About Me

Early 1995 two hives with bees were purchased from a retiring beekeeper which turned out to be Modified Dadant. The first year and the second were filled with learning difficulties, swarms and some disease but a crop of honey was extracted and a lot of new friends made when I joined the local association. In 1996 a beekeeper moving area provided an opportunity to expand to another site with more MD hives, then in Febrary 1997 a neighbour with a big garden and fields all around him became my third site and two stocks were installed there from one of my others. I ran seven stocks with two locally, two at a friends rural house, and three adjacent to a soft fruit farm that year although there is Oil Seed Rape within reach of all sites. I did find six stocks at one site too many to handle at one visit and as the sites are not within fifteen miles of each other I hope this reduces the chance of losing all stocks to disease or a bad winter. In 1996 I did obtain a Basic Beekeepers Certificate for showing off my knowledge and abilities and controlling a stock of the mildest bees imaginable. I became a committee member for the SSBKA and am quite involved in the craft fairs at Shugborough, talking like the expert to the general public. The photgraphs at the end show my sites. The first is surounded by many native trees with OSR one mile away, then the fruit farm site which has three OSR fields within three miles. The fruitfarm site I share with another beekeeper. We have seven hives situated there which were New Zealand Queened that year, one of my three queens absconded later in the year so that is now a NZ/other hybrid, my other four stocks are dark browns. In June 1997 I extracted 70 pounds of OSR honey off 3 supers. It set in two days in the settling tank and needed warming to pour it into jars. It then set again in the jars over the next week. I then did a second extraction at the begining of August and another 2 hundred pounds was stolen from the bees. On the down side I found my first varroa mite. I opened a lot of drone cells but only found the one mite in one hive. It has proved what we only suspected but we shall have to cope. I decided to move to 12 ounce jars that year and have square, round and hexagonal for variety. The square I cut a piece of comb into and sold it as 'CHUNK HONEY' it looked very nice. All the OSR I extracted in June has gone. Friends and craft fayres saw it all off. I still left a good amount in each hive, the bees deserved their own reward and It meant I did not have to supplement with sugar syrup too much. Two of my hives produced nothing at all and did not in fact have much food in the brood either. They certainly did need feeding. So 1997 ended with some honey succesfully extracted and 7 stocks alive and well. The New Zealand Queens were successful but the dreaded mite made its unwelcome appearance. I only had one definate swarm which wasn't too bad considering my inexperience. The first three years were all quick learning and many mistakes but on the whole I am happy with the way my hobby is developing. Now its fingers crossed to get to start the year with all healthy stocks.
April 1998. I examined all of my stocks. One of them did not survive the winter. There was actually hardly any bees in the hive and I suspect they left the hive rather than died out. There was food left which the other stock was robbing but as I had nursed a nuc through the winter I succesfully installed it in the cleaned brood and it appears to be taking off. The others were all fine and built up quickly. I noticed that the spring OSR bursting into flower, well if it's that or nothing I take what's going.
July 1998. I extracted 120 pounds of honey from two of my hives. It was mainly rape but was runny at the time of extraction. I have been called to six swarms, four of which were in chimneys and impossible to get at. The others made my stocks up to eight working hives, more than I wanted really but it might prove useful to go into the winter with extra bees. The nuc I nursed over the winter decided to throw out the queen. This was suicide as there was no eggs to develop queens from and as it was a very small stock I joined it with another. The smallest of the collected swarms now populates my observation hive. I shall be doing my main extraction in early September this year as I am on Holiday during August, I hope there is something to extract. I have seen the odd few mites in some of my hives, only one or two so far not great numbers. A passing swarm decided to check out a nuc box in my front garden. I think they like what they saw because they have stayed. They were a bit close to my shed door so I moved them into a hive on on of my out apiaries. Easiest swarm I ever collected. See pics below. Thats about all for July.
Well September 98 is upon me and I have removed ten more supers from only four hives. Isn't beekeeping strange? Four supers were from a hive I remove two from earlier, that's six from one hive and nothing from three others on the same site. I must have two hundred pounds or so now waiting to be filtered so I don't think this has been a bad year for me. I collected a swarm at the end of August!! All my stocks are being pestered by wasps now, it's like a war zone with dead bodies. Bayvarol strips are now going in the hives and when they come out I will be bedding down the hives for the winter. I have a lot of cleaning to do before spring. We are having a honey show in September and I am trying to enter some set honey, a wax block, cake, mead and a candle. I'm not sure the judge will be impressed. I am finishing here for the year.

July 1999. I lost three of eight stocks this winter. Only one was dead and still in the hive the others being totally empty. I split the largest and purchased some queens and rebuilt to two stocks on each site and an observation hive. The site behind my friends stables received complaints from the horse owners about killer bees and rather than argue Iremoved the stocks to another site. I found a road with a triple row of Lime trees either side about two hundred trees I guess and a friendly landowner who likes bees. More about this next year. I have extracted from nine supers off only two hives and look to have plenty of work to do over the next week. I am now secretary of the association, more work again.