Apiary visit 16/09/2011

Last week I put treatment in my hive to combat the rising level of varroa mites. As it's a 4 week course of treatment yesterday was the time to put in the second stage. During the week I have been reading about the treatment I am using, which is APILIFE VAR, and have read a few shock stories about it. The problems people have reported include Queens dying, Bees absconding and very aggressive behavior. Due to this I have been very worried through the week and dreading what I was going to see when I got to the apiary. Also there has been some awful weather this last week including very strong winds and heavy rainfall.

Luckily when I went to the allotment yesterday the weather was perfect; the sun was shining, the sky was clear and there was nothing more than a gentle breeze. The allotment had lots of people taking advantage of the good weather including the guy in the allotment next to the one I keep the Bees. After saying hello to the guy I suited up and got into the apiary. This time I didn't even light the smoker as I was only planning on being in the hive a short time. In the apiary I was really pleased to see Bees coming and going, with quite a few with full pollen baskets. 

Upon opening the hive the first place I looked was in the supers; I was amazed to see how much honey the Bees have collected seeing as though I collected the liquid gold a couple of weeks ago. As mentioned in an earlier post all honey collected will be left for the Bees to help them get through the winter. When checking through the super frames I was expecting to see eggs laid by the Queen, due to there being nothing to stop the Queen getting into the supers, but there weren't any. After the quick look through the super I moved to the brood chamber. The treatment bars I'd put in last week were still present in the back corners but the pieces added to the front corners of the hive had vanished, I assume the Bees dragged them out. At this stage the Bees seemed to be getting slightly agitated so I hurried in getting the old treatment out and the new one in. After that I quickly put the hive back together and exited the apiary.

When I was clear of the apiary I got talking to the guy in the next allotment. He told me his son has recently got some Bees in the York area. His son's Bees are apparently a lot more aggressive than my Bees and has been advised he shouldn't have been sold them in the first place as a beginner. His Bees generally follow him all the way back to his house, which is at least 60 foot away by what I was described; my Bees follow me about 10 foot then go back to the hive. The place I was talking to the guy was only 15 foot from my hive and I had already taken my suit off while talking to him and had no Bees bothering me. I just hope they stay that way as if they get aggressive I would have no option but to remove them from the allotment and at the moment have no where else to put them. 

I will also mention while I am writing this post that Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers held an event at Newmillerdam last weekend which me, Steph and the baby went to on the Sunday. It was held in the small boat house and had a few tables with information, example hive, an observation hive and a table for honey sampling. As it was such a small area we only stopped a short amount of time but managed to taste some honey that was flavoured with stem ginger. Both me and Steph agreed this honey was delicious and would at some point attempt to make some. There was the guy that ran the training course there but I didn't manage to talk to him as it was so cramped in there and he was talking to someone who was interested in becoming a Beekeeper. 

The Great Yorkshire Show 2011

This Tuesday just gone me and Steph went to the Great Yorkshire Show. Steph's Aunt had kindly offered to baby sit all day so we didn't have a 7 month old to contend with. We set off fairly early from York, waving the still asleep baby goodbye and wishing Steph's aunt good luck for the day. We travelled along the A59 hoping this way would have less traffic but unfortunately we were wrong. We got about 8 miles from where the A59 crosses over the A1(M) and hit the traffic. We were stuck in a tailback for quite some time but once we got past the A1(M) junction it started to speed up and we then made good time and got parked up.

Upon entering the show we bought a programme so we had a map. Prior to setting off we had printed out a list of things we would like to see at the show to avoid just wondering around aimlessly, however we did just end up wondering but saw most things on the list. The first part we went to was where the horses, cows, pigs, sheep and goats where being shown.

After seeing all the farm animals we went a little bit further and saw the hounds. So many dogs in the same place at the same time was rather noisy and I did feel for the people who had a stall right next to them! We then had a look at our map to try to find where the Beekeeping related area was and found that it was a short walk up a hill through the army demonstration area so we made our way over.

When we arrived at the area for Beekeeping we got talking to a guy who was representing Bees Abroad which is a charity that helps provide Bee hives and equipment for people in Africa. This is a fantastic charity that works with the people providing them with the means to help themselves; by providing hives they can then keep Bees rather than having to climb trees to take honey from feral colonies, this way they will be able to harvest honey and wax without destroying the colony setting them up for many years. The guy we were talking to said that through donations they provide plans for them to make their own hives and then the top bars are bought for them from local suppliers. The suits that they were using were made from old mosquito nets and maize bags, all in all the suit costs approx £1.

Next we talked to Dohn, who was one of the people running the course I have just taken. I mentioned to him that my Bees haven't started working the supers yet; he said one way of encouraging the Bees up into the supers was to smear some honey or syrup onto one of the frames. We also got talking to another guy called Malcolm who is a member of Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers, I have met him before but never had a chance to talk to him. He gave me his card and showed me a nucleus hive he has made himself from plywood; he did say that there is no need to get the expensive cedar hives and that the hives he has made himself work just as well. He gave me his card and I will probably contact him for a price list and to see what products he does.

Outside there was a guy repairing a skep; a skep is a old Beehive made of reeds and is the traditional image people have when thinking of Beehives. Although they are not used so much for keeping Bees nowadays they are still useful for collecting swarms. The reason they are not used any more for keeping Bees is that there is no way of managing them and to harvest the honey the colony has to be killed.

We then moved onto the honey room but they were judging at the time. There was a small section of the room open with about 10 different honeys available to sample. We tasted a few each and was surprised at how different they tasted. We later returned after the judging had finished and had a look at the various different classes of honey, wax and mead that were on display.

Outside there were 3 hives behind mesh, a very similar set up to what I have but with more hives. There was also a observation hive; this is a hive with a glass front so you can see the inner workings of the hive.

Throughout the rest of the day we visited as many areas as we could. We spent a good while in the food hall trying loads of samples; these included cheeses, curry pastes, sausages, oils with bread, pickles, chutneys, jams, alcoholic goodies and a lot more! We did end up buying some cheeses and sausages. If we had bought everything that we liked we would have needed a new mortgage! All in all we had a excellent day and hope to go again next year but with the baby next time!