Visiting my ladies in cold Varmland

I was visiting my good friend in Varmland for a few days and used this chance to see my last year bee colonies which I keep in horizontal Top Bar Hives. It felt so good to see them again ... well ... I didnt see them but hear them :) Its still too cold outside so they are keeping warm in the hive. By placing the ear on the hive wall and knocking it with a hand makes them buzz :) They are alive!!! Here is a video of my todays visit to Kretsloppshuset which is a course in self-sufficient householding I attended last year for 8 month;

Spring is in the air

New Apiary Location

I have moved the apiary behind the summer house which is exposed to South and protected by the house itself from the harsh swedish North winds.

I have used dowsing rods to find the stress lines which are believed to benefit bee colonies. I only placed the long hives on the stress lines (4 hives from right).

The old location is still under ice and snow, unlike the new location;

The old apiary location was behind a small hill facing North, hence the freezer effect ;) Most defenetly a wrong location for Sun Creatures!

Ha ha ha

Inhaling Beehive Air - Apitherapy

Apitherapy

Apitherapy has been known since the Egyptian times, and part of this extensive therapy also comprises beehive air – aerosol treatments. It contains all the components mentioned earlier, i.e. propolis, royal jelly, beeswax and pollen. Inhaling a specific aroma, which is produced in beehives, has an extremely beneficial effect on human psychophysical condition and can take place from April to September. Air, saturated with essential fragrances, helps people with the following conditions:
- Bronchitis;
- Asthma;
- Allergies;
- Chronic lung diseases;
- Susceptibility to infections;
- Weakened immune system;
- Respiratory tract infections;
- Chronic headaches, migraines;
- Stress;
- Depression.

By inhaling a warm beehive air, through a special breathing mask, we consume these precious substances, which have a medicinal effect on a series of conditions. Apitherapy, in a natural way, helps us to overcome many problems and is also more than perfect for athletes, children and the elderly.

Recommended treatment period is three to twelve days, half an hour twice a day. The effects of the therapy are shown six to eight weeks after the completed apitherapy.
Source

Bee deaths: EU delays action on pesticides ban

This is indeed a very sad day for the environment! :(


EU nations have been unable to reach agreement on proposals to ban the use of three pesticides that have been linked to the decline of bees.

The European Commission had called for a two-year EU-wide moratorium, but a number of nations opposed the plans.

A recent report by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) concluded that the pesticides posed a "high acute risk" to pollinators, including honeybees.

The commission is expected to redraft its proposals ahead of another vote.

Member states were unable to reach a qualified majority in order for the proposals to be adopted.

The news of the stalemate has angered groups that had been campaigning in favour of the ban.

Continue reading ...

24 Hours to Ban Bee Killers

Please sign this petition before the EU Parlament vote on banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides;
http://www.avaaz.org/en/bye_bye_bees_global/?copy

Thank you

Great News !!!

I just recieved an email from my top bar beekeeper friend up north in Sweden that one of my two top bar hives is alive and has enough stores. Patrick could not look into the other hive because it is too cold outside. The one he inspected has a large window on the side of the hive were he could clearly see bees between the comb :) SOOOOOO HAPPPPPYYYY! but the winter is still not over so lets make sure they come out of April alive before celebrating.

The bees are clearly visible behind the widnow glass :)

This hive was inspected and my friend is totally not impressed with the Periscope Entrance. Why? The bees clogged the entrance with dead bees completely! He removed the mouse guard and scraped out all the dead ones. This must be the reason for the bees pooing inside the hive (in the photo above one can see brownish spots stuff on the window glass). I hope all this poo is not going to polute the hive.

This is the hive that wasnt inspected. Lets hope they are doing well!

Another great news is that my friend Patrick will teach Top Bar Beekeeping at Kretsloppshuset this year :) This is the course in Self-sufficinet Householding which I took last year. This is realy fantastic news because more people will be able to learn about it :) Well done Patrick my friend!

Top Bar Holder

Top Bar Holder is a very helpful tool if one has to make photos of the comb, for comb inspections as well as grafting (taking less than 3 days old larvae for Queen rearing).

I've made one today out of timber and hard wire;

My Future Buckfast Bees

I visited a local beekeeper today, who is also the bee inspector for this area. It was fortunate that his bees performed the cleansing flight just when I arrived :) so cool to see the ladies again! We talked for at least an hour not noting that bees drop their shit all over us LOL my jacket is covered in yellow bee crap LOL so what, it mens they have survived the winter! He had no winter losses so far.

Another thing I learned was that he never places any form of insulation on top of his hives! He also regularly overwinters a few small colonies on just 2 frames (4kg of sugar syrup, he takes all the honey from the bees) without any issues. Some of the hives face North which was new to me. He noticed no problems with that either. Another thing is that his hive had no mice guards! He never found mice to be a problem in his hives (we do have LOTS of cats around this area).

He uses foundation wax 5.1mm (he is not sure what size it is could be bigger) and he treates for Varroa with Oxalic Acid every Autumn (November).

He will sell to me 2 nucleus colonies on 10 frames each. I asked him if it is ok to buy a shook swarm from him instead but he doesnt do that and would rather sell it his way so I agreed.
10 frames colony will be easy to split in the middle of June if the honey flow is good.

I told him about my intend to set up a few bait hives. He said that there are very little swarms around here since beeks practice very well swarm control and the ferals have died due to Varroa. But I should try he said.

He didnt react in a strange way when I told him that I have Kenya Top Bar Hives. He thinks its up to the beekeeper to decide what hives one prefer. The only thing he say to newbees is to get Buckfast bees since everyone in this are has those.

Here is a video of the bees performing clensing flights;

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