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Flying Bees, 3,200 Varroa & Beesuits

Flying Bees, 3,200 Varroa & Beesuits

Flying Bees

“Hello, it’s me”.  It’s been 4 months since my last actual beekeeping post.  I’ve missed you all  Let’s start with the good news.

On some of the warmer, sunny days in February I have seen up to 20 bees at any one time flying into and out of one of my hives (middle hive) and even though the other hive does not appear to be releasing flying bees, I can see a cosy cluster when I peer through the narrow entrance.

The varroa boards also showed some decent activity in the hive, though more debris on the middle hive board, suggests more activity inside the hive.

Varroa mite board - 25 Feb 16
Varroa mite board – 26 Feb 16 – Near Hive
Varroa mite board - 25Feb16
Varroa mite board – 26 Feb 16 – Middle Hive

3,200 Varroa & How To Manage?

I’m looking for advice and thoughts on this part of my blog post, so please comment.

I treated my hives with Apiguard in August and then due to a high varroa count (calculator estimated I had up to 600), strong colonies and warm temperatures, I treated with MAQs in mid-October. All the details can be found in My Apiary Notes.

I did not treat with oxalic acid this winter for two reasons:

  1. Very mild winter and hence, higher levels of brood and oxalic acid less effective
  2. Scientific article on 5th January 2016 in which Professor Francis Ratnieks, Head of Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI), University of Sussex, said “… beekeepers should cease using the other two methods (“trickling” and “spraying”, in which a solution of oxalic acid is used) as they are harmful to the bees and less effective at killing Varroa”. Article: Scientists determine how to control parasite without harming bees

The sublimation technique, which is effective, requires expensive equipment and has to be used carefully, so as not to be hazardous to health.  I am not planning to use oxalic acid at all from now.

Counting the mite drop on the varroa board, the National Bee Unit varroa calculator is giving me a very broad estimate of varroa numbers from 400-3,900 and that I need to treat now or within 2 months.

My plan to reduce varroa ASAP, but I need to wait for warmer temperatures:

  1. If temperatures consistently above 15C and there is not a honey flow: Apiguard
  2. If temperatures consistently above 10C, colonies strong and honey flow: MAQs
  3. If colonies weak and temperatures low … I guess I’ll use Apiguard or perhaps just 1 MAQs strip.

I have Bee Cosies on my hives, so this increases the temperature in the hive, so perhaps this will help with the efficacy and early use of Apiguard or MAQs?

Thoughts on the strategy above much appreciated.

Bee Suits

It’s something I have been meaning to do but not got round to … but have finally put my bee suit through the washing machine.  It has a detachable hood, which is the only way to put a bee suit through a machine wash.  Any new beekeepers wondering what bee suits to buy I highly recommend Sherriff Bee Suits. These are hand-stitched in Cornwall, probably the best quality suits and the company has a really interesting story.  They are one of the sponsors of this blog and I have previously written about my experiences in finding a bee suit.

Bee & Beekeeper Gifts

Bee & Beekeeper Gifts & Presents

Christmas is coming and if you are like me, then no presents have yet been purchased, never mind wrapped.  For your beekeeping husband, wife, child or friend, then Sherriff sell an excellent range of gifts from their website: Bee Gifts.  They can all be bought online.

If any family are reading this, then the book they sell called Plants For Bees would be most gratefully received!

Plants For Bees
Plants For Bees

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Honey Labels USA

Honey Labels USA Infographic

American readers may find the following post and infographic helpful.

Being successful at beekeeping takes a little more than evaluating the honey’s taste. The following infographic explains some of the obstacles beekeepers experience in their work and gives practical tips on how to keep the bees healthy and alive, and how to properly label honey jars to better inform honey consumers about the product.

Beekeeping and Honey Labeling 101

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A Year In Beekeeping – The Results Are In

A Year In Beekeeping – The Results Are In

This article was first published in the newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association (December 2015).

As the 2015 beekeeping year came to end and I packed away my suit, my sanity and any excuse I had to desert my wife with the two toddlers, it was time to evaluate. Had I succeeded or failed; enjoyed or silently suffered; protected my bees or squashed a few too many? And how, my dear friends, does a beekeeper actually evaluate a year in beekeeping?

Unlike a football manager I don’t have a league of success where I can rate my achievements (or lack thereof). So what do I look for? Is it producing buckets of honey or above average winter survival rates? Is it learning new skills or having more colonies than you started with? Or is it just surviving the year? Well it’s a bit of all of that …

Kick Off

My beekeeping year started with disaster. By April my four colonies had all expired. I can’t be sure, but I think it was due to a combination of the following factors: moving two hives to an exposed location in the middle of winter, an old queen and possible nosema.

Lesson learnt: don’t listen to some of those old knowledgeable dudes. Not feeding the bees or not insulating their hives might work for them but not for novices (three years in and I still count myself as one). Hefting hives and colony insulation is the way to go for beekeepers like me.

The Transfer Window

In April, I bought two nucs of bees from a Mr Bee. As the name suggests he’s a bit of a don so I was happy with my new team and confident they would lead me to beekeeping glory.

I was optimistic. Some might say overly optimist. I was the Jose Mourinho of the allotment; talking about the strength of my team, the buzz of the crowds and the perfect conditions. My coat wasn’t quite as swanky as his but I perfected his arrogance and knack of talking nonsense – without the threat of an apiary ban.

I regularly visited the bees and all looked good. From a distance at least as I was trying the ‘hands off’, observe the bees, theory of beekeeping. I realised I quite liked my beekeeping visits now that they consisting of simply having a coffee.

Unexpected Attack

They came from nowhere. I didn’t see it coming. Then all of a sudden the wasps were on the attack. They were like the Bayern Munich to my Bristol Rovers. No hope …

And of course it wasn’t just the bees feeling the imminent threat but the neighbours and more hysterically, my wife. Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have better sealed the winter syrup laden supers I decided to leave in the garage. Yes, perhaps that didn’t help.

Teamwork

In some ways the bees have been kind to me this year. Only one sting and I caught a swarm that went on to become a strong colony. (I highly recommend swarm traps and the pheromone lure by the way).

However… and it’s a big however… the hives only produced 5 x ½ lb jars of honey. Yes, that’s the total result from 4 hives, 50 hours of effort and about £500 spent on nucs and equipment.

I also had to let my toddler know the plan for a pop-up honey stall at the end of the garden might have to be put on hold. That was a toughie. I had to agree with her, they were indeed ‘naughty bees’.

The Final Minutes

I started my countdown to winter in August, as me and my bees were not going down without a fight this year.

I firstly treated the colonies with Apiguard and then started feeding in September. They still had a high varroa count in October and it was warm enough to use MAQs strips. I then tried to be more scientific measuring the weight of the hives to ensure they had enough stores to see them through (each side of hives hefting at 15Kg by the end of October). I made sure the hives had minimal air space and wrapped them up in an insulated, waterproof and breathable jacket. Looking proper snug I regained a certain smugness.

Beekeeper With Insulated Hives
Beekeeper With Insulated Hives

The Final Result

So in conclusion – me and the bees have SURVIVED. And that’s the real test of a beekeeping year.

With two kids under three years of age and a full time job, often the beekeeping can become a bit of a “to-do” list. There’s loads of parts of it that I don’t actively enjoy (you know the tidying up, sterilising equipment, carting loads of hive bodies around) but I know I’ll have had a successful beekeeping year when I get a bit more time to do the bits I do enjoy (the inspections, the honey extraction, the ‘watching them sessions’!)

And it’s because I’m hunting down some more quality time with my bees that I’m biding you farewell for a bit. I’m not sure when I’ll next write for this lovely BBKA magazine but please keep in touch through my blog. And wish me luck.

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Honey Sections

Honey Sections & Cut Comb

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and bee equipment winter sales are all on and I want to grab a bargain … today (ideally).

Some/many beekeepers find honey extraction a big faff and I’m wondering about sectioned honey as a way to save time … and also, because I have a strong childhood memory of once buying sectioned honey and being amazed and fascinated by it.  I could create a beautiful product and give others a happy memory too.

I have seen little online discussion around sections and I would greatly appreciate people’s thoughts.

My Questions

  1. Should I do it?
  2. Which type (round, square, cut)?
  3. How should I do it?

Honey Sections – The Challenge

From what I have read I understand there it is difficult to produce honey sections.  The conditions you need are:

  • Active, busy  hive, exploding with bees
  • No swarming
  • Plenty of forage

I have read that bees are not that keen to draw out sections.

Honey Sections – The Options

Round Sections

I am most attracted to round sections as per below – as they look attractive.  Also, the brochures say that bees prefer the round section. You can produce up to 40 sections per super. That’s potentially a lot of value. Material: plastic. Cost £80-£130 for fully assembled, ready to go, rack.

Round sections
Round sections

Timber Sections

Hols 32 sections. Square shape. Approximately £50 for fully assembled, ready to go, rack.

Timber sections
Timber sections

Cut Comb

You put unwired thin foundation into super frames. And at end of season you use comb cutter (or dental floss is apparently good).  I have read it is easier to produce this type of honey comb. Cost: approx £50 for super and assembled frames with thin foundation.

Comb cutter
Comb cutter
Honey comb
Honey comb

How To Make Honey Sections

I have based the following from an article on the Ross Rounds website (leading manufacturer of round sections).  Top tips seem to be:

  1. April (UK) – Place super with frames on hive to give them room to expand and lay down honey
  2. May (UK) – When the first honey flow begins give them a round-section super underneath the extracting super(s) which are already becoming filled. In this position, the bees will start work on it quickly.
  3. “When all but perhaps the 4 sections at the corners are completely capped, try to harvest them ASAP, so the cappings will be nice and light, for the most attractive package. Then you can place any unfinished sections into the next, newly fitted-out super, towards the centre, and they will be completed for harvesting next time around.”
  4. Any sections which are only partially filled or finished can be cut and placed into jar of extracted honey.

My Thoughts

  1. Buy a couple of round section racks – for the feisty, busy colonies?
  2. Put thin foundation into the other colonies?

Grateful for your thoughts, plus how best to produce honey sections.

Postscript / May 2016

I bought the sections and wrote a post about me assembling the Ross Rounds.

Simon’s Beekeeping Year 2015 (Ilkley, Yorkshire)

Simon’s Beekeeping Year 2015 (Ilkley, Yorkshire)

Guest post by Simon from Ilkley, with occasional comments by me!

“Simon, I’ve got bees in our garden, and there seems to be rather a lot of them!”

It was a normal Saturday afternoon in June and I was out with the family, about an hour away from home, when the phone call came through.

“I’ll be right back!” I said cheerily to our (chronically bee unsympathising) neighbour and with a heavy heart curtailed our day out and sped back to attend the crime scene.

Requeening - Simon & Roger
Requeening – Simon & Roger

Five Swarms From Two Hives

Collecting a swarm has to be one of the joys of beekeeping. I captured one last year in my garden, ably assisted by my wife in her half-bee suit – I explained to her that I needed the full suit.

[Ed – Like parents trusted by their young children, we, the All Knowing Keeper Of Bees, are not questioned on our eternal wisdom and benevolence concerning who get’s the best suit].

I used a bucket attached by a hosepipe on the end of a washing line pole. [Ed – “Now this I have to see”, said in a You’ve Been Framed voiceover].

I’d already collected four swarms this year from the two hives I’d started the year with. I didn’t need any more.

Simon's Swarm
Simon’s Swarm

To attend our neighbour required something more sophisticated so we took round a poly-nuc and I armed myself with Frimston and Smith’s “Beekeeping and the Law: Swarms and Neighbours” in case things turned nasty. In the end, the vicious swarm turned out to be nothing more than a cup-full of timid bees cowering under a leaf for cover (or perhaps to escape the din of our neighbour’s increasing hysteria).

It’s certainly true that the swarming season keeps me on my toes and whilst the act of swarming itself can be rather intimidating, capturing the swarm when it settles really is no big deal. [Ed – now you’re just showing off].

Beekeeping Goals

My goal this year, in my second full year of beekeeping, was to upsize from two to four hives. Having been hospitalized last year with multiple stings trying to unite two bad-tempered hives, I also wanted to try to re-queen my stock into calm, varroa-free, non-swarming, honey-generating machines!

Despite my best swarm preventative measures having been taken, with seven boxes of bees in my garden at one point and the impending visit of my cousin, Master Blogger Roger, I decided that the time was ripe to undertake this feat. I had taken soundings from Wharfdale Beekeeper’s Association (WBKA) veterans on how best to locate the offending Queens and from where I should source my new Queens. Opinions, there were plenty, but eventually I settled on Scottish stock which duly arrived in their cages. Read more about our re-queening exercise: Requeening Aggressive Hives.

Beekeeper Reflections

It’s been another fascinating year for me. I’ve been able to get my bees through each winter and they seem healthy (if feisty). I need to improve upon swarm prevention although in an optimistic sort of way I see swarming as a success indicator (and having a bait hive nearby seems to prove irresistible to swarming bees and also help maintain neighbourly relations).

After re-queening and combining hives I’ve ended the year with the desired four hives, two of which are headed by Scottish Queens. My six year old daughter has purchased a suit “for Christmas” and wants to manage her own hive next year.

Honey Show Winner

I’m not doing it for the honey, although can’t deny the thrill of seeing the first honey drip off the production line each year. As for honey shows, well I understand these can be be taken very seriously, with undercover meetings held covering such topics as “how best to get the froth out of your honey” and “hexagonal or circular jars: you decide”.

I’ve discovered a wonderful out-of-production heather press (MG heather press) which I hired from my local association, the  WBKA, to crop some excellent heather honey which my most feisty bees had decided to store in a single super (probably flying a couple of miles to Ilkley Moor to source).

Heather Honey Press
Heather Honey Press
Heather Honey Sieve
Heather Honey Sieve

In fact, they even made me a “multi” award winning beekeeper in my second beekeeping year, which was a fabulous, if doubtlessly controversial, end to the year. I wonder if my neighbour would like a jar…? [Ed – definitely – just not my jar!]

Simon Beekeeper Prize Ilkley Yorkshire
Simon’s Beekeeper Prize (Ilkley, Yorkshire)

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October In The Apiary

October In The Apiary

It’s been a great month.  When I have gone to look at my bees they have been buzzing around the hives in their hundreds. Recent video below.

Insulation

I started October by insulating the roofs (less air space for bees to warm) and putting the Bee Cosies on as it was getting down to 2C at night (though 19C in day). I wish I had done this earlier for the hive in the field as it had dwindled to 5 frames and struggled to take down syrup.  I gave them a solid floor insert to keep them extra warm. Condensation will escape through the ventilated roof as Bee Cosy is breathable.

Beekeeper With Insulated Hives
Beekeeper With Insulated Hives

Feeding

Feeding continued. I was aiming a 15Kg spring balance weight on each side of the hive. (Those without Bee Cosies might want to consider 18Kg).  The bees have been very active and have achieved more than 18Kg/heft on 2 of the hives. The weak hive in field weighs 9Kg and 12 Kg.  Fingers crossed for this one. Will give fondant later in year.

Apiary 18 September 2015
Apiary – Feeding Bees

Varroa Treatment

I had treated all hives with Apiguard in August – but that still gives them two months to keep reproducing and increasing their populations.  I counted in October and the strong hives in the allotment had high varroa counts. The Beebase varroa calculator, calculated I had 520 and 600 mites in those hives (30 mites in the weak, field colony).  As the temperature was still more than 10C in the day, I gave each of the high varroa count hives one MAQ strip each.  I’ll count again in November.

MAQs Strips
MAQs Strips

Active Bees

Here they are last Sunday:

Honeybees - End October 2015
Honeybees – End October 2015

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September In The Apiary

September In The Apiary

In many ways my beekeeping year starts and ends in September / October.

These two months are crucial in order to get the bees through the winter, in order for them to have a successful spring and summer, in order to get them through the next winter.

Hive September 2015
Hive September 2015 (Reduced Entrance)

Over the last few weeks this is what I have been up to in roughly chronological order:

  1. Applied Apiguard to reduce varroa population
  2. Started feeding the bees with Thick Syrup using Jumbo Feeder.  I am aiming for the hives to weigh 15Kg on each side using a spring balance by the end of October. I have stopped feeding for the time being as they have enough and are starting to bring in nectar from ivy. Note: I am aiming for total of 15Kg of stores as using Bee Cosy. Nationally, 18Kg of stores are quoted as being required.
  3. Added roof insulation – 2.5cm of foam, to reduce the amount of space/air that the bees will warm up
  4. Cleaned up brood boxes, supers and other hive parts using hive tool, freezer, hot air gun at 600C and B401 to protect against wax moth. Read Bee Hygiene for more information.
  5. Stored spare hive parts in garage
Apiary 18 September 2015
Apiary 18 September 2015

October In The Apiary

As I have said before, I’m aiming for hives to weigh 15Kg on each side and when the temperature is consistently sub 7C I’m going to put on the Bee Cosies – the bees are going to love that.

Bee Cosy
Bee Cosy

I’ll also add mouse guards and take varroa counts.

Please help – I’m looking for a month by month guide to how much stores bees consume in the UK.  Grateful if anyone can email me or post this information.

Read More

  • My Apiary Notes – gives all the detail of what I am up to
  • My Beekeeping Calendar – I keep changing and updating based on what I am learning through reading, discussion and experience. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this

Top Tips For Preparing To Winter Bees

Top Tips For Preparing To Winter Bees

Chris Wray, the Bee Cosy guy with a mission to insulate our bees, is back with his top tips to help keep our bees through the winter. Go Chris, I’m all ears:

Getting a colony of bees through winter can be quite a challenge unless you the take the right precautions and prepare properly. Here are my top tips:-

  1. Make sure you have a viable colony with a good laying queen before the end of autumn. You can often spot a failing colony by the bees –  not flying in good numbers on sunny days  – seeing that they are anxious (walking quickly over their frames) – not bringing in pollen – or if you’ve seen hive weight drop despite good weather and forage . If weak or failing, combine or make the decision early in autumn to re-queen if possible.
  2. Check for stores – do more than just heft the hive – use spring balances to estimate hive weight – deduct 10% for the possible error in this method – deduct the weight of the hive plus drawn comb and say 2kg for the bees! – My colonies consume between 8 and 12 kgs of stores in the winter (end of October to end of March) depending on their size (with a Bee Cosy fitted) so I plan to have at least 12 kgs of stores – ideally 15 kgs – depending on the strength of the colony. In practice, for a strong colony, at the end of October you are aiming for a spring balance to read 15Kg on each side of the hive (remove the roof before you weigh).
  3. Feed 2 kg :1 litre sugar syrup if stores are short – warm weather is best- between 12.5 and 15 degrees depending on the level of sunshine during the day – Don’t overfeed! – They may still be able to bring in stores from Ivy if they need it and some empty cells for winter brood rearing and clustering is better than a brood full of stores.
  4. Varroa treatment – pick a week when the weather is fair – ideally with some sunshine to raise hive temperatures – the later the better as there will be fewer varroa in the reducing winter brood and more will be impacted by the treatment you choose. Do what you can to keep heat in the hive – varroa treatments work better the warmer the hive.
  5. Hive check and prep – take off queen excluders, replace glass crown boards with wooden ones, reduce draughts in and around the hive, check for gaps between floors / brood boxes / supers / roofs – fix mouse guards. I prefer to leave the plastic trays in my OMFs in and reduce air flow through the hive.
  6. Reduce unnecessary space to help your bees keep a good hive temperature – If you have roofs with big empty spaces fill them with paper / carpet / foam – and if you have small colonies where there may be 3 or 4 frames not occupied take empty frames out and replace with blocks of insulating foam cut to size (see photo below).
  7. Check you have your Bee Cosy fitted! – as well as reducing the stores needed in 2 above, it will also help with points 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Insulation Foam In Brood Box
Insulation Foam In Brood Box

Good luck for Winter 2015 – let’s hope it’s kind to our bees!

Thanks Chris. I recommend everyone visiting the Bee Cosy website to learn all about how modern hives compare to trees as a home for the bees and to understand better the insulation requirements of bees.

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Hive Insulation & Bee Cosy

Hive Insulation & The Bee Cosy

September is a crucial time for me in the Apiary. This is my make and break month in terms of getting the bees through the winter and then having honey producing colonies next spring and summer. I had a disastrous winter earlier this year and hence I am doing everything I can to reduce my bee colony losses over the winter.

Chris Wray, inventor of the cutely titled “Bee Cosy” is mentoring me and writing a few guest posts to help readers get their bees through the winter. The modern hive is pretty cold compared to the hollow of a tree. Hive insulation reduces the amount of stores required by bees and increases colony survival rates.   The Bee Cosy is “the world’s first breathable waterproof insulating hive cover”. He’s on a mission to increase bee colony survival rates. I recommend reading every page of his website because it is all interesting and useful.

Bee Cosy
Bee Cosy

I mentioned I had a cunning plan for this winter and this is it. Chris is providing me with mentoring and a couple of Bee Cosies and in return I bought a further couple of Bee Cosies and am providing some publicity.  Let’s hope this works.

In his first guest post, Chris discusses UK winter losses compared with the Bee Cosy losses.  In his next post, he’ll go through a checklist to get everything ready for winter.

Bee Cosy Winter 2014 Losses Of Only 2%

By Chris Wray, Bee Cosy Inventor

The BBKA’s winter survival survey for winter 2014 showed losses across the UK of 14.5% with losses of 15.5% for the North East where most of our Bee Cosy sales have been made.

As for winter 2012 and 2013, we surveyed all Bee Cosy users on the same basis as BBKA – i.e. colonies in place at 31 March. Although our sample is not large as the BBKA, we achieved a fantastic 98% survival rate from all the beekeepers who responded using a total of 40 Bee Cosies.

Bee Cosy Winter Losses 2014 / 15
Bee Cosy Winter Losses 2014 / 15

As you recall, the winter of 2014 was not as bad as forecast. Bad weather was confined to fog and icy roads in December, storms and strong winds in January, and some snow in early February. The Met Office’s statistical summary showed that, across the UK, “the average winter temperature was 0.2 degrees higher than usual for 1981-2010. There were 25% more hours of sunshine than usual, and slightly less than the usual 33 days of air frost ” Despite 2014 being a mild winter, BBKA statistics showed that UK colony losses still increased to 14.5% from 9.6%.

As seen in the graph above, with 3 years of survey results now in, the Bee Cosy does seem to be making a difference. Whilst there may be a small positive bias in these results in that the Bee Cosy may attract a more assiduous beekeeper, there is also an element of negative bias in that beekeepers may be choosing to put Bee Cosies on their weaker hives.

Overall, I believe the results show a good case for the merits of the Bee Cosy.

Read More

  • Bee Cosy website
  • My Apiary – My notes show my preparations for winter. The small swarm has perished due to wasps leaving 3 good colonies. Apiguard treatment finished. Feeding in progress.  Extra roof insulation added.

Crunch Accounting Review & Vouchers

Crunch Accounting Review & Vouchers

Crunch Accounting

Crunch is an accountancy firm, I use, based in Hove (UK), focused on freelancers, contractors & small businesses, with good online accounting software, hosted in the cloud.

If you want to sign up with them, receive a £25 Amazon voucher and also help fund this blog which in turn helps the honeybees and beekeepers, please click on one of the adverts below, or use the following link: Crunch Accounting £25 Voucher.

Crunch Accounting

Online Accounting Services For Small Businesses

I started working for myself in 2015. I am essentially a Transformation and Programme Manager contractor and due to the nature of my work I had to set up a Limited company.  I spent a day meeting my local accountancy firm and reading reviews of online accountancy firms.  I spoke with 4 firms, watched the demos of their systems and ended up choosing Crunch Accounting.  I have not been disappointed.

Crunch Review

Every now and again I find a new product or service that I think is absolutely amazing and I find myself raving about to friends.

Friends ask me how “business” is going?  I say it’s going “pretty well”.  They ask “is it difficult to set up a Ltd company and do the accounts” and I tell them “it’s a breeze”.  The business text books say that running a Ltd company is far more effort than being a sole trader, but Crunch have made it a doddle.

I can genuinely say that I LOVE this service as it has enabled me to work for myself and here’s why:

  1. Creating an invoice is as easy as “add client”, click, “create invoice”, click, “issue via email”, click.  If you are registered for VAT the system adds it automatically
  2. Adding expenses, is as easy as above, it’s even made easier by an App they have, whereby I use my phone to take a picture and then an expense is created that recognises the supplier, goods, cost, VAT and categorises it
  3. To recharge expenses is again, a click of a button
  4. You can pay an extra £5/month (I do) and your business bank account links to your online company accounts.  To then reconcile incoming and outgoing money, the Crunch software matches up what you have done in the company account with transactions in the bank account and you click “reconcile”.  This means the system knows, in real time, your current financial position, which means you can pay yourself dividends whenever you like. Clever!
  5. Pay self salary or dividend, click
  6. VAT return, click
  7. Annual return, click
  8. Have a query, email or call them and you will get a swift response

This is what I want from companies I work with.

Crunch Voucher

I hope you have found this personal review helpful.

If you use the advert/link below (or the one above) to sign-up to Crunch you will get a £25 Amazon voucher and I will get a small kick-back that will help fund this blog, which in turn is helping beekeepers and honey bees.

Crunch Link

If you are not a fan of clicking on big adverts, then please use the following link to claim your £25 voucher: Crunch Accounting £25 Voucher.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions, please ask them below and with my 6 months experience of Crunch I will endeavour to answer you.

Jumbo Feeder Plus Eke Plus Apiguard

Jumbo Feeder Plus Eke Plus Apiguard

Advice Needed

I get the feeling now is a crucial time in my beekeeping year. I have had disastrous winters and I want to get it right this year.

I have 4 colonies, all are 14×12’s, no supers, with ekes for the Apiguard. I put the 2nd dose of Apiguard on today. Two of the hives had no stores so I have added Thick Sugar Syrup.

My key questions: Is it OK to have an eke (where the Apiguard is) and then place a jumbo feeder on top?  I.e. there is a gap between the top of the brood frames and the feeder. I am not too concerned that I am using Apiguard at the same time as the supplier does not rate this as high risk.

Any other thoughts on my current configuration / situation gratefully received.

My Apiary Notes give more information.

1 day later – all seems OK. Doesn’t seem to be encouraging robbing. Plan to check Saturday that syrup consumed.

Wasp Warning

Wasp Warning

A couple of months ago the local Gazette warned of potential high numbers of wasps due to a mild winter and last week the National Bee Unit (NBU) issued this warning: ” It is also apparent that Wasps are becoming populous in many areas and they too are desperate for nutrition so Beekeepers should be mindful of the need to protect hives from Wasp invasion particularly where feeding is taking place in the apiary”.

I’ve seen thousands of wasps this year and my first hornets.

Wasp Trap

My Apishield wasp & hornet trap has been in constant use and keeps filling up with hundreds of wasps.  At least one of the readers of this blog has spent hours keeping guard to protect their wasps.  This trap definitely gives one confidence and I keep seeing wasps going in.

Constant Visitors To Wasp Trap
Constant Visitors To Wasp Trap

 

Dead Wasps In Apishield Trap
Dead Wasps In Apishield Trap (no bees)

Wasps On Supers

And wasps have been lurking in and around last years supers in my garage, making it quite a hazard to go and retrieve the pram. Last year’s supers just had the stored sugar feed (not honey) so to get them cleaned up I put them in a neighbours back garden whilst they were away on holiday thinking that there was plenty of time for the wasps and bees to clean them up and disappear.  They turned up in their thousands and I saw my first European hornets!

European Hornet On Honey Super
European Hornet On Honey Super

They’re huge and quite scary.

European Hornet Next To Finger
European Hornet Next To Finger

Wasps were still lurking in the neighbour’s garden a week later.  Not the best of my ideas.

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Honey Yield 2015

Honey Yield 2015

So the results are in. After expanding 4 colonies, spending £250 on bees and new equipment, putting in circa 100 hours of beekeeping and 3 hours extracting,  … I have a yield of 2.5lb. That’s a grand total of 5 jars of honey.

When I announced the yield to my wife I suddenly felt a bit worried about my future claims that all my hours away from child-rearing duties attending the bees might not be met with such understanding.  My wife was certainly questioning why I had invested money in a trolley to carry “all my honey”.  The electric extractor will have to wait!  I also had to break the news to my toddler that she would not be opening a honey stall at the end of our garden after all.

Of course, announcing my yield to my beekeeping circle is a bit like how Nick Clegg must have felt when he realised his political party could fit into a London taxi.  It doesn’t do much for the ego.  Though, to be fair on myself, I got off to a bad start with no colonies getting through the winter, so it was never going to be a bumper crop.

Now it’s time to think positive. Even Usain Bolt has his off days and to quote the man himself:

“I know what I need to do to be a champion, so I’m working on it.”

To get more honey, I need to get these colonies through the winter.  I’m aiming for 100lb next year!

Wotton-under-Edge Honey
Wotton-under-Edge Honey

So what are my chances of success next year?

Well, this doesn’t bode well … a warning was issued today from the National Bee Unit: “In many areas of the UK nectar flows have ceased and reports are coming in from Regional and Seasonal Bee Inspectors of starving bee colonies, where the beekeeper is not aware that the bees are severely short of food, or the colony(s) have already starved to death.”

But I have a plan, a cunning one no less … but more on this in future posts.

Postscript

October 2015 – The BBKA Honey Survey blamed lower honey yields this year on “… excessively windy and with too few prolonged warm spells”.

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Requeening Aggressive Hives

Requeening Aggressive Hives

My cousin Simon started the season with two colonies but when I went to see him last week, up in Yorkshire, I discovered he had seven colonies after several swarms landed in his garden.

The problem for Simon, and potentially his neighbours, were that four of the colonies were aggressive and impossible to inspect.  Furthermore, he doesn’t want seven colonies!

As he knew I was coming up, he decided this was the perfect time to adopt me as his Deputy Beekeeper and bought three mated Queens for us to begin the Requeening process.

3 Queens In Cages
3 Queens In Cages

Requeening Aggressive Bees – Our Approach

We started out with low expectations about even finding the Queens that needed to be culled (they were unmarked and he had never seem them) and took anti-histamine before we started. Always be prepared and all that.

Our general approach to requeening these aggressive colonies was as follows:

  1. Have a plan on paper so that you know what you are going to do with respect to which colonies to requeen, queens to cull and hives to unite
  2. Smoke hive
  3. Move aggressive colony 3m away on to a table
  4. Put spare super on original site
  5. Wait 10 minutes
  6. Aggressive colonies are now a lot calmer and easier to inspect
  7. Find Queen (this sometimes involved going through colony twice and on one occasion trying to shake bees through a queen excluder)
  8. Cull Queen
  9. Put frames back in hive and move back to original site
  10. Install new queen in her queen cage sandwiched between brood frames
  11. If uniting, put newspaper on top, punch small holes, put new colony on top (make sure this is queen-less)
  12. Wait a week

As you might be able to tell from the photo below, Simon and I are not hardened killers.  This was our first time culling Queens and it was a bit disturbing. We knew we were doing it for the right reasons but us beekeepers put so much effort into raising queens and hoping they get mated that to kill these laying Queen’s seemed somewhat perverse.

Requeening - Simon & Roger
Requeening – Simon & Roger

Results

The approach was a success.

  • We culled 4 Queens
  • Requeened 3 colonies
  • United colonies so that he ended up with 5 (1 colony was queen-less)
  • No stings

Requeening Video

Postscript

5 days later Simon emailed “Fondant eaten, newspaper removed, just before bad weather came … fingers crossed all will settle!”

I have yet to find out if the new Queens are alive and laying.

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Charity BEE Fayre @ Enys Gardens, Cornwall

Charity BEE Fayre In Cornwall

B J Sherriff are organising a Charity BEE Fayre ~ Bee Awareness Day at Enys Gardens, Penryn, Cornwall (TR10 9LB) on Sunday 09th August 2015  as per the flyer below.  Proceeds go to Bees Abroad of which Brian Sherriff is a Patron, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Bees for Development and to Enys Gardens.

Charity BEE Fayre, Enys Gardens, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9LB on Sunday 9 August 2015
Charity BEE Fayre, Enys Gardens, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9LB on Sunday 9 August 2015

 Related Links

BBKA News: Which Is More Complex – Keeping Bees Or Children?

BBKA News: Which Is More Complex – Keeping Bees Or Raising Children?

Raising a fully functioning child who isn’t addicted to Peppa Pig, Hula-Hoops and screaming ‘no’ to perfectly reasonable requests not to engage in life-threatening behaviour is undoubtedly more stressful than managing a bee colony. My two kids are to blame for my overly salted hair and not the bees.

Beekeeper & Baby
Beekeeper & Baby

However, as I look at the two books currently residing beside my bed (Toddler Taming and Beekeeping: A Seasonal Guide) I realise each of the disciplines have a claim to being the more complex.

Both bees and small children refuse to follow the rules and often fail to understand that we are trying to help. That said, they are usually happy to get on with it whilst we observe.

Still, we-who-love-them hope that one day, by reading the right books, talking to the right people, finding the ‘secret’, we will finally get them sussed.  Yes, one day we will get them to sleep through the night and to produce lots of honey.

So as I continue to research the theories behind child-rearing and bee-keeping, I wonder which is taking more toll on that grey matter of mine. And to work that out, I devised a completely non-scientific comparison study.

Feeding

Bottle or breast. Baby-led or purees. The blue spoon or the impossible-to-find pink one. Feeding a child can be tricky, with militant campaigners on either side. The older generation seem to think us lot are insane with our Annabel Karmel recipes books (yes, she teaches us how to mash broccoli) but we need to put our £30 baby sized food mixer to good use. My mum says it wasn’t that complicated in her day but now of course we know how dangerous food can be! Whole grapes (choking hazard), nuts (allergy) – quite frankly the kitchen is a danger zone for the first 18 months.  Child Brain Toll (CBT) rating: 3/5

Ideally bees won’t need any feeding but weighing the hives and calculating how much stores they need for the winter does take a bit of thinking.  Making the fondant or syrup is my kind of cooking.  I might have over-fed bees my bees last autumn and I’m sure this contributed to my dismal survival rate. Bee Brain Toll (BBT) rating: 3/5

Health

With kids you get them vaccinated and try to make sure grandparents don’t get them addicted to chocolates and ice cream. At the first sign of illness, the wonder drug that is Calpol comes out. We now buy magnums of the stuff.  CBT: 1/5

Bee health is extremely complex.  We have to be the doctors and nurses. We have to diagnose and treat.  Ideally – even a general inspection should be done to the same hygiene standards as open heart surgery. BBT: 5/5

Sleeping

This is when rituals can become complex.  A lot has been written about getting babies to sleep and it’s a hot topic.  With our eldest, we had 12 months of “bouncy time”, involving up to 30 minutes of jumping on the bed between bath time and reading, followed by a song and rocking.  She never slept in the cot during the day meaning that when we were exhausted we still had to take her out in the pram for her daytime naps. Luckily our second child read the instruction manual and has been much more compliant. Nine months in we even get the odd night when he actually sleeps through the night.  CBT: 4/5

OK, bees don’t sleep, but I’m going to include over-wintering in this comparison.  This activity involves a varroa treatment in August; in September checking the bees are disease free, have a laying queen, are a strong colony, have enough stores and fed as required; in October providing insulation and a mouse guard.  You only need to do this once per year per hive (compared with 3 times a day per child) but it’s more complex than “bouncy time”. BBT: 5/5

Development & Play

I must have said “da-da” to my children 10,000 times before getting any reward.  I definitely wore out a pair of jeans with each baby as I helped them toddle around the house. And play – they got that all by themselves!  Not complex, just repetitive. CBT: 1/5

Bees go through the cycle of house worker to forager all by themselves without any input from the beekeeper. I’m not sure if bees play, perhaps the drones, but they do dance! BBT: 1/5

Behaviour

If my eldest does any more moaning, I’m going to sign her up to the next series of Loose Women.  Whilst child experts on TV can make improving behaviour look simple, it’s an issue for all parents.  From trying to get your infant not to drop the spoon again for you to pick up, to the benefits of sharing, these are difficult messages to get through. Persistence and a firm voice is key – as are threats of a CBeebies-ban.  CBT: 5/5

Bee behaviour is fascinating. Preparing to swarm, swarming and the social aspect of storing honey for the winter for future generations.  But they get on with this all by themselves.  I can’t train them not to swarm, or to lay comb in straight lines. In a way it’s easier knowing we cannot take responsibility. BBT: 1/5

Results

So, the unweighted “Brain Toll” totals from above are:

  • Children: 14/25
  • Bees: 15/25

Conclusion

Bees might have just won this complexity battle but both disciplines are equally worth the effort. Both bring me joy, challenge, a smile and pride.  And with all this external focus, they might even be helping me to “regain my sanity”.

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ApiShield Hornet Trap – Review

ApiShield Hornet Trap – Review

I blogged a few weeks ago about installing the Apishield Hornet Trap (link to post). I left it a couple of weeks before opening the side entrances as I was off on holiday and wanted to be around to inspect the contents every evening.  My fear was finding honey bees in the trap.

Well – it has been very successful.

After 5 days, it had captured 20 wasps and no honeybees. 4 wasps a day.  I imagine this rate will increase as wasps become more prevalent during July and August.

When the Asian Hornet arrives, usefully the Apishield will trap Asian hornet Queens in September-October reducing this population for the following year.  This is not the case for European hornets and wasps which have a different reproductive cycle.

Click following link to visit Vita website for more information on the ApiShield. (Please note Vita provided me with this hornet trap).

ApiShield Hornet Trap - In Hive
ApiShield Hornet Trap – In Hive
ApiShield Hornet Trap - Partially Out
ApiShield Hornet Trap – Partially Out
ApiShield Hornet Trap - Inspection
ApiShield Hornet Trap – Inspection

Video below, shows me taking out and inspecting hornet trap.

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The Queen’s Beekeeper (John Chapple)

The Queen’s Beekeeper

I have just found out that the Queen has a beekeeper.  Why has no one told me before?!

John Chapple maintains hives at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House (Prince Charles’s residence), Lambeth Palace (Archbishop of Canterbury residence) plus some 40 hives in London’s’ Royal Parks.

He clearly knows how to look after a Queen or two.

Queen's Beekeeper (John Chappel) in white Sherriff Bee Suit with Patrice at Lambeth Palace Apiary.
Queen’s Beekeeper (John Chapple) in white Sherriff Bee Suit with Patrice Munro at Lambeth Palace Apiary.
Photo by Scott Munro at Lightworks.tv Ltd

Do I Have Anything In Common With John?

Well … we’re both beekeepers, have beards and wear Sherriff bee suits (external link). That’s good enough for me.

Where our similarities diverge is that he’s an expert beekeeper, his beard is more impressive, my Sherriff beesuit is khaki and I’ve read that he barely flinches when stung by a bee, whilst I will definitely say something.

Maybe, one day, I’ll be a bit more like John.

Top 3 Reasons I’m Being Stung Less Often

I wrote about my Fear Of Bees for the April 2015 issue of the BBKA News and you may be wondering how my season is going from a “being stung” perspective.

Well.  The good news is that I have only been stung once so far, when the suit and shirt I was wearing were stretched tight across my back and a bee managed to get his stinger in.

The reasons I am being stung less are mainly down to the following:

  1. I’m less of an idiot and don’t attempt to do anything with the bees unless fully kitted out (suit, gloves, boots)
  2. My bees are a lot more gentle this year
  3. My new Apiarist Sherriff beesuit has proved bee tight and given me more confidence and pleasure working with the bees.  No bees in my bonnet yet.

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Hornet Trap Installed

Hornet Trap Installed

My regular open mesh floor had developed a gap at the back that hundreds of bees were using. Perhaps these bees were from this colony but they might have been robbers and I have heard of other beekeepers losing 40lb of honey in a matter of days due to wasp entering hives through a hole. So it seemed a good day to install the ApiShield Hornet Trap, which is also a floor, that Vita had supplied. Thanks Vita.

Apishield Hornet Trap
Apishield Hornet Trap

The principle behind this trap is (A) let the house bees get familiar with the front entrance, (B) open up the side entrances after 3 days and insert cones that allows hornets (including Asian Hornet), wasps, wax moth and robbers bees in but not back out. They are attracted to these side entrances as they can smell the honey, brood and wax and it is an easy way to avoid the guard bees.

There’s a drawer/tray at the back so you can examine and remove the predators getting trapped.

I’ll write a new blog post when I open the side entrances and examine the contents of the tray.

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* Paid for link