Though we did not do an apiary visit last Sunday we have been busy.
We recently did a visit to Fields Honey Farm in Purbeck. It was a fascinating visit and for that reason I have written it up as a separate page which can be found here.
We have also arranged two more socials. The July Social will be on the the 3rd of July and the August Social will be on the 14th August. Details of both are on the events page.
On the same page I have included details of the Beefest which will be held at the Poundbury Summer Market on the 14th July at Crown Square Poundbury DT1 3EN. We are looking for more helpers at this event so if you fancy chatting to interested members of the public then do volunteer.
Just a reminder of the upcoming apiary visit and social at the Stinsford Apiary on Sunday 16th June at 14:00. This will be in place of the evening social for June.
Kevin Pope will be there and with is wealth of experience as a beekeeper and as a retired Seasonal Bee Inspector he will probably have lots of advice about the apiary and the colonies we have there.
There will be a picnic tea with bring and share cakes. We will supply tea and coffee but you will need to bring your own mug and cake if you have some to share.
Full details of the event are in the June news letter. If the event has to be cancelled due to the weather then an email will be sent out on the Sunday morning.
We did an apiary visit on Sunday. The blog is here. Amongst the photos I took was this one.
And that photo was what we saw in one of the hives. Perfect with one egg at the bottom of each cell and the start of a good laying pattern. Excellent!
But the next hive I caught this on camera
But in this cell there are multiple eggs in each cell. This is not a cause of concern at this stage. The eggs are at the bottom of the cell and therefore it is not likely to be a laying worker. Laying workers have a shorter abdomen and are unable to lay the eggs at the bottom of the cell.
This is most likely to be a queen who has not yet learned how to lay just one egg in each cell. Hopefully she will learn and soon.
I was particularly pleased to see the eggs. As anybody who has been on my Beginners' Course knows I am not the world's best at seeing eggs - in fact I have never seen them until now.
The Beginners sessions have gone really well and there is a blog about the apiary work on this page.
Last weekend we had a Basic Assessment walk through for those who have kept a colony of bees for at least 12 months. There is a report about that in the Apiary section.
On the For Sale page there is a significant sale of equipment. The prices are exceedingly attractive and I suggest that you all have a look at what is on offer. This applies to both those setting up and established beekeepers. Click here to see what is on offer.
This is an early reminder of the visit by Kevin Pope to our apiary in Stinsford. If the chance of hearing Kevin won't get you there then perhaps the offer of tea and cake may persuade you.
