It's hard but there's an old farming quote which sums up days like today: "If you've got livestock, you've got dead stock".
Just got back from straightening out a few hives which had been upturned by a gang of stray horses that had managed to get through the fence-line, probably looking for some shelter from the latest storm; one fatality (a small mating nuc) no one's fault, just one of those things which we learn to live with.
It's hard but there's an old farming quote which sums up days like today: "If you've got livestock, you've got dead stock".
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Taking advantage of a few days 'spare' to build more mating hives -mainly from reclaimed wood which we've aquired during the winter months -maybe not sale quality boxes but they're more than good enough for our own use; it's an old and tired saying (but so very true) that the bees don't mind.
The boxes we're building at present each house two four frame mini nucs. We're unable to upload photos at present but will be doing so shortly. Do you use mating nucs in your beekeeping? We'd love to hear of your experiences and preferences if you feel like writing something. Recently we've been unable to put as much time into this site as we'd like to, but we are still 'here' and planning a few new posts and articles in the build up to Spring.
The weather has been atrocious of late with our overwintering mating nucs taking the brunt of some severe storms; at this point I might mention that we still have in use some of our early experimental designs built from orientated strandboard '3' (OSB3). So far, no losses at all from these little boxes in their exposed clifftop sites. Part breeding and part preparation! Spring is still a way off and it's too soon to be counting chickens but I do hope that you're all having similar success to date, and may it continue. |
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