Greetings folks.
As promised here I am again with an update as to what has been carried out this weekend for the accomodation of our future colony of stingy little bastards.
Just a quick response to Ninurta concerning Mead : Unfortunately I cannot make mead straight away as I will not be able to harvest any honey, the colony will still be growing and will need honey for the winter to feed themselves.
Some hives need 3 years before honey can be harvested.
Anyways : This weekend was spend painting the first tier of the hive with a special weather resistant paint which is non toxic for the bees. Only the outside of the hive is painted so as to leave the natural wood inside the hive as non toxic as possible for the bees.
![[Image: 20220321-075222.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/M2pYNgg/20220321-075222.jpg)
The hive I am using is called in French a « Dadant » hive or in English a top-bar hive where the bees' frames are arranged horizontally, not vertically. The bees make comb without foundation in this system. Each bar, containing comb and honey and is pulled up out of the hive from the top.
https://www.thespruce.com/beekeeping-for...ep-3016540
For the moment I am only using the bottom tier, (the heart of the colony where the queen bee will lay her eggs and honey can be stocked) so that the colony can concentrate on making honey for themselves during the first season.
Once (probably next year) they have gorged themselves stupid on honey, I will add the second tier (The reserve) which I will then use for the harvest of surplus honey.
I have just ordered 10 wax sheets which will need to be soldered so to speak to the frames that will be installed into the hive so that the bees can create the combs. This is a tedious processus and no doubt I will fuck up big time the first time… So let me change that order to 20 wax sheets !
Inside of hive without frames :
![[Image: 20220318-093301.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/c3bbTJD/20220318-093301.jpg)
I will also need to order a long plastic or wooden frame with small holes cut out for the entrance of the hive so that only the bees can enter and not those bastard murderous Asian hornets... Actually I might make it myself (I will show pics of my bloody mangled hands after handling the jigsaw and drill sometime next week)
We also spent much of this weekend planting more new blossoms so that the fat bastards can gorge themselves silly and also cleaned up the koi pond and banged up the filter etc… Bees need to drink too !
More to come…
Kindest respects
Rod
As promised here I am again with an update as to what has been carried out this weekend for the accomodation of our future colony of stingy little bastards.
Just a quick response to Ninurta concerning Mead : Unfortunately I cannot make mead straight away as I will not be able to harvest any honey, the colony will still be growing and will need honey for the winter to feed themselves.
Some hives need 3 years before honey can be harvested.
Anyways : This weekend was spend painting the first tier of the hive with a special weather resistant paint which is non toxic for the bees. Only the outside of the hive is painted so as to leave the natural wood inside the hive as non toxic as possible for the bees.
The hive I am using is called in French a « Dadant » hive or in English a top-bar hive where the bees' frames are arranged horizontally, not vertically. The bees make comb without foundation in this system. Each bar, containing comb and honey and is pulled up out of the hive from the top.
https://www.thespruce.com/beekeeping-for...ep-3016540
For the moment I am only using the bottom tier, (the heart of the colony where the queen bee will lay her eggs and honey can be stocked) so that the colony can concentrate on making honey for themselves during the first season.
Once (probably next year) they have gorged themselves stupid on honey, I will add the second tier (The reserve) which I will then use for the harvest of surplus honey.
I have just ordered 10 wax sheets which will need to be soldered so to speak to the frames that will be installed into the hive so that the bees can create the combs. This is a tedious processus and no doubt I will fuck up big time the first time… So let me change that order to 20 wax sheets !
Inside of hive without frames :
I will also need to order a long plastic or wooden frame with small holes cut out for the entrance of the hive so that only the bees can enter and not those bastard murderous Asian hornets... Actually I might make it myself (I will show pics of my bloody mangled hands after handling the jigsaw and drill sometime next week)
We also spent much of this weekend planting more new blossoms so that the fat bastards can gorge themselves silly and also cleaned up the koi pond and banged up the filter etc… Bees need to drink too !
More to come…
Kindest respects
Rod
I still don't understand why the Kamikaze pilots wore helmets!