March 2016Keeping Bees @ Bradley Fold Allotments ApiaryIan Miller

Dear Gordon

Today the temperature reached 12deg C which is the minimum required to remove frames and organise a Brood box.I was able to examine all my colonies and transfer them onto clean hives. I use a steam cleaner to sterilise used equipment and a small amount of glacial acetic acid with the stored comb.

The Apiary was altered towards the end of last year so that all the hives are in a single row. This was done to move my hives further from the houses and in line with Cathy’s & Mick’s. The available positions on the stand are A-H.

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IanMickCathy

I was asked to set up an apiary at the Nazarene Theological College here in Didsbury and decided it would be a good idea to have my larger honey producing colonies on a single site not too far from home. I am also mindful that our neighbours would prefer us to have les bees on the Bradley Fold apiary.

I shall continue to work with Mick & Cathy as before. I intend to use the apiary to keep smaller Nuc colonies headed by the older Queens. These colonies will be used to draw out foundation and winter stores. They will be kept small by removing brood & bees to other apiaries.

The Nazarene Apiary

The Halton Park Apiary (Lancaster) will be used to breed and mate my new Queens within vertical hives 3 Nuc boxes high. Nucs will be made up from these colonies and provided with a Queen Cell. Once mated and laying, the Nuc will be brought to Manchester and kept over winter at The Firs Apiary

The Firs Apiary is a local out apiary (3 miles away). In their second year these young Queens will be used to replace older Queens at The Nazarene Apiary.

The bees were not treated with Oxalic Acid in January. We are monitoring the Varroa drop and this has been very low. I have yet to examine the latest samples. We have special ‘sacrificial Drone’ frames within each brood box & cut out the drone larva once sealed. This along with other manipulations helps to keep the Varroa numbers to a reasonable level without expensive treatments.

Best wishes

Ian