The Apiarist

The magnum opus last week wasn't planned like that.

My final dive into a brood box of the season is for the removal of the Apivar strips at end of the late-summer miticide treatment.

In early March 2020 I went to Oban on the west coast of Scotland to talk to the local beekeeping association about Varroa management.

Despite it still being “T-shirt and shorts” weather, autumn is here.

If you started beekeeping this year, you'll probably still be acutely aware of how much the essential equipment and accessories cost.

It's as if a switch has been flicked.

Regular readers, and those who have taken the time to rummage through the archives, will know I'm a big fan of using fondant for all my autumn and winter feeding.

Did the miticide treatment work?

“This is the way the season ends, not with a bang but a whimper”, with apologies to T.S.

The Plain English Campaign promote (not unsurprisingly) the use of plain English {{1}}, and have campaigned against “gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information” since 1979.

Like anglers, beekeepers often obsess about the weather.

The solution to what?

Everything you wanted to know about honey supers but were afraid to ask.

It's turning out to be a bonanza summer for beekeeping.

How often have you read the words, “Varroa is the greatest threat to bees and beekeeping”?

Heatwave 2.0 has been and gone, Prime Minister 9.0 appears to have been (amicably?)

“What's the greatest inconvenience for experienced beekeepers?”.

I've just reached the 'and breathe …' part of my season.

In terms of good beekeeping advice, Ted Hooper's book (Guide to Bees and Honey) takes some beating.

I doubt that many readers of The Apiarist also read the Daily Mirror.

I made the comment last week that all unexplained colony losses are due to Varroa, unless there's unequivocal evidence they are due to something else.