Happy Harvest Blog
Beehive reduction
It’s that time, time to reduce the size of the beehive stacks in preparation for winter, and steal their honey. I hate it. I don’t like taking their honey, and I don’t like the degree of disruption it causes, nor the death. In the process of taking the hives all apart, robber bees come from the other hives and there are disputes and battles to the death. Bees are very good at killing each other and the bee bodies pile up. I don’t know how to mitigate this yet.
Flyday
T.G.I. Flyday here today. All my hives are alive, and many, many bees were out flying today in the warmth. I got to feed them, and replace some straw in the top of their hives; I was happy to find that the wet mouldy straw was only around the top and outside edge - where it was nearest the roof and corners. Nested around the bottle of syrup and the opening in the center the straw was dry and golden, bees dry. Bees were everywhere, all over the paths, in the chicken bucket, and all over.
bees snugged II
The bees are all wrapped now, after getting their insulation. This time I tried to wrap the tar paper so that it was sealed and went up under the flange of the beehive lid, so in theory the water sheds over the tar paper wrap, but I can still get the lid off anytime. We’ll see. I put a piece of tape on the corner before doing the fold so the paper doesn’t tear- that worked well. Like gift wrapping. The paper is all folded down tight and taped to the eke.
OPENING THE HIVE
I got my first chance to get into the hive. We´ve had a warm, early spring, so I've been feeding them, and anxious for the right warm day to come, so I can give them the third super. They´ve been unwrapped since the end of April, but this is the first time I´m going to the bottom of the hive, and the inner lid is coming off.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
