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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Notes from february Bee Club Meeting

  • Some areas in the Hunter Valley are not getting much honey while others have been doing exceptionally well

  • The club's hives have not done well and will not have any spare honey before Winter

  • One of the members spoke about an article in Australasian Bee Keeper about dusting bees with icing sugar to knock off Varroa mites. The bees then clean off the sugar removing more mites

  • Bees do not like flying through dense vegetation. If you can't walk through it bees won't fly through it. An issue for the clubs apiary as it is located close to dense vegetation

  • Discussion covered the use of furry backed linoleum in the hives to trap Small Hive Beetle.

  • One member described how after collection 70 swarms in one season he had run out of equipment to house them and resorted to using cardboard boxes with only the top bar of the frame and no foundation. The bees built a perfectly good frame of wax with no help.

  • Tip of the Month:

    • One member described how he has a hive in his chicken run and it has no Small Hive Beetle problem. The area in front of the hive is the most scratched in the entire pen. SHB drop to the ground to pupate in the soil and the chickens devour them.


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