Yesterday (20th April) I went through a few of my colonies, marking and clipping Queens and putting on a few supers, and was very pleasantly surprised at how well advanced they were after the long cold winter. I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the bees shake of the effects of winter, and how quickly colonies develop once pollen is freely available. But in just ten more weeks the honey flow will be over for most of us, and we will be looking to prepare the bees for winter once more. The beekeeping season is over before some realise it has even begun!
Last Autumn I got a bit worried that it was taking longer than usual to get the Varroa Mite Drops Numbers down to what I consider to be acceptable, and so I gave each of my colonies a strip of Apistan. It worked and now my bees now look fine. I have recently given some of my colonies a dose of “HIve Clean” after hearing some good reports about its effectiveness - either my bees are well free of any Varroa mites - I have not applied it correctly - or it doesn’t work - it’s difficult to prove a negative.
Our Next Apiary meeting will be at Malcolm Highs Garden Apiary Braughing Friars on Sunday 23rd. May at 3pm. Malcolm has said he wants to see some of our newer beekeeper going through his bees to give the older members a rest. Malcolm would be pleased to welcome beekeepers from Bishops Stortford or any other division who would like to come along and see his facilities, please phone me for details of how to find him.
The next committee meeting will bee at 8.00pm. on Thursday 13th. May at Pinewood School.
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