Tag Archives: varroa

Drizzling oxalic acid on bees

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Emily Scott

Not a cookery recipe but an anti-varroa treatment commonly used in the UK during December or January whilst the bees are clustering and little or no brood is present. The reason for doing the oxalic acid treatment at this time … Continue reading →

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Some good advice

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Emily Scott

Through the Facebook Beginner Beekeeper group I came across this link to recent advice by Andy Wattam, a UK National Bee Inspector. http://www.bbka.org.uk/local/lincolnshire/articles/-emergency-bee-care.shtml “Could I ask you please to put out a reminder to all of the District Secretaries about … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention | Tagged | 3 Comments

Hunny time

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Emily Scott

Yesterday was all about the honey. After three years of trying, I finally have some! On Friday Emma put a Porter bee escape on our super, which allows the bees to go down but not up so we can come … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention, Honey, Queens | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Bee Health Day 2: varroa control workshop

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Emily Scott

This is a follow up post to this one on the Bee Health Day I went to held at Roots & Shoots (a wildlife garden and base for the London Beekeepers’ Association), which is an annual event run by our government bee inspectors. Below are … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease prevention | Tagged | 6 Comments

Bee Health Day

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Emily Scott

Went down to a Bee Health Day held at Roots & Shoots (a wildlife garden and base for the London Beekeepers’ Association) in Kennington, south London, today. It’s run each year by the London bee inspectors to give beekeepers information on looking after their bees well … Continue reading →

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A bee inspector calls…

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Emily Scott

Today I have been down at the apiary watching Caroline Washington, our local FERA Bee Inspector, go through our hives. She was taking samples of bees as part of a nationwide analysis FERA are doing of the diseases present in … Continue reading →

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New varroa treatment

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Emily Scott

The Guardian reported yesterday on some promising sounding new research into a way to make the varroa mite self-destruct. The treatment involves introducing harmless genetic material which encourages the mites’ own immune response to prevent their genes from expressing natural … Continue reading →

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Giving acid to bees

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Emily Scott

Oxalic acid time at the apiary today. Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring acid that’s one of the beekeeper’s best weapons against the evil varroa mite – it burns their feet and they drop off the bees! We do this … Continue reading →

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14/11/10

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Emily Scott

Finally put my mouseguard on: Now only bees or creatures the size of bees can get in. Hopefully a little mouse hasn’t crept in there already. Had a look at my varroa board, which I last checked two weeks ago. … Continue reading →

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Preparing honey bee colonies for winter & anti-varroa bees

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Emily Scott

I found out about these two links from Andy Pedley’s Ealing and District Beekeepers email newsletter, which I always enjoy reading… Fera’s National Bee Unit have put together a leaflet on preparing your colony for winter. Essential reading. I always … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention | Tagged , | 4 Comments