over winter
- Thread starter Heath
- Start date
Hmm. Well I don't have any home brew to offer. Perhaps a jar of genuine North Island manuka honey, or if the tests tell me I didn't get any this time, a nice bush blend from the forests of the northern west coast?
But hey. Unless your apiary is too small of a sample that the results could be statistically skewed, I think I may be in line for a nice bottle of home brew 🍾🍺😁
But hey. Unless your apiary is too small of a sample that the results could be statistically skewed, I think I may be in line for a nice bottle of home brew 🍾🍺😁
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When I first read your question, my thought was “has head read the book yet?”. But now I see there is variation. I guess you should do what your local beeks do.
Down here it gets cold, and my bottom box(s) will be empty in spring. I’ve actually got 3 x ¾ this year on my hive because I had 1+ of good feed, 1 of good pollen and 4-5 frames of brood. I couldn’t harvest honey (already treating) and didn’t want to waste all that pollen. I might regret it (bigish space to maintain over winter) but 🤞
i’m a newby Josh.
Whats the Book?
i am trying to understand the pros and cons of one or two box brood setups and dealing with varroa.
Whats the Book?
i am trying to understand the pros and cons of one or two box brood setups and dealing with varroa.
"Practical Beekeeping in NZ" by Matheson & Reed. Essential for beginners ! Available from beekeeping gear stockists and I think downloadable ebook (Google it). Hard copy highly recommended.
It’s a great read, and future reference. Because unlike most stuff online, it’s relevant to NZ
Most of you would not remember Andrew Matheson from his time in the NZ beekeeping industry, working as an Apicultural Advisor. He wrote a lot of material before he (and later, I think?) Murray Reid wrote 'Practical Beekeeping in NZ'. If you are interested in some of the newsletters he created back then, in both Nelson and Tauranga, I have scanned and OCRed them.
Obviously, so many things have changed in beekeeping. But you might be surprised how many tips, gadgets and techniques are still present in these newsletters - and they are for sure New Zealand oriented!
I haven't sorted out a good navigation system yet, but if you want to see what else I've digitised, you can go to:
And I can assure you that the entire digital archive is relevant to NZ!
Obviously, so many things have changed in beekeeping. But you might be surprised how many tips, gadgets and techniques are still present in these newsletters - and they are for sure New Zealand oriented!
I haven't sorted out a good navigation system yet, but if you want to see what else I've digitised, you can go to:
And I can assure you that the entire digital archive is relevant to NZ!
I'd love to see these in the resources section here at
Historic New Zealand Beekeeping
Documentation & Resources relating to the history of Beekeeping within New Zealand
forum.nzbees.net
You can either link to each file if you wish, or upload the file directly.
As an example here
Document: - New Zealand Beekeeper February 1965
N.B.A. Executive Meeting Honey Prices on London Market Effect of Phosphamildon on Bees Prime Ewarm in Nelson P.O. Box How to use Benzaldeyhde Special Fire Warning Honey Crop Prospects Slavery in N.Z. Chloroform is a Knock Out Laughing Gas as a...
forum.nzbees.net
Just as a heads-up, you need a index file in each folder to prevent it doing a directory listing like this Index of /Scans/Beelines_1986-1988 as it's a security risk to your site. It may also be worth investing in a free SSL certificate too.
Thanks for that, @Grant . I'm looking to something more specific to searching andj wider availability. When I first started work, I got in contact with the National Library, making sure the steps I followed might allow for later 'user side' stuff. PapersPast is the type of *searching* I would like, but there are still questions re: hosting, etc, even if they can directly utilise the raw files. ,
In the meantime, I'm looking into PDF repository type applications, most often academic and/or scientific orientation. I've got too many projects/hobbies...
In the meantime, I'm looking into PDF repository type applications, most often academic and/or scientific orientation. I've got too many projects/hobbies...
If you need a hand with looking at software give me a bell. Databases and indexing etc used to be my main daily bread. I deal with cloud apps , saas and hosting daily.
My hives live permanently in two brood boxes and the majority of the honey is always on the second box. Come spring some will be breeding on the bottom and some in the top. I don't care and leave them to breed where they want to. Beekeeping is hard enough work without messing with the bees more than you have to. As for ventilated floors, bees don't need them in the summer so I sure don't see why they should want them in the winter.
My answer to where your honey box should be over the winter is that it should be in the top brood box , part of the brood nest not separated from it. This is how bees would do it naturally and they know what they are doing.
My answer to where your honey box should be over the winter is that it should be in the top brood box , part of the brood nest not separated from it. This is how bees would do it naturally and they know what they are doing.
Here we go @Alastair we have the site ready for winter. 9 hives there, 2 are singles, the other 7 have their brood now in the top box and the honey underneath. It felt a bit wrong doing it that way, but I still think if they need honey they'll find it. They are all good, healthy hives, had their autumn treatment and the site relatively new to us, but we had hives there last winter and they did very well. We'll post an update in June when they get their oxalic treatment.
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Nice site, but - 9 hives? I thought 50 or 100 or so would give a better statistical sample.
Anyhow, I will honour my committment to send you a jar of the best honey in the west if I lose this wager, and it will be interesting to hear your thoughts on the matter afterwards.
I do suspect that with just 9 healthy hives you are likely to get 100% survival. However it will be interesting to see what you feel about other aspects of it, in terms of proneness to being robbed, extra work involved, affect on spring swarminess, etc..
Anyhow, I will honour my committment to send you a jar of the best honey in the west if I lose this wager, and it will be interesting to hear your thoughts on the matter afterwards.
I do suspect that with just 9 healthy hives you are likely to get 100% survival. However it will be interesting to see what you feel about other aspects of it, in terms of proneness to being robbed, extra work involved, affect on spring swarminess, etc..