2024-05-13

Bad Beekeeping, spring 2024

PXL_20240512_142319088 At last a somewhat slow spring becomes warm, so it is time to head out to the olde country and check in on the girls. I had gone out a month earlier and the signs weren't good: few bees, all seemed rather quiet, though it wasn't desperately warm then.

But today things are better. Here's the "before" hive, only lightly overgrown; "after" is somewhat better.

Opened up, things seem quite believable: there are bees, rather well behaved ones in fact despite my somewhat rough treatment; lacking a car right now I am equipement light which means not much in the way of smoke; smoke being hard to transport by bicycle, you understand.

I don't even consider taking off any honey at this point, I'm just looking in. And traces of rape remain in the fields.

PXL_20240512_143505855

View from above onto the brood box. No, I didn't lift the queen excluder. Do you think I'm mad?

PXL_20240512_143530226~2

My friends back garden remains idyllic-looking in the sunshine.

PXL_20240512_152025143

Update 2024/06/02: Sunday was nice so I drove out to Coton prepared to take honey off, if needed. But when I came to look, it was all rather light: frames with some honey in, but the capped stuff wasn't freshly-so; so I decided to leave them be. Or bee. It has been a wet spring, but I wonder if they are a new swarm. Pic of hive herePic of hive here


Refs

* "Hive B" didn't survive the winter; but did provide a refuge for a shrew. Video.

Bad beekeeping, spring 2023.

No comments:

Post a Comment