That time of year
Its been a cooler and wetter summer in Melbourne and the bees have done well. We harvested 9 ten frame boxes of honey over Christmas averaging 26 kg per box and now its time to do another 16 boxes. Its going to be a long day…
Author: Tony
To Flow Hive or not to Flow Hive
I get a lot of calls from people wanting to establish a Flow Hive. They have seen the website and YouTubes and it’s so easy. Set up, come back, turn the tap and hey presto – honey. I also get calls from others who can’t get out the back door without themselves, their children and
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To the rescue
Just having a cup of tea after work and the phone rings. Its the local school principal. There’s a swarm of bees in the school yard. I don’t normally catch swarms as they can be a lot of work and you cannot be sure what your getting. But it was a school, and local. So
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No good
When down to the Collingwood Children’s Farm on Monday to check their 9 hives. The sun was out and it was going to be a warm day with a possible shower or two in the afternoon. All the hives were active with bees flying in and out, bar one. In the front of this hive
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New toy
I went and picked up my new Carla e-Trailer yesterday from Dutch Cargo Bikes. Yes, it’s electric!! When I got home I loaded it up and was off to work. It was great to be able to carry all my gear and spares. The trailer was a breeze to pull. I’m very pleased with its
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Hayfever and honey
I get lots of calls this time of year about my honey and its potential for reduce people’s hayfever symptoms. Up to now I’ve said that I’ve not seen any evidence beyond hearsay that honey is effective against hayfever. But thanks to an article in the Beekeepers Club journal I now can provide people with
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Collingwood Children’s Farm
I help out in managing the Collingwood Children’s Farm (CCF) apiary, a partnership between the CCF and the Victorian Apiarists’ Association Melbourne Section. With the Covert-19 restrictions operating in Melbourne public visits and the running of training courses have stopped and we’ve limited the number of beekeepers going to the apiary to 2 at a
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Up a Ladder
I had just finished checking my last hive and turned my attention to picking peas from my community garden lot when the phone rang and was called out to a swarm from a hive from I hive that had inspected a while back. When I got there, the bees were 3 metres up a tree
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Urgent Action
I got called out by a beekeeper as their hive had sent out a small swarm and they were concerned that they had lost their queen. I made time to go out and have a look as the hive may send out a larger swarm or after-swarms if action is not taken. The beekeeper had
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Hive splitting
The sun came out occasionally yesterday and I was able to requeen two hives and split two others. The hive splitting were quick jobs as I had all ready Demareed the hives so that brood and nurse bees were in the top box. The strategy adopted was to have two hives on the same hive
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