January, Oxalic acid treatment for varroa

We've been very inspired by members who had been to LASI to hear professor Ratneiks talk about the success their beekeeping research projects were having with treating for varroa by sublimating oxalic acid.

So we thought we'd have ago ourselves, so of course, for us,that means we had ago at making our own vapouriser...

Here's how we tackled each hive atthe apiary....  putting a modified varroa board in underneath the mesh floor to reduce the ventilation fora few minutes...

measuring the right amount of oxalic acid into the vapouriser....

 

Add apiece of cloth to further reduce the air flow....
 

attach the vapouriser to a nearby car battery(!) and BLAST!those varroa mites....

and just in case you were wondering what was happening to that oxalic acid. This series of shots taken on the grass at 15 second intervals show how quickly the crystals sublimate. (that's turn from crystals to gas for the none chemists among us!)

We'll keep you posted on how the varroa mite count goes down.....

December: Dippers and whippers

We always like to do something a little different and FUN at our December club meeting and this year was to be no exception!

An evening of candle dipping and cosmetic (whipping) was called for....

Our dippers are very sensible, patient people and under Marysia's watchful supervising eye quickly organised themselves into an orderly procession of dipping....

With every dip the candles got a little bigger..... 

and with every roll between the glass sheets the candles got a little smoother....

and by the end of the evening there were some very proud looking candle owners.....

Meanwhile at the other end of the room ......

There was measuring and weighing of all sorts of yummy ingredients... 

and some interesting conversations over mince pies and seasonal treats whilst we waited for the microwave to oblige us by melting our potions. (note to self: investigate replacement microwave)

soon enough, there were curious little pots of lip balm being poured and cooling...

There was no rest for anyone as the measuring and weighing continued, closely followed by whipping ...

And melted oils and waxes were combined and whipped into shape...

It was all rather more noisy than our friends at the other end of the room, but despite the odd accidental splurge...

We got there in the end and soon had super cute pots of hand cream to compliment the lip balm.

All in all, a good evening was had by all!

November: Honey month?

Not many bee keepers think of November as a honey month, but it has been a fabulous honey month for us...
We had such a lovely harvest this year....

It would be quite selfish not to share this lovely harvest with as many people as possible....

So it was with quite a bit of excitement that we approached a number of local school and churches to ask if we could be part of their Christmas fundraising fairs.

Quite a few said "yes- please come along"

So for the last few weekends we have been out and about in the Epsom area selling our apiary and members honey...

Don't they look fabulous?

There were open jars at every fair for the public to "try before they buy"

A sure way to make sure everyone who wants to goes home with their own favourite

September: The grand honey tasting

One of the most eagerly awaited, friendliest and most collaboratively competitive evenings of the year!!

The Annual grand Honey tasting!!!

It was all set up ....

 

when the early birds got there....

Lets have a closer look at all the yummy honeys...

 

 

 

 

 

Following the same simple rules as always the tasting was declared open...

And we set about the serious business of tasting everything to find the best one...

 

Some samples were, shall we say, an acquired taste...

 




and as the pot of tasters began to overflow...

The judging team remained impartial....but deadly serious....

And soon enough we had our top three announced!