Himalayan balsam or Impatiens glandulifera originates in the Himalayas – surprise surprise. It was introduced to Europe as a garden plant but it quickly escaped the confines of the garden and joined the ranks of ‘Invasive Pests’. Other such plant species include Japanese knotweed, Giant hogweed, Sycamore or Acer pseudoplatanus and Trifids. Continue reading Himalayan Balsam or Impatiens glandulifera
Tag Archives: Beginners
How to Introduce a queen bee to an Apidea
Mostly Apideas are used to rear queens from queen cells. However, there are occasions when you may want to introduce a laying queen or a virgin into an established Apidea.
Here’s a simple introduction method: Continue reading How to Introduce a queen bee to an Apidea
Cloake Board Method of Queen Rearing
A Cloake board is an essential piece of kit for anyone considering rearing their own queens. The method utilises a queen-right colony ensuring the best quality queens.
Click here for a timetable for the Cloake board system Continue reading Cloake Board Method of Queen Rearing
How to set up your Jenter Kit
Here’s how to set up your Jenter kit. It’s how I did mine and that’s now working well.
By the way, be warned – the bees won’t like it when it’s new and the queen will be reluctant to lay into it. So get it set up and into a strong colony to get it drawn out and smelling beeish before you trot the queen into it. Continue reading How to set up your Jenter Kit
Hiving a Swarm
Hiving a swarm is usually a trouble-free operation but it can all go horribly wrong. Here are a few points to consider which may affect the success of the operation: Continue reading Hiving a Swarm
How to hive a swarm: the No Frills Way
The no-frills method to hive a swarm is also known as the Brutal way. Here’s how it’s done… Continue reading How to hive a swarm: the No Frills Way
How to hive a swarm: the Easy Way
Here’s the quickest, easiest way to hive a swarm from Master Beekeeper Jim Donohoe… Continue reading How to hive a swarm: the Easy Way
First Swarm
Your first swarm is something you never forget…
It was our first year as beekeepers. We’d done the course, joined the local association then, come spring, we bought two nucs. Continue reading First Swarm
What to do with queenless Apideas
An annual quandry for beekeepers is – what to do with all those queenless Apideas at the end of the queen-rearing season.
Most advice is to set the Apidea over a nuc and unite the two but this often comes to one sort of sticky end or another and is less viable when you have a number of them.
Here’s a neat alternative: Continue reading What to do with queenless Apideas
Swarm control – Demaree
The Demaree method of swarm control, devised by Kentucky beekeeper George Demaree in 1892, is a very effective method of preventing swarms but it will only work on strong colonies which have not begun making queen cells. I’ve been using it for the past 4-5 years with great success especially when used in conjunction with a Snelgrove board. That way you can prevent a swarm, get a new queen and a great crop of honey.
Here’s how to do it: Continue reading Swarm control – Demaree