Flow frames are great, but they are a pain to over winter. Luckily with low quantities of wax they don’t get wax moth larvae eating their way through them and destroying them however they do get a little mouldy. They are then a pain to clean before deployment in the spring. A steam cleaner is … Read more
As is always the case with my beekeeping I have one harvest a year. Like other years the harvest was end of August and beginning of September. It is a difficult job judging when to take the harvest. You want to have a period of good weather where the flow is in full stream. Too … Read more
OK so anyone who uses flow frames will know that after a year or so they get a bit manky. Chat forums are full of people asking how to clean them or if they should clean them at all etc. I always tried not to clean them but this year they are particularly grubby. I … Read more
This year I am going to revisit my Queen cup method of queen rearing. So the idea is to breed up some drones whilst preparing the cassette to accept new eggs. Progress Red hive is double brood from the beginning of the season. 3/6/23 step 2 got everything together. 3/6/23 Step 3 inserted the cassette … Read more
Hive stands can take many forms and range from a simple paving slab or pallet to an elaborate all sing in all dancing construction. Ideally the hives should be a short distance off the ground so as not to hurt your back loading things on top, though be careful as if you are running lots … Read more
