Category Archives: Bee life
Grim statistics – and a few positive initiatives.
I belong to two beekeeping associations and the first one has written about the winter losses for 2012/2013 and put it in context over the last 5 years figures. It is grim reading and reflects what I have heard from … Continue reading
Posted in Bee life, Beekeepers in Winter, Forage plants, General beekeeping, Lavender, Winter
Tagged bee friendly, garden, hedges, MBBKA, pollinator, wild plants
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Just a modicum of success and a beekeeping disaster
I’ve been waiting for a suitable opportunity to do the oxalic acid treatment and feed if necessary. It has been very cold and damp but yesterday was to have a milder day with some sun. I practised using the container … Continue reading
Posted in Bee life, General beekeeping, Stings
Tagged holes in beesuit, oxalic treatment, varroa
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Awe and wonder by the flowerful – not enough in our classrooms.
Ready for some awe and wonder? Look here http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/pollination.html short videos of such beauty – if you are a teacher, try them as your students settle at the beginning of a lesson. There is even one captioned in French for … Continue reading
Posted in Background, Bee curious, Bee life, Bee Photography, Forage, Forage plants, Garden area, General beekeeping, Honey, Hughenden Manor Project, Natural world, night foraging, Uncategorized
Tagged awe, bats, Bees, birds, butterflies, chroma key, communicate, create, curriculum, Education, flowers, pollen, pollination, prescriptive, stop motion, video, Wonder
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It has been a while …Floriade, be a bee, geocaching all comes together
My visit to Floriade and subsequent excitement following the tagged bees has been documented before. My ‘friends’ Wilke and Marjon, and Naomi and Jenny and their trips to collect pollen or nectar occupied hours of my time. I am not … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis of live bee data from tagged bees, Bee curious, Bee life, Educational opportunities, Forage, Fun events, Garden area, General beekeeping, Hughenden Manor Project
Tagged adventure, Bees, container, family, garden, geocache, GPS, hive, log, magic, map, map coordinates, muggle, nectar, pollen, swarm, treasure
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Cyclical behaviour
In the 1800′s there was a period when beekeeping was common for most households. It helped crop yields in kitchen gardens and the sweetness of the honey was welcome when sugar was expensive. In WW2, the same sort of logic … Continue reading
Posted in Bee life, Garden area, WW2
Tagged british society, burns, George Cruikshank, hive, honey, honey bee, rationing, sweetness
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More bee data – and musings about integrity and what makes a company impressive
We have been beset by more banker scandals over the last few days in the UK. It seems to me we have stopped rewarding integrity and loyalty and shouldn’t be too surprised at the results. Companies are Oh so good … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis of live bee data from tagged bees, Bee life, lifespan, night foraging
Tagged banks, community, generosity, greed, integrity, lifespan, Netherlands, temperature
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The rooftops of London … high class hives!
I can’t believe I have only just found this as it dates from 2009. Worth a look
Posted in Bee life, Beekeepers, Forage, Garden area, General beekeeping, Honey
Tagged Bees, fortnum and mason's, frame, local variation, London, oak hives, queen, roofs
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Devilishly cunning
I was reading various ideas about how people could try and get bees out of chimneys and other awkward places. The ingenuity is absolutely staggering. Once you can see an entrance / exit hole the key is to create from … Continue reading
Posted in Bee life, General beekeeping
Tagged bait hive, catch, cone, inaccessible, queen, Remove bees, trap out
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Swarms – just like buses it seems.
Last Sunday I received a message just after 1 pm about a swarm at Hughenden manor on the fence of our apiary. It seemed impossible that it was NOT due to one of our colonies. Only the week before we’d … Continue reading
Posted in Bee life, General beekeeping, Hive parts, Swarms
Tagged bait hive, chimney, feral, swarm, tree
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