Storm Henk arrives – and brings trouble with him
News from the Fonmon Apiary – with Harold Williams
LAST month’s article had me thinking that I should go and check the hives to make certain that dead bees were not blocking the exit/entrance holes in the mouse guards.
Bees do die throughout the winter shut down, and their colony companions will do their utmost to clear them from inside of the hive. However, the guards do pose an obstacle for them so I do some of the clearing.
Arriving at the apiary (on 6th January) a scene of utter devastation greeted me. Storm Henk had blown down a section of the fencing. As it fell, that fencing struck six of the 12 colonies and knocked them from their stands.
On inspecting the disrupted hives, they all still had lots of live bees present. My first task (using a handsaw) was to cut the fallen panels into moveable pieces so that I could get at the hives. It was still windy and overcast so no bees were active. Once the downed panels were removed, I could begin to sort out the fallen hives.
Only two of the hives broke into separate units (boxes) and exposed the bees, the others were still pretty much together. Photographs were taken, hive stands were put back onto their bases and the task of replacing each colony got underway. All of the colonies had three super boxes on them; this was a deliberate action of mine to ensure sufficient food was available for a mild winter with very active bees.
Once I started to manipulate the hive units, the bees let me know that they were not happy about it. Eventually some sort of order was restored – albeit far from satisfactory. Several supers were empty of food stores so these were removed, and the combs stored ready for me to use once again. Until the weather is fit for me to examine each of these colonies in depth, I have to hope that their Queens have survived.
As to the fencing around the apiary, well it was a concern of mine due to its height, so now I can correct this and reduce it to waist height. This work will take a bit of time and the bees will start to get active as we move into spring, and I will no doubt get in their way from time to time.
Come April, my apiary will be used as a hands on facility for new beekeepers who enrol on our courses, they will be appraised of the earlier disruption and, of course, how the weather affects our beekeeping activities. With some 40 years of beekeeping under my belt and many minor setbacks, handling this latest upheaval will be easy enough to cope with. All it will take is effort!
Getting to the apiary has had its moments. My car is playing up and so must wait until it is running correctly so that my apiary clean-up can get underway. As ever, hope springs eternal. Will I be able to put to rights any failings in my disrupted colonies? Providing that enough bees come through their trauma I can use eggs and possibly larvae from the other colonies to aid their recovery. There is a passage in the Bible, so I’m told, that says this too will pass. I’m sure it will.
By Harold Williams
- Pause for Thought – The First Christianity
- Join a litter picking walk to improve your neighbourhood
- Sunny days mean honey production is in full swing
- It’s time to take action and protect Swifts
- Carnage in Welsh bee colonies as experts search for answer
- Protecting our planet
⭐ All of our social media in one handy place – here
Cardiff Airport take heart from first away win
Great day for Centurions as they notch two wins
Former Barry office building transformed into vital new homes
Prolific thief banned from entering shops in Barry
I’m proud that all parties agreed on children in care plan
WHEN you elected me in May, I said I had come to listen and to…
Royal Welsh highlights the role of the rural economy
