(Title dedication: Julie of Happy hour at the top bar hive).
As I hinted in my last post they has been some change in my warré circumstances.
As I hinted in my last post they has been some change in my warré circumstances.
My own warré remains consistent. They are still just within one box but show good activity even with the ailing weather. So what has changed?... August Cottage has some lodgers!
BACKGROUND
Steve is a natural beekeeper based in York who I met as we were both starting out last year. Him with a warré, me with a kTBH. Unfortunately
his hived swarm was robbed out quite quickly and didn't make it. This year, through the biobees forum, Steve was the lucky recipient of bees from Barbara, who is an extremely experienced kTBH keeper who has been treatment free for varroa for more than 5 years. Newly (and beautifully) built warré in hand Steve collected his bees. All went well until 6 weeks later the bees swarmed again. A classic case of false floor syndrome perhaps. So the swarm's swarm was hastily housed in the spare box and one Steve had to hand.
Steve is a natural beekeeper based in York who I met as we were both starting out last year. Him with a warré, me with a kTBH. Unfortunately
his hived swarm was robbed out quite quickly and didn't make it. This year, through the biobees forum, Steve was the lucky recipient of bees from Barbara, who is an extremely experienced kTBH keeper who has been treatment free for varroa for more than 5 years. Newly (and beautifully) built warré in hand Steve collected his bees. All went well until 6 weeks later the bees swarmed again. A classic case of false floor syndrome perhaps. So the swarm's swarm was hastily housed in the spare box and one Steve had to hand.
Fast forward to today and Steve is in the throws of a house move with no where to put the hives. This is where I ride in on my white charger to save the day. Since there is plenty of room where I keep my bees I am keeping an eye on his hives until after Christmas. By that time Steve is hoping to have orgainsed an allotment in which to site the hives.
The reswarming has left the both colonies a little on the small side going into the back end of the year. On a positive note the hives are certainly well built. The wood is two inches thick with generous windows so you can keep an eye on things. Not sure I would want to lift them when full of honey but I'm sure the bees will appreciate it during a Yorkshire winter.
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