Apiary Diary April 2022
- Thread starter yesbut
- Start date
I would, but nobody believes many more. I don't know why because people still believe in all sorts of weird varroa treatments that are proven to not work at all. I used to spend months planning for my April 1 posts and even got one into the New Zealand beekeeping magazine once. I can't even remember what it was but I do remember getting two phone calls from overseas about it, so it must have sounded quite good.
I think my favourite was my breeding short sting bees. Even some of my friends who should know better fell for that one at least briefly.
I think my favourite was my breeding short sting bees. Even some of my friends who should know better fell for that one at least briefly.
I have seen no robbing this season , even after the migrant beek left his hives still here are taking honey off.
Last march we had 110 sunshine hrs , this march 167 hrs.
There is still a flow on I think it is red rata vine.
I think the extra sun and warmth concentrates the nectar in the forage sources and makes it more efficient for the bees collecting food.
Maybe when there is too much moisture around the bees have to work too hard and get worn out and susceptible to disease.
Just like people do .
Last march we had 110 sunshine hrs , this march 167 hrs.
There is still a flow on I think it is red rata vine.
I think the extra sun and warmth concentrates the nectar in the forage sources and makes it more efficient for the bees collecting food.
Maybe when there is too much moisture around the bees have to work too hard and get worn out and susceptible to disease.
Just like people do .
thats basically the same thing (tho not quite). high varroa = high virus load.
it doesn't take much to get mite damage. all it takes is neighbouring beek hives to die from mites and i'm sure there is plenty of beeks doing cheap low effective treatments or none at all.
I followed up my oa/gl strips with Bayvarol today.
There was robbing. We took honey early Feb, and left them some, but there has been little to nothing come in since, so it might be a lean winter, especially as it doesn't usually get cold enough to stop the girls flying.
Had a fun day in the hives today. Sunny, light breeze and no agro/robbing attitudes. Strips out etc.
Every hive has a box of honey for the winter. Nectar & pollen still coming in (very white ? Cabbage tree).
Every hive has a box of honey for the winter. Nectar & pollen still coming in (very white ? Cabbage tree).
some good news, it seams we are getting back some of our old local sites that we lost to one of the big corporates.
it seams that the corporate beek over promised and under delivered, like we havn't seen that before.
it seams that the corporate beek over promised and under delivered, like we havn't seen that before.
Finally had a really nice sunny day today. Droughts in Invercargill and endless rain on the east coast. It certainly not normal but I have seen it before.
It’s certainly been an odd late summer. Very wet, grey and cold with not enough opportunities for bees or beekeeper.
@Josh the white pollen is likely cathedral ivy. The cabbage trees flower in November in CHCH.
@Josh the white pollen is likely cathedral ivy. The cabbage trees flower in November in CHCH.
I always wondered what that ivy was called, that makes sense. That Ivy at the local parks and peoples driveways is absolutely humming.
finally extraction is done for the season. some ~300,000 frames or so through my hands. tho finally tally still to come. a bit less this year due to poor spring.
tho murphy reared his head at the last minute. blew an air cylinder, hardest one to get to. no replacements in the country. a manufacture sent up some good 2nd hand ones. first two where faulty, third one lasted 2 days, 4th one leaks but is working. new replacement has come in so i'll swap that out.
clean up and gear break down tomorrow, then back to working on the machines again to get it all ready for next season.
tho murphy reared his head at the last minute. blew an air cylinder, hardest one to get to. no replacements in the country. a manufacture sent up some good 2nd hand ones. first two where faulty, third one lasted 2 days, 4th one leaks but is working. new replacement has come in so i'll swap that out.
clean up and gear break down tomorrow, then back to working on the machines again to get it all ready for next season.
to be fair i'm being a bit sneaky on the numbers, thats frames handled rather than extracted. most frames are handled twice (tho some 4 times which i didn't count). its somewhere around 150,000 frames extracted.
tho how many handled gives you an idea on much weight is lifted over the season.
