Bee Disease inspection - 20th May 2010

Today was the day of the divisional apiary inspections. I took a day off work to ensure I could come to the apiary and see the disease inspectors check all the hives.

So glad I did though. The inspectors explained to us the symptoms of k-wing, various brood diseases, nosema and Varroa. I learnt so much today, the inspectors were obviously so experienced and so willing to share some of their knowledge. They explained some very important aspects of disease prevention which I am sure will be of huge use in my future as a beekeeper.

And I thought inspectors were all scary.

Practical session 3 - Hands on at last - May 18th 2010

Finally the weather has cleared, I am beginning to see a pattern where by it either rains or is cold on a Tuesday evening. I blame Murphy and his crazy law...

The evening was very nice and warm and thankfully comfortable for the bees and us. So as per routine we started by lighting the smokers. Once again it was stated to light it without your veil on, these can burn quite easily so best avoided :)

Today was the day of handling the hives and frames ourselves. I was with a hive that had a new virgin queen and a fairly small number of bees. The instructors had used this hive to make up three additional nucleus boxes which I think are going to be the bees we will be given at the end of our course (can't wait). For a hive without a laying queen the bees were surprisingly calm, maybe they were as glad as us the weather had cleared.

After going throught all the frames a number of times and showing the instructor we were getting comfortable reading the frames (ie, what can we see on the frame). We got a very nice demonstration of setting up an artificial swarm and I even managed to spot the queen in one of the nucleus boxes.

Looking forward to our next hands on, should be even better.

O yeah and no stings (yet).

First bee related injury - Ouch !!!

OK your going to like this. In a bid to clear up some space for my soon to be delivery bee hive I decided it only fitting to cut some branches from a tree at the back of the garden. Very tall tree with very large branches. Anyway up a ladder sawing like crazy, when the inevitable happens. Yep gravity, but... branch gets snagged on the way down and lands with full force on my right foot (whilst I'm still on the ladder).

Ouch - the pain was almost unbearable, but since my kids were watching had to put on a brave face (as we men do :)). Anyway, the next day it was so painful and unbearable (unable to walk on it) so went to A&E. Was told extremely fortunate just about got away without any cracked bones but got very bad soft tissue injury.

So for the first 24 hours First 24 hours - P R I C E the affected part
P Protection
R Rest
I Ice
C Compression
E Elevation

good document here http://www.gloshospitals.org.uk/ppi/leaflets/pdf/GHPI0028.pdf

Well that will teach me to go cutting down trees. Didn't think my first bee related injury would be before I get the little girls. So glad it was not broken, would have been in a caste for 6 weeks and missed my course.

Now to put more ICE on my foot.

Wish me the best... :)

Practical session 2 - First Swarm

Wow, what can I say, Tuesday 5th May 2010 we are out in the Apiary having our practical session and its cold (again). Coldest May night for many years from what I read. Not surprisingly the tutors decided we would not do much hands on today as it would be bad for the bees and especially the brood.

On a more positive note. Just as we were starting someone noticed a swarm neatly bundled up in a tree about 4 meters off the groud. This was the first time I have ever seen a swarm of bees and it was amazing to see how calm they all were and harly moving at all. Guess they were all trying to keep warm until the scout bees could find them a nice home. Swarming is the bees natural process of splitting thereby increasing colonies (if they survive).

Anyway what did we learn this week. Had a great talk about the Varroa mite. Very nasty mite which feeds off the bodily fluids of the adult bees, laval bees and pupal. In order to determine infestation we were shown to put a varroa floor covered with vaseline under the hive for one week. Some of the Varroa would over the course of the next 7 days fall and be trapped on this board. You then just need to count the varroa to determine if you have a small or large infestation. Poor bees, the mite really weakens their immune system leaving them suseptable to disease, it can wipe out an entire colony if not dealt with. Luckily there are ways of dealing with this, but thats another story :)

We were also shown something I'm sure I will really enjoy, how to harvest the yummie honey. Seems so simple, just place a couple of one way valves (porter bee escapes) under the super to harvest, leave for a day and then take of the super (hopefully free of bees) to harvest. The bee escapes allow the bees to exit but not return, most should be done in a day or so.

Quite a short lesson mainly due to the cold. It was nice to start the lesson with the lighting of the smokers, I didn't get to try this last time around. Its fairly easy, at least now I know what to do with some of the grass clippings (leave to try for smoker :) )

So just need the lovely British weather to change and then should get hands on with the bees, hopefully next Tuesday. Until then, back to my books...

Apiary Hygiene

Went to the apiary today for a discussion and presenation on Apiary Hygiene. We were shown how to lighty burn the inside of the hive using a blowlamp. This is used to clean the hive all over and to remove any potential spores of foul brood disease as this can only be destroyed by fire.

Also taught to remove brace comb which might have been made at the top of the frames and under the queen excluder. This should be removed and not left on the floor as it can attract wax moth. Those bees have a tendancy to block up any gaps smaller then a bee space. They really know how to keep their home in excellent condition, no space for any drafts there.

The dreaded varroa mite was also discussed and brood cells were opened to check for the mite. The mite is so small, I should have really had my glasses on but once my veil was on no way was I going to remove it to put on my glasses.

It was another cold day so the team stopped a warm cup of tea/coffee. I'm sure everyone really appreciated this.

Final invaluable lesson learnt today - one of the other students had a bee appear as if by magic under her veil. Lesson of the day - remember to ensure your bee suite is tied down at all ends. The bees love to walk upwards, luckily no one got stung, and even better neither did I :)

All in all a very enjoyable session from which I gained some very valuable information. Now ready for our second practical session in a few days time.

Theory sessions - back in time :)

For anyone interested, I have already completed 4 theory sessions. Great sessions with very experienced teachers who are also very good communicators. Sessions taught us the life of the honeybee, setting up an apiary, managing colony, and the most important session around swarm control.

One of the instructors demonstrated the bees waggle dance by doing the dance. Wish I had my camera, that would have made been a you tube sensation.

As long as I don't have to do the waggle dance, I should be fine, hope its not needed to pass the basic beekeeping exam:)

They had a miniuture to scale hive, very small but complete in every detail including brood chamber, floor, supers, frames, roof. My kids would love one of these, I'll need to find out where they got this from.

Hopefully now when I read a couple of beekeeping books I have it will make a bit more sense. Not counting on it though :).

London Beginner beekeeper - practical 1

As with so many people on the planet I am interested in doing my bit and trying to help the dwindelling bee population and of course to get some lovely honey. I have just started a beginner beekeeping course in London. Actually I have already attended 5 sessions, 4 of which were theory.

So just had my first practical session, what can I say, the experience was great. Seeing a whole colony of bees in front of me with the hive open was amazing.

Obviously I was a bit nerveous, there are a lot of bees in there and was a bit unsure how they or I would react to each other. Luckily I did not run away screaming and flapping my hands :)

The bees were surprisingly gentle even though it was very cold and the colony in question was without queen, poor girls must have been missing their mummy. Anyway got to see how a smoker is used (not as easy as it looks), open a hive, check (read) the combs, see the brood (babies), pollen and honey.

Seeing the different colour of pollen stored next to each other and seeing new bees eating their way out of their comb was quite a site.

Second session next week, cant wait should be another amazing experience.