No fly day

Rain & lots of it, so bees staying at home and hopefully turning their sugar paste in to honey.
Thought I could take the opportunity to document some of the way I work or rather what my mentor MrB has taught me this year.

Firstly, the photo shows a wooden frame with 4 horizontal wires on which lies a preformed sheet of beeswax with the impression of the hexagonal cell stamped on it. The same sheet is shown standing on its end so that one can see the thickness.

There are lots of bee hive systems, the one I use is called "Herold" and using "German Norm Size" frames measuring about 37 x 23 cm. In order that the bees build nice straight combs that can easily be worked on and put in the centrifuge, most frames have a preformed sheet of beeswax placed in the frame. One buys these 2mm thick sheets which have the hexagonal cells indented to give the bees a headstart. one runs a very fine metal thread 4 times through the frame, usually horizontal but can also be vertical, places the shhet on the wire and for a second or two add an electric current which lets the sheet melt on to the wires and holds it in place.

On the system I use, 12 such frames are placed in each box (level)at a rightangle to the entrance and these are where the bees store the nectar/honey, pollen and where the brood (eggs/larvae) are held. In the season, there are normally two such boxes/levels which is where the bees have everything they need to live on. The "people honey" comes from the 3rd level which is seperated from the other two by a wire mesh which only allows the worker bees through and stops the queen from getting in and laying eggs. The third level is only introduced when the two lower ones are full.

An exception to the preformed sheets are empty wooden frames, without wire or sheets, a few of which are placed in the bottom 2 levels. These are the so called drone combs which the bees build for the drone larvae which have to be a 1mm or so bigger than the normal cells. During the season, these cells are taken out and the comb full of drone larvae cut out and destroyed (our chickens get them!). One doesn't want too many drones and there is a benefit that many of the varroa mites will lay their eggs in these drone cells.

If it rains again tomorrow will have to Blip a natural comb.