Apiary Diary January 2022

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southbee

Gold
317
264
Southland
Experience
Commercial
Been a hot few days taking honey off.
Main man is happy to be working off his Christmad excess….. and girl is in shock at how heavy a box can be…..
BeeBoss just works the crane and hardly breaks a sweat.View attachment 1201
Got a similar pic from a few days ago, except I think the hand gesture from my boy is a wee bit different.
 

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5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
Aeaah…. The life of the gypsy beeman…..
Took honey off this morning….. unloaded it in a paddock and waited out the day til the sun started to drop , and it was time to losd up and move to a new flow ….
And camp on a wild and winswept beach ….
Wanderlust is unquenchable….4FC7108B-4C57-4197-9CF9-1805C60ACE2F.jpeg4FC7108B-4C57-4197-9CF9-1805C60ACE2F.jpeg
 

Alastair

Founder Member
Platinum
8,753
9,966
Auckland
Experience
Semi Commercial
Some days managing the site owners is harder than managing the bees.

I'm harvesting honey at this time and with a bit of robbing that can happen while I'm doing it the bees can get pretty nasty for a couple days after I've been. So one place with the house about 300 meters from the bees, after the honey was taken a few bees were hanging around the house and acting aggressive and the small girl felt intimidated.

So they decide it would be a good idea to put some honey on the porch, to "distract and pacify" the bees. Course, you can imagine what happened next, and I get a frantic phone call :rolleyes:. Just had to tell them there's nothing I can do to fix it instantly, but after dark when the bees are in bed go and get the honey and put it away safely, and in a couple of days all will be back to normal.

Oh and, don't do that again 😮.
 

southbee

Gold
317
264
Southland
Experience
Commercial
We had another warm and sunny day down south, in some places the flow has finished in some it's still going and the hives still looking good. But for now I'm enjoying my Friday evening with son no.1 back from his week in town, catching up with a drink or two and not thinking bees for the rest of the night....
 
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kaihoka

Gold
328
270
whanganui inlet
Experience
Hobbyist
Everything is early here. White rata , red rata vine , kanuka nearly over.
I think the season will finish early with lots of warm weather left.
So robbing and stroppy bees to come .

An interesting article about a tasmaian beek .
I wonder how he manages to keep eucalyptus out of his honey
 
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5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
Apparantly white rata is flowering around Hoki.
I looked for red rata vine the other day.... but then checked back on my phone from the other year ..... it was flowering in March
 

kaihoka

Gold
328
270
whanganui inlet
Experience
Hobbyist
Apparantly white rata is flowering around Hoki.
I looked for red rata vine the other day.... but then checked back on my phone from the other year ..... it was flowering in March
Res rata normally flowers a anywhere from march to july here.
Unusual to have it flower so early.
The bees were active in it . In winter not so much.
It must need higher temp to flow
 
5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
C5FAA8E1-F2D9-4C7B-85FB-9B5B26D8618A.jpegIt’s beeen raining again….. with feeders full of water below the bee escapes….
I was reading the Niwa long range weather this morning .... warm oceans .... easterly flows ...... extrame rain event for early February [spot on] followed by a drier late February, then more wet in March. Does'nt bode too well for the honey dew.
And the Bayvarol finally showed up on the courier. Most hives are looking good, but with Varroa showing up in the odd hive as we pull off and expose drone brood between the queen excluders, now is probably the time to start thinking about getting the treatements in.
 
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tommy dave

Gold
BOP Club
230
263
mostly wellington, sometimes dunedin
Experience
Hobbyist
View attachment 1231It’s beeen raining again….. with feeders full of water below the bee escapes….
I was reading the Niwa long range weather this morning .... warm oceans .... easterly flows ...... extrame rain event for early February [spot on] followed by a drier late February, then more wet in March. Does'nt bode too well for the honey dew.
And the Bayvarol finally showed up on the courier. Most hives are looking good, but with Varroa showing up in the odd hive as we pull off and expose drone brood between the queen excluders, now is probably the time to start thinking about getting the treatements in.
scholarship winner in that pic?
 


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