The BeeHolder, October 2009

The apiary visit and tea this month was at…Liz Farrington’s apiary.  3 very smart hives very well maintained with very smart yellow mouse guards.  Each hive belonged to a different generation: Liz, her daughter and father Bill Gough. *The hives were on a steep valley side surrounded by fruit trees and an extensive plantation of mixed native hardwoods all of which had superb views

The meeting was led by John Bevan our seasonal bee inspector - John had been to my hives a few weeks before and I had found his whole approach so educational. So I was very pleased when he said he would do the apiary visit.

There were a lot of new members who asked a lot of good questions that were answered at a level that everyone understood. The main points covered were looking for varroa and checking the weight of the hives for winter stocks. New members learnt the good old beekeeping term “Heft”

Liz had treated with apiguard and John suggested that she remove the trays which were virtually empty and scrape any remainder over the top of the frames. The other tip was to not have a mesh floor in place as a solid floor (even if it was just a bit of cardboard) would keep in the fumes better

All the hives were down to a brood and one super. John was not bothered if the queen excluder was left on or not there was a bit of a discussion as to whether to have one or not. The conclusion was that if it was not left on then there was absolutely nothing to stop the bees harvesting anything in the super if one was left on.

There was some discussion about MENTORING new members and it was generally thought to be a good idea as there are so many terms and ways of doing things that many questions would be asked and if someone of experience could be at the other end of the phone to try to answer questions as they cropped up it would be a great help and probably ensure the newcomer having more confidence would remain a member.

A great day.

Graham Winchester, MBKA Programme Secretary

BRIAN NORRIS

FOR ALL BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

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