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Beekeeping Update
Mrs Alizadeh sent this report:
At the beginning of the first lockdown there was only one colony of bees. I put a slab of fondant on them, enabling them to feed keeping them going until I could tend to them again. Bee keepers were among the people who were allowed to be out and about during March and April, as bees are considered livestock.
I tended the bees during April, and into a hot sticky May. On the suggestion of another beekeeper, I tried to split the hive as it was huge, but most of the bees went back to the main hive. There were just a few bees left in the nucleus hive one week, and the next week it was brimming with bees! The hive had swarmed into the nucleus!
Following this I put the swarm into a hive and fed them syrup. I then took honey off both hives, one in the early summer and one in late August.
The original hive took quite some time to re-queen, so I put a frame of eggs from the other hive, which they just raised as their own, instead of making queen cells, I think this was because there was probably an unmated queen running around! Eventually at the end of July there was brood and eggs, meaning there was a mated queen in the hive, at last.
Going into winter, both hives look healthy. Here’s hoping they survive the winter, if necessary I will treat them for varroa, a parasite mite, in the middle of winter.