up to no good yet again. We seem to have loads of hives and colonies, but very few queens. Argoed Farm – Happy and Healthy On a positive note, the hive at Argoed Farm has re-queened successfully. It now has a new laying queen and plenty in the way of eggs, young...
It’s been a busy Spring of beekeeping for us. Not only have we been busy making increase and setting up new out apiaries but we’ve been getting lots of call outs to swarms as well. The Perfect Swarm The first was a lovely swarm in Penparcau. We packed the car with the tools we thought...
The Bee Hotel was a live with activity today – who’d have thought it could be so successful. I’m still working on my bee ID though. The larger bamboo canes seem to be filling up nicely with Red Mason Bees (Osmia bicornis), at least that’s what I thought they were, but I’m beginning to have...
I’m pleased to announce that our bee hotel has some new residents. Since installing it earlier in the year a few spiders have taken up residence in and around it, it’s roof has been used for sunbathing by fledgling sparrows, and the magpies stole a load of the bamboo canes and smaller sticks to add...
I’ve been thinking recently about queen selection within the honey bee colony. Ideally, if we are selecting a queen to rule a strong, healthy, productive colony we want one with characteristics such as high fecundity, disease resistance, longevity and one that raises bees with a good temperament. The perceived wisdom when re-queening following an artificial...
Bank Holiday Monday proved to be perfect weather for beekeeping. Fortunate really as we needed to check on the status of our bees following the recent manipulations. It was sunny, warm(ish) at around 16°C and not too windy. First on the list were the two hives in the apiary at the bottom of the garden....
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
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