I would like to introduce the Bee Benefactor Update series to the blog. The post will be an update of how my hives are going, any upcoming events, and any interesting information which I find which is too small for its own update. If you have any bee related news or local events you wish to promote, feel free to email me at beebenefactor@gmail.com.

New Blog

You may (or may not) have realised that the Bee Benefactor Blog has successfully transitioned to a WordPress.com blog (from blog.com). During the next few weeks you may notice some style changes as I experiment with the new format. I encourage you to let me know what you think of the new style, and to “follow” the blog if you want to keep up to date with that is happening on the blog. A very exciting time indeed!

New Swarm

After what has been quite a productive season for my hives, my “main colony” in by backyard apiary decided it was time to swarm. They chose a tall “Sheena’s Gold” tree (Duranta erecta) in my yard, which is very interesting as approximately 80% of the wild swarms I get called to tend to be resting in a Duranta erecta style of tree, which if I was forced to speculate I imagine may be due to the large amount of foliage cover and intersecting branches providing both concealment and support to the swarm. After quickly and letting the swarm fall into a metal trashcan I had handy, I simply walked a few metres to an empty top bar hive and poured the bees in. I had two or three top bars coated with wax, and a block of solidified sugar in the hive which immediately got their attention. I actually found that this swarm collection was the easiest I have ever conducted, and the bees have already started constructing comb. This was only three weeks after I conducted a split on the original hive, and the fact that all three hives are seeming to do well leads me to speculate that the food sources in my area (South side of Brisbane, QLD) must be plentiful at the moment.

New beetle trap 

Like most places in Australia, my hives have to contend with African Small Hive Beetle (SHB), which are in no short supply at the moment. I decided to try a new style of bottom board SHB trap; the Beetlra. I conducted a split of my strongest hive and put the split on to a Beetlra 10 frame with cleats. It is in week three of its operation, and after checking the trap every seven or eight days, I have found that the trap usually has a minimum of five beetles, and has had a maximum catch of 15 so far. I am stocking the trap with a mixture of vegetable oil (to drown the beetles) and apple cider vinegar (to attract the beetles), however this is against the manufacturer’s advice (they say that Agricultural Lime is the better option, as oil mixtures can clog up the the operation of the Beetltra). I have also heard of people using food grade diatomaceous earth to destroy beetles.

New Hive

As mentioned above, the new swarm has conveniently allowed me to stock my newly created Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTBH). Whilst I have experimented with top bars in the past, this is my first committed attempt to start an apiary with both top bar and Langstroth hives. I will try to keep you all informed as to how the KTBH goes, especially when compared to the Langstroth hives.

Sign Off

That is all from me for this week. Let me know in the comments if you have collected any swarms recently, or whether you have used the Beetltra with any success.

Regards,

The Bee Benefactor.