Not commonly listed as a pollen plant, pendulous sedge is actually very well worked by bees, we always see (and hear) a lot of workers on this plant.
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Do you overwinter 'spare' queens? Each year we try to leave a queen in each of our larger mating nucs as an insurance policy against winter losses; a spare queen at this time of year can save an otherwise good stock that has a drone-laying queen. Of course, we usually have plenty left over which we can then use to head increase nucs in May. Another advantage is that this method keeps the mating nuc frames stocked so when the time comes to place the first batch of queen cells we don't have the hassle of restocking empty mating boxes. Considering the winter which these small wooden nucs have been subjected to (relentless easterly winds for over two months) they seem to be doing really well for themselves. The frames are approximately the same size as a half length dadant shallow (langstroth medium) frame. The box in this photo holds eight frames during the winter months but is large enough to receive a central division board later in the season so that we have two four frame mating nucs in each box. There's recently been some interesting internet discussion regarding the application of oxalic acid by the trickling method. Dr Karin Alton of LASI has recommended that prior to applying the trickling method the colony needs to be checked for any sealed brood which, if found, should be uncapped by the beekeeper. The premise being that if mites are protected within sealed cells the oxalic application will be far less effective than it can be. This makes perfect sense but has caused some people to show great concern that such an intrusive intervention will have serious negative effects on their colonies. The initial exchange of views (and knowledge) has taken place on facebook, on the London Beekeepers Association page and LASI's own 'Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects' page. Worth taking the time to read Dr Alton's views if you can; who knows, it may make the difference. Following on from our overview blog of winter feeding we thought that we'd show how we make our candy. We start with approx. one third weight of water in ratio to sugar, or maybe a little less. Before going further, please be careful when making candy to feed to bees, boiling water and syrup are both potentially dangerous and demand the same level of common sense that all cooking procedures should be afforded. For now, here are a few more general photos, it's great to look through the seasons photos at this time of year. A little light relief, just a few photos from our year album. During the depths of winter it's possible that a colony may start to run low of stores. While this may be the result of initially going into winter with insufficient reserves to see them through it can equally occur in a colony which, well prepared the previous Autumn, has simply continued to rear brood due to a mild spell of weather, all the time consuming food which in a colder year might have lasted so much better. If for any reason we think that this may be the case then we need to take action to ensure the survival of our stock. Traditionally the method of choice was to make bee 'candy' and to place a block of this on top of the hive (very often, on or around, Christmas day; quite a nice family tradition for a beekeeper to add to such an important seasonal event). Recent years have seen many people move towards the idea of feeding fondant which can be purchased in blocks ready to distribute amongst the hives but really, if we only have a few colonies then traditional candy is an easy solution to consider and not at all difficult. We're just putting together a photo slideshow to demonstrate how we make candy which we'll be posting in the next couple of days. |
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