Swarming is what bees do – if they are healthy they will swarm, so take that on board and you won’t be disappointed.
Swarm prevention is what you do before you find cells with larvae in them. If you find cells with larvae in them – you’re into swarm control. Continue reading Swarm Prevention
Between the showers, the sun is very strong and the the sycamores are alive with bees. One of the good things about sycamore flowers is that they hang down beneath the leaves in the shelter of the canopy so showers don’t really harm them. However, gusty squalls will tear off the flowering panicles – lovely.
The forecast for the next few days is good, so with the trees in full bloom there is a good chance of a few pounds of honey.
For more sycamore information click here
If you click on this picture you should be able to see a close up of the snot green pollen loads.
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The dandelion season is almost over in most places but up here, on this chilly hill, they are still very much in flower which is nice for us and for the bees.
They are out working away in every patch of sunshine and this picture shows the colour of the pollen loads – a much stronger yellow than willow or rape. Inside the hives, everything is bright yellow with dandelion pollen. A little honey is appearing in the supers, it is very yellow quick to granulate and has a bit of a bitter aftertaste but the smell around the hives is wonderful – sort of waxy and musky.
The beekeeper’s smoker is seen as an essential piece of equipment; it is certainly the most effective way of putting manners on the bees but it is not always either appropriate or necessary. Consider for a moment the lion tamer – he doesn’t rush at his animals jabbing away with his chair but if he needs them, his whip and his chair are at hand; the beekeeper should view his smoker the same way. Continue reading Beekeeping without Smoke
Now is the time for spring inspections. In fact the time is nearly gone and if it hadn’t been for Eircom I’d have written about this at the end of March. However, if you haven’t already done so – next time your bees are flying freely you’d better get in there and take a look at them. Continue reading Spring Inspections
Lovely sunny day – 14 degrees and slack winds – a perfect day for spring bees looking for pollen.
Here’s a hectic picture of lots of pollen hurtling into the scale hive today.
Click the photo for a better view.
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There are five queen marking colours and they follow an Internationally recognised sequence depending on the last number in the year the queen was born.
The sequence is easily remembered with the following mnemonic ‘Will You Rear Good Bees‘.
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Like it or loath it – the wild garlic comes up like a green tide each spring. Personally, I like it. It’s a lovely pungent addition to salads and it makes a great pesto.
There are several species of wild garlic all of which are closely related to the garlic we buy in the shops (Allium sativum). Only 3 members of the garlic family are resident in Ireland, only two are of interest to the bees and only one is a true native but all of them are edible.
The bees visit both species although it’s nothing they’ll ever get a crop from, which is probably just as well.
Pollen loads are yellow as displayed by this very obliging, if slightly fuzzy, bumble bee seen here on some Three Cornered Leek or Allium triquetrum. Click it for a better view.
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It has been a good winter for the bees and there have been very few losses. However, what do you do if you find a hive of your bees has died out?
Well, the first thing to do is find out why they died because whatever killed them could still be lurking in there; if you can pin down the cause of death then you will know what to do with the hive.
Look for the two most obvious things first:
Much will depend on the time of year they died… Continue reading Winter Losses
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Here’s a bee on the hellebore – you can see the grey-green pollen .
