I am pleased to say that our emergency measure of combining two Warré beehive colonies at Milkwood Farm seems to have worked. The two colonies have made friends, combined, and are now operating as one big family (or super organism, to be technical).
Time to bed the new uber-colony down for winter, following one last inspection as part of our first on-farm natural beekeeping course. As i write this, the bees are now tucked up against the cold, with an extra box of honey on top to keep them supplied till spring. We won’t bother them until then, for a couple of reasons… Read More »
Recently I watched Tim Malfroy open and inspect a Warré hive that he installed in Sydney. Over 20 people looked on (it was part of a natural beekeeping workshop) as Tim lifted up boxes, pulled out combs full of honey and brood, and generally checked that all was well in the hive.
What did the bees do during this? Nothing. Nothing at all except keep on buzzing about happily. And that is just unheard of. Read More »
As explained in Putting our honey where our mouth is, this year has been a tough one for our new Warré beehives, and for bees in general throughout the central west. Torrential, unseasonal rain for much of late spring and into summer meant that many flowering plants had their regular cycles thrown off course, and many did not flower as per usual over spring and summer this year.
Less blossoms means tough times for pollinators, including bees. Our colonies have struggled to forage enough pollen and nectar to keep themselves going, so to get through this winter they’re going to need some help. The conventional practice of feeding them sugar syrup all winter isn’t an option we want to follow, so Tim (our fab Warré beekeeper) came up with a plan, which just might work! Read More »
February 21, 2011 – 6:00 am
Bees are amazingly resilient and adaptable creatures. In a good year, when there are many ‘honey flows’ happening, they can build comb and collect and store honey at an astonishing rate, to make the most of the bounty dripping from nearby plants. Tim tells stories of his bees filling 5 boxes full with comb and honey in a couple of days.
And in a leaner year, bees might only fill two or three boxes with comb and honey over the whole season. Which can be ok if you plan to leave them alone until spring, and let them winter on their own stores of honey. Sometimes, though, the bees just can’t find enough nectar. Which means they won’t have enough honey to see them through till spring. Uh oh. What to do? Read More »
November 16, 2010 – 9:35 pm
Tim checks how the bees traveled. Floyd looks on respectfully.
Much excitement this week as the bees finally arrived at Milkwood. Tim Malfroy brought around 3 Warré beehives, complete with bees, to install on our farm. And so I have officially become a Warré beekeeper, with all the fascination, responsibility and of course delicious raw honey that goes with that territory… Read More »
October 28, 2010 – 11:01 am
Tim Malfroy checking on a comb from one of his Warre hives
Bees just want to be bees. I’ve learned recently that, like most things in nature, a honeybee colony is most happy, calm and resilient when it’s left to do what it does best. For bees, this means forage for nectar and pollen, raise a brood, and make honey. And bees want to do this in their own time, on their own schedule, and with the freedom to respond to each unique season. Which is quite contrary to how we currently manage bees. So what’s going on here? Read More »
I am pleased to say that our emergency measure of combining two Warré beehive colonies at Milkwood Farm seems to have worked. The two colonies have made friends, combined, and are now operating as one big family (or super organism, to be technical).
