A Beekeeper’s Diary Podcast

Quick chat after taking two more supers of honey. Hot work but ploughing through the season. Probably back for more next week!

Back from a short break in Scotland. Pulled about 35 pounds of honey from hive 1, the new Queens are going well. All in all, good progress. 

Back for another visit. Introduced a new Queen after upgrading the Nuc into a full hive. Assessed the state of readiness of nectar that has been stored so far,  which is not quite ready.  I was trying to name Gwenyn Gruffydd, the Welsh Beekeeper with a great youtube channel. Sorry for misremembering his name. 

A check through the Nuc with the old Queen in residence and extra supers for the huge colony. Spring bird song, tales of my visit to hear Nightingales. 

Queen Cells everywhere Captain. What to do!

First inspection of the new bees. Transferred the bees to a Poly Hive, marked the Queen and made a Nuc as they had started making queen cells. In with a bang! 

We are back in business. I have been lucky enough to be given some bees by my association, as a member has given up. I am feeding fondant to get them through the last of winter and can't wait to open up and see what is going on when the weather heats up. 

Sad news I am afraid. I went to visit the bees over Christmas to check on food levels and hive health, but sadly the colony had collapsed. I describe what I think has happened in this episode. There are signs of spring in the countryside though, so there are optimistic moments to be had including wonderful birdsong. 

Welcome back, I had a few fun edits to start the podcast but have managed to hide them on the cutting room floor somehow. Quick winter update, stores are good, no condensation on the top of the bees, all seems ok. Fingers crossed. 

End of October visit. Feeders all empty and removed. Celotex bonnet on top with metal roof. Bees looking good, nice big colony. 

A windy day in the apiary yesterday. Feeding is done for now, battening down the hatches for the long winter. The bees were still bringing pollen in, braving the rain and wind.

A chat from in my car as it was raining and the nearby gardener was giving it some welly with the leaf blower. Includes the smell of Ivy from the bees latest foraging, beehive remodelling and an equestrian drive by. 

Today marks the end of the varroa treatment time period, so I took out the strips. Only remembered after topping up the feeder so it was harder than necessary! A wood pigeon was stamping around beside me as I must have been in stealth mode or he was sneaking up on me very badly. 

Hi all, this is a whistle stop visit to top up the feeders, check varroa drop, wasp activity and overall hive health. Stung by a grumpy sky raisin. 

The late summer sunshine glows upon me as I talk about commencing winter feeding, hefting the hive, checking all is ok with the Queen and some observations about the surrounding natural history at this time of year. 

A wonderful late summer visit to the bees. Local Helicopter pilots make themselves known as I talk over the days activities. Feeding will be paused to leave space for the winter bees to be created. Don't want to fill all the space with food just yet. Varroa treatment will continue. 

The golden haze of late summer transforms the apiary landscape into a sea of beige, punctuated only by the occasional cowslip, ragwort, and thistle. Standing here on August 17th, the silence is almost deafening – a stark contrast to the vibrant buzz of high summer just weeks ago. This pivotal moment in the beekeeping calendar brings unique challenges and essential tasks. As natural nectar sources...

Today I talk about taking off a couple of supers, one for me and one left for the bees. Varroa treatment starts today, 6-8 weeks to go. Hive is now reconfigured for winter. One super under the brood box, ready to move back on top in the spring. 

An audio chat from beside the hive, varroa monitoring using CO2 and a bee has a good check on my bee suit. 

Adding supers, brood is booming. Mid summer check in. 

A hot visit to the hive to check on the new colony’s growth. Sweaty but productive. 

A Sunday visit to the hive. Now expanding nicely, plenty of brood, stores are steady. Hoping to start collecting some nectar for my jars soon! 

Listen to the sounds of thousands of little feet scurry across the frames and drop pollen on the open mesh floor. Occasional squeaks and grumbles. I’ve got a new contact mic for absorbing these hidden and rarely heard sounds. 

The colony is now across the majority of brood frames. Time for the 1st super. Maybe some honey this year after all. Weird to be back at the beginning after so long. Enjoying the process. 

First visit since installing the nuc. All looking good. Gradually expanding into the full hive. No supercedure cells, feeding underway.