Emerging bees

The prospect of a new season is exciting but waiting for the bees to emerge [hopefully] is a worrying time as you wait to see if they have survived the winter.

Until the temperature is a minimum of 15C you shouldn't open the hive but bees will start flying when it gets to 10C.

Recently the temperature has risen and checking the fondant supplies gives me an opportunity to get an idea of what the survival rates might be.
Click the button to see the video.

The Warre Hive - Part 5- Making the quilt and feeder

The quilt is an unusual feature of the Warre Hive and its just a box that sits on top of the brood boxes.
The purpose of the quilt box is to insulate the top of the hive during cold weather, which helps the bees stay warm and, more importantly, prevents water vapour from condensing into water droplets at the top of the hive and then dripping onto the bee cluster.

There are three ways of populating a hive - buy a full colony, split an existing colony or get a swarm.
Because the Warre hive is a different size to my other hives its easier [and cheaper!] to get a swarm.
New swarms will need feeding to help it build up but in the plans I am using there is no mention of a feeder.
In Warre's book 'Beekeeping for all' [which I don't have] there are plans for one but I am going to make something simpler.
Click the button to watch the video.

Winter Oxalic acid treatment

One of the main problems facing honey bees is the varroa mite. It originated in Asia and has spread across the world.
It can weaken a colony to the point where it eventually dies but there is no silver bullet that can deal with it and a bee keeper can only try to control the levels of the mite in a hive.
Usually this is done in Autumn and winter.
The winter treatment involves using oxalic acid which is effective in reducing the mites but it is corrosive and kills any bee brood in the hive. Therefore it is administered after the queen has stopped laying.
The acid can be administered in liquid form by using a syringe but I prefer using what is called a vapouriser,

Click the button to see how it is administered.