Introduction.
Here we are at the end of the season, almost. It’s a bit later than usual for me to be harvesting honey but the phacelia across the river has been secreting copious nectar and filling up the supers and the weather is warm. Some shallow frames are not quite fully capped though. I’ve removed and extracted a few from each remaining super and left the rest, flanked by several wide dummy boards, till mid-September when I return from holidays.
Heavy Supers.
I’ve discovered a good way for me to harvest honey working solo without breaking my back lugging heavy supers across the lawn. I don’t use clearer boards and I harvest frames as soon as they are ready. I brush the bees off with a sturdy plant such as a spring of Rosemary, or whatever is to hand, and never have any problems with grumpy bees; then I place the frames in a poly nuc box. I have several of these boxes and it works a treat.
Fortunately, it’s been warm enough for Apiguard treatments to work effectively. Two colonies have needed this based on alcohol wash test results of 3% or more. I use an integrated pest management system so I only medicate colonies that actually need it at the time of testing. Yesterday it reached 18 degrees C in the middle of the day and you could smell thymol around the 2 colonies being treated. A nice steady varroa drop below the open mesh floors too. Interestingly, these colonies originated from unknown swarms. One was collected last year from a free-living colony in a wall in my former out-apiary, and the other was collected from the local distillery this year. The former had a few crawling bees with deformed wing virus but they are in the apiary at the side of the house and not near another colony.
Children & Books.
The local children have gone back to school. They have been over for lots of visits to the apiary this season, and we’ve had tea parties out front with oatcakes smothered in honey. I’ve lent out some of my books and we’ve talked about why they like them. It amazes me how informed young people are already about the importance of insects, and it’s reassuring to discover how fascinated they are to learn more about them.
Betsie Valentine is a great favourite and I’ve reviewed the second in the series for you, along with a couple of other children’s books.
Title: Betsie Valentine And The Honourable Honeybee
Author: M C Duncan
Publisher: TOM & TILLEY LTD, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-3999-0790-9
139 pages
Paperback, Cost: £7:99
Available: mdthequeenbee.co.uk/shopbooks & Northern Bee Books
Children’s author, motivational speaker, and beekeeper M C Duncan writes an exciting sequel to Betsie Valentine and the Honeybees. Betsie Valentine And The Honourable Honeybee tells the story of Betsie’s adventures as a new beekeeper. She is a couple of years older now but is as delightful and engaging in her early teens.
Mysterious new neighbours move in next door. They seem connected to honey bees and the environment, and are keen on gardening, but never seem to attend to their colony working in a pretty painted hive amongst the flowers. Who are they really, and why is Melissa so vague about her family? What does she do all day while Betsie is at school?
The girls are around the same age with lots in common and Betsie is keen to have a friend to share beekeeping with. As the story unfolds, the mystery is revealed and, along the way, we learn more about the practicalities of beekeeping as Betsie works alongside her mother in the apiary and gathers material for her end-of-year school project.
There are 40 short chapters with a beautiful illustration by Teagan Sharrard at the start of each one. At the end there is a useful glossary for the budding beekeeper. This book will be enjoyed by imaginative young people with a reading age of around 9-13 years, and younger children will enjoy having it read to them.
Title: Moki and the Bees
Author: Helen Thorne
Illustrator: Debra Thorne
Publisher: Thorne & Thorne 2023
ISBN: 978-1-3999-5735-9
Paperback, 25.5 cm x 20.8 cm
Cost: £5
Available from Northern Bee Books & other good bookstores
Moki and the Bees is a delightfully written educational book by Helen Thorne for young children between 4-6 years of age. Debra Thorne brings the book to life with superb illustrations that both teach and amuse the reader.
The main message is about the importance of pollination and the value of honey, and it is told skilfully through the story of Moki visiting her beekeeping grandparents. She learns about smokers, and the gentle handling of a colony of honey bees. Moki sees the queen, and harvests honey leaving enough for the bees for winter stores. She helps with the fun part of extracting honey. This is a wonderful book to inspire young readers and attract new beekeepers.
Title: The Wee Little Bees Made With Love
Author: Clair Harwood
Illustrator: Laura Mulgrew
Published by Northern Bee Books 2023
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-91434-58-2
Cost: £6:99
Available: Northen Bee Books & www.theweelittlebees.com
The Wee Little Bees Made With Love by Claire Harwood is a gentle story for young children about a soulful looking little honey bee called Beau who is nearing the end of her foraging career and leaves her colony to go off adventuring by herself.
Imaginatively illustrated by Laura Mulgrew, the story follows Beau back in time to castles and queens. Beau eventually realises that she cannot live happily without her sisters in the honey bee colony and she flies home safely again. This uncomplicated story subtly delivers the important message of love and caring for others, and it is a great foundation for a good life.
I see that you use a similar method as me when placing ready to extract super frames in containers while waiting for the last uncapped frames to be filled up. I use suitable plastic containers but unused nucs is a clever alternative. I’ve made a good amount of “fat” super dummies to fill out the empty space in the super so the bees can concentrate on filling up the remaining almost ready supers. In this way you don’t need to lift off heavy supers from the hive, but deal with the filled frames one by one. Has worked fine for me the last 2-3 years. And I don’t need so very many supers anymore, normally only have one super per colony. I have reached the maximum of colonies I want to have this season – 6 colonies. I want beekeeping to be a pleasant hobby, not hard work. And I don’t want to compete too much with the other types of bees around us – solitary bees and bumblebees. Or for that matter other pollinators like moths.
Hello Paul. Snap! We do share the same systems and I am almost down to my optimum number of 6 colonies. The only thing I should mention about using nuclei for collecting the honey is that it can drip out through the OMFs. So, best place something on the floor to avoid leaks when you bring them into the house.
Yes, I can see that. I have bought cheap plastic boxes where the supers fits well, so any leaking honey can be poured into the sieve when I extract them.