I had planned a meeting based on uniting colonies this Sunday.
Due to the very hot weather I feel this is better postponed.
Look at the posts for a revised meet date.
I had planned a meeting based on uniting colonies this Sunday.
Due to the very hot weather I feel this is better postponed.
Look at the posts for a revised meet date.
As the season starts to draw to a halt so things at the apiary have slowed down too. We’ll not be generally open each Sunday from now (August) but there will still be some open sessions you’ll be very welcome to attend:
Removing Supers
Uniting colonies
Applying Varroa treatments
Feeding for winter
Look out for times/dates of those sessions here, on the Facebook group and via email.
Just a quick note to say that the association apiary will not be open this Sunday 24th of July 2022, due to a clash with the annual Bee Safari. Please do sign up to that event if you have not already and we look forward to seeing you at the apiary on Sunday the 31st.
Come along to Nowton Park Apiary this Sunday where we will be looking at the Nucs we set up two weeks ago to see how our queen cells have faired. Do we have newly mated queens to clip and mark?
We will go on to introduce a Queen to an existing colony. You might want to do this if your colony temper is poor, your queen is failing or you want to move to a low swarming high productivity strain of bees. This is possibly the hardest beekeeping task you will carry out as a beekeeper so lets see how we can make it easier and increase our chances of success.
Remember we always finish with cake and a chat or catch up
The Nowton Park apiary will now be open to experienced beekeepers and novices alike, from 12:00 every Sunday. Please do come along to help out with the inspections, brush up on skills, share your experiences, get advice and meet up with fellow members for a chin-wag!
Complete beginners and members of the public are also welcome but please do contact us first via the website, our Facebook Group or by emailing wsbka@yahoo.co.uk
Why make up a nucleus colony?
We can use this to aid swarm control, make increase in colonies, a spare colony to overwinter or to re-queen a colony. We will go over the equipment needed, the techniques used and the follow on care.
As we will be moving frames and material from hive to hive we will look at the disease risk and apiary hygiene, and the all important record keeping.
Nowton Apiary 1400
Do you have trouble finding the queen in your hive? Come and see some techniques to make it easier.
Do you clip and mark your queens? We will look at advantages and the different techniques and equipment available – have a go, it really is easy!
In case you can’t find the queen we will go over what do you if you suspect your colony is queen less.
Nowton Apiary at 1400 – weather permitting.
Just a quick update to say that unfortunately it is looking like there will be too much rain to carry out normal inspections tomorrow, so the association apiary at Nowton Park will not be open. We look forward to seeing you all again next Sunday!
This meeting is aimed at beginners, with or without bees, and experienced beekeepers .
We have looked at trying to prevent our bees from swarming but how do we deal with a swarm when it all goes wrong?
As beekeepers we have a responsibility to collect our own, or other beekeepers swarms. The public expect us to be the experts when we arrive to collect a swarm, so be prepared.
Come along to see how to deal with the public, the equipment needed, avoiding risks, and how to make swarm collecting easy. We will go on to hive the swarm in the apiary.
Last week we discussed swarming and how to delay this by under supering, and carried out part one of an Artificial Swarm. This week Jon and Marion will look to see how the colonies have responded to our management. They will also be carrying out a routine inspection. Come along to support the apiary meetings.