Learning opportunities

Here are details of a couple of courses that have come to my attention:

1. Beekeeping Appreciation Day. Saturday 19 May 2012
A one day course run at Marton Village Hall near Rugby by our local beekeepers association. Book at http://www.warleambees.com/trainapp.html
 

2. The Honey Bee - A Being of Warmth, Friday 15th June to Sunday 17th June

A weekend course at Hawkwood College near Stroud looking at Biodynamic Beekeeping. http://www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/courses/The_Honey_Bee_-_A_Being_of_Warmth_June

What a tidy apiary!

A group of us spent the morning tidying the apiary ready for new hives and more bees. The willow fence is starting to grow and the Blackthorn is in blossom. Lovely!

Bees and flowers

"For to the bee the flower is a fountain of life, and to the flower the bee is a messenger of love, and to both, bee and flower, the giving and receiving is a need and an ecstacy". From Kahlil Gibran The Prophet

We had a buzzing first steering group meeting last night getting busy making arrangements for the Honey CSA. Looking forward to getting some of the Bee Club jobs done on saturday so hope all you enthusiasts out there will be flying by...We are hoping to arrange some more bee related events in the coming months such as film nights and talks so look out for that. The first film will most likely be the Vanishing of the Bees, a documentary exploring the decline of honeybees and the ecological, political and economic implications of that. It offers advice as to what we can do to help the situation...such as joining your local Bee Club! x

Cheeky bumble bee

I have a skep of bees in my garden and yesterday I saw a cheeky bumble bee trying to get in the hive. But there were so many honey bees going in and out it couldn't get close enough. I wonder if it could smell honey or just had an identity crisis!

First spring visit to the apiary

Well this was a couple of weeks ago now, but when we had that glorious sunny weather (remember that?!), a group of us who had come up to the farm to do some other bee related activities, took advantage of the warm sunshine to open up the hives. We only open up the hives on fine warm days because the bees maintain their hive at around 30 degrees C so if you open up on a cold day the temperature drops a lot and its more work for them to raise it up again.
Anyhow, we looked at the 4 hives. Two were doing pretty well, but the other two were looking quite weak. The queen had started to lay in all of them, and they were bringing in a lot of pollen and even some nectar. We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that they cope OK with this cold wet spell.
There are still a lot of jobs to do up at the apiary so we should have another work party up there soon.

Top bar hive

Check out the top bar hive we made. Yes it does look rather like a manger - a bit early for Christmas... It now also has a roof and a set of top bars inside. Now it just needs bees...