Grow Your Own Magazine

crichmond · #1 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 06:40 PM

Hi

I know that the thread title might make you think that I am having problems with bees robbing but thats were youd be wrong.

My bees had a robbing problem yesterday

as I nicked a whole super full of honey and extracted it

This is my first ever honey from my bees and it tastes great

Now if the other five hives can just catch up it will be even better, there is four on the allotment and two on top of the extention (easy to get to as we have a door from the washroom out onto the roof).

I also have a nucleus coming along nicely which will be going to one of the peeps on the intro course, the queen has mated and has just started laying.

shirlthegirl43 · #2 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 06:50 PM

Congratulations. How much honey did you get crichmond?

crichmond · #3 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 06:58 PM

Got 15lbs should have been more but i recently had to re-queen as she stopped laying and as I had to wait to go back in the hive they ate some of it to draw out some new foundation I had put in. Still nevermind better 15lb than nothing and they have also nearly filled another super already so I need to put the extracted one back on to give them more room.

shirlthegirl43 · #4 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 07:04 PM

I confess to not understanding all the technical stuff. 15lbs of honey sounds good though. You going to make mead with some?

crichmond · #5 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 07:14 PM

Hmmm mead, now I had thought about it and i do fancy trying it but I reckon I will wait until I get a bit more honey first. For some reason my family all want some fresh honey all of a sudden..

shirlthegirl43 · #6 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 07:25 PM

I have fancied making mead for a few years now but I need to find a local bee-keeper who is prepared to give me a good deal.

Mrs Dobby · #7 (**permalink**) 28-06-2009, 07:35 PM

Congrats Crichmond! Our first hive is doing well, but the colony has only been in there for 4 weeks, so we're a bit aways from getting any honey yet!

crichmond · #8 (**permalink**) 29-06-2009, 04:39 PM

Hope your bees do well Mrs Dobby, I see you live in Partington, I lived their for a short while on oak road after I moved back from Greece after living on the island of Crete for 7 years.

Mrs Dobby · #9 (**permalink**) 29-06-2009, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crichmond

Hope your bees do well Mrs Dobby, I see you live in Partington, I lived their for a short while on oak road after I moved back from Greece after living on the island of Crete for 7 years.

Thanks Chris, we've been given the Ok by our friendly neighbourhood beekeeper (a friend called Dave who works for Trafford Council Parks dept) to keep them on Moss View Allotments, and our second hive looks like its ready to move from where we got the swarm (another local allotment site) back to our plot!

We're on Lock Lane, near the school, not too far from Oak road! Mind you, I'd rather be living in Crete than Partington anyday!

eye1der · #10 (**permalink**) 01-07-2009, 11:18 AM

carefull with the mead....unless you like headache of course lol

Nicos · #11 (**permalink**) 01-07-2009, 11:21 AM

Honey??...how lovely!!!

( didn't realise Mrs D you'd also got bees...good for you!!!!

)

Mrs Dobby · #12 (**permalink**) 02-07-2009, 08:30 AM

Hi Nicos, yep, Bees are a new addition to the plot this year, so only novice beekeepers, but yesterday we housed our third colony, a phone call from our friendly neighbourhood beekeeper asking if we had a spare hive for a nucleus he needed to rehome meant that yesterday we were hive building and then a trip to the local apiary to house them into the newly built hive! We're going to move that hive plus our second hive from the local apiary tonight onto our apiary on the allotment, so we'll now have 3 hives together in the apiary (which is just about at capacity for now)!

Looks like the second apiary we had planned to build on our next door plot is going to be a priority this autumn / winter, so we'll be able to home more hives next year! If we get a split off each hive next year, then we could easily reach 6 hives in total, which is about as many as we want between the 4 of us that are running the apiary!

Pumpkin Becki · #13 (**permalink**) 02-07-2009, 08:39 AM

Critchmond and Mrs Dobby, this all sounds like really good news, healthy happy bees multiplying and producing, congratulations both of you.

Mrs Dobby · #14 (**permalink**) 03-07-2009, 08:17 PM

All 3 hives are now safely back on our plot, the move was finished at 1130 last night and bees all seem happy! Tis getting rather busy in the apiary now tho! Lol!

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