That’s it for another year.
The harvest was just sufficient to meet my annual needs as it passed my target by a mere 5kg. I still have a super of comb to cut but that is only about half full and much of that not really suitable for the size of the cutter. However, we’ll see.
All the honey in the supers has been extracted and brood-box frames have been moved around to ensure that all colonies have sufficient stores until I give them their winter feed.
Having extracted the honey, I replaced the supers of wet frames above an empty box with the crown board feed-hole cracked open. Three supers a day and they soon had them all licked clean and dry. The excitement started some potential robbing so the affected hives were fitted with an entrance block with a one-bee-width hole; much easier to defend.
The girls have been plagued with CBPV (Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus) this year and I fear that several colonies wont make it through the winter. I have united colonies down to a total of ten in number rather than the usual eight just to be on the safe side.
Varroa-drop figures are still being collected. Hive 9 became frighteningly high so on Stuart Roweth’s advice I have increased the number of Beegyms to three. There is now a distinct pattern of varroa drop beneath these.
Feeding starts soon so I’d better buy my sugar for a 2:1 feed.