Monday 28 December 2009
Deadouts
Hives 2 and 5 have died out. I can't see any obvious reason; neither had touched the candy I gave them, though both were very short of stores. They don't show the normal signs of starvation, so it's not isolation, when a cluster can't move over to food in cold weather. The overwhelming majority of my losses involve first-year queens, so it has to be something to do with the queens. They weren't mated in bad weather, or when there was a shortage of drones, so it's a mystery. Losing half my hives is a major setback!
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That's too bad about the hives, and also about your slip and fall on the ice! I hope you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures by the way are great. A few years ago I spent a summer holiday travelling via longboat through Oxfordshire. It seems strange to see the boats in the snow.
I'm considering taking a beekeeping course this summer. I'm not sure if I'll have the time. I also have to figure out where the hive(s) would go.
I'll be in touch soon about sending the things I promised to you, if you still want them. I'm still sort of overwhelmed with other things at the moment.
I still want the stuff if you can manage, but if you can't, no problem. Beekeeping is a great idea, though you do have to be on the ball if you want to keep them alive. I get too many losses, and I haven't really found out why yet.
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