Remote hive management is a fairly new concept in beekeeping. Some beekeepers want to know what’s going on in their out yards. This is where nature and technology meet. Having a developer who lives next door, I rolled the concept of a SMS beehive scale past him one day. He seemed keen to take on […]
There are many methods of queen rearing and once you get the general idea, many different ideas are possible. Below are two concepts that I’ve seen and the people who use them, claim they work. I used the first method in my first year beekeeping and it seemed to work fine back then. However, I […]
Why Split a Hive When you have a strong hive coming out of winter, with at least 8 plus frames of bees, it can be split. This is a swarming prevention technique and works great for winter loss recovery. How to Split a Hive To split a hive, you will require the following: Another complete […]
Anyone interested in raising their own queens will need a grafting chart. There are many versions available, but the one below helped me the most. You can download it on the bottom of the page. The days are clearly labelled and it tells you what do on each day. Here is a quick breakdown of […]
Making nucs is a great way to increase the number of hives you have or to make a little extra revenue selling them. During the past 5 years there has been a push towards more sustainable beekeeping methods. Queen rearing and making nucs are two essential components of having a sustainable apiary. How to make […]
About Swarms ‘A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly.’ Proverbial bee-keepers’ saying, mid 17th century. This saying makes reference to the worth of a swarm with its potential to collect honey that calendar […]