Current news from Hagley & Stourbridge Beekeepers' Association
Bees (and most other insects) have three seasons:
Flowering (January 10 to the last day of July;
Fruiting, August to the end of September;
Dormant October to 10 January.
Right now, it's Dormant. All colonies have been fed and should be heavy. You "heft" the hive by trying to lift one side, if you struggle all is well, if the hive feels light then you must feed some more, a bag of sugar to a pint of water placed in a feeder on top of the hive.
The bees will only fly in warm weather to empty their bowels and see if there's any forage. Ivy is a late season crop. The rest of the time they cluster in the hive, about eight to ten thousand of them, looking after their Queen.
I'll look at the hives every month and check for storm damage and if there's a big storm with high winds I will check the next morning, although I remember getting up in the middle of one impressive storm to make sure that "the girls" were okay.
This page is published by Paul Cooke
07757 116340
hsbka@wbka.uk
Hagley & Stourbridge Beekeepers' Association promote and support beekeepers in the area though training courses and mentoring. We run a training apiary at Iverley.
Hagley & Stourbridge Beekeepers is part of Worcestershire Beekeepers' Association which in turn is part of the British Beekeepers' Association.
No one knows when we started because all our records were lost in 1998, we believe it was sometime in the 19th century.
Our aim is to buy a fragment of land in the area with vehicle access and nearby parking for up to ten cars, where we can establish a permanent teaching apiary with storage for our equipment.
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