Mid Bucks Beekeepers Association Blog

We have been taking advantage of the sunshine this week and melting down old frames from last season. The frames have a combination of broken comb, solid stores and just poor state.

This is the most number of frames we have been able to load the extractor with, the point is you do not need direct sun light on the frame, rather on the extractor as it is the ambient heat that melts the wax and honey. The extracted wax looks particularly clean so we will use it for the wax cake in this year’s Association Honey Show J

The bees in my home apiary are in full flow, pollen is pouring into the hive.

Here are some photos of the sources in my garden.

The session is still on for today, the plan is to practice on an empty hive with water and then apply Oxalic Acid to 3 colonies.

If we have time we will also feed a couple of colonies with fondant.

The session starts at 10:00 and should be finished by 11:00.

Please remember to park on the main road and walk to the apiary as the field is not suitable for vehicles.

As part of the Apiary closedown yesterday we carried out a full disease inspection on all colonies. A couple showed signs of severe varroa infestation and one had a high Nosema count.

The attached picture shows members preparing and examining samples for Nosema. The samples were from the Association Apiary and members Apiaries.

The forecast is not good for tomorrow, I will send status updates during the day if the weather affects the planned activities.

The Nosema testing will be done under cover so should still proceed no matter what the weather.