Category Archives: Hints
Beekeeping in New York City!
Beekeeping is taking off in the United States, in the unlikely setting of congested New York, after the lifting of a decade-long ban. It’s helping to tackle the collapse of bee colonies across the country in recent years, which … Continue reading
Requeening with a division board
No need to find and kill old queen? Beginner and experienced beekeepers alike are often daunted by the prospect of requeening. Most other methods start with ‘kill the old queen’. A simpler first step is to create a nucleus colony … Continue reading
Requeening
Queen Bees are usually available from queen breeders each year from some time in October. Hints for introducing queens For high productivity, fewer swarms and gentle bees, regular requeening is recommended. Your queen will come from the breeder in a … Continue reading
Removing bees from a chimney
Removing Bees from a Chimneyby Paul Hooper Having removed a well established hive from the wall cavity of a weatherboard farmhouse, I was asked if I could then remove another colony from a blocked-in chimney in the same house. The … Continue reading
Beelining – finding feral nests
AN INTRODUCTION TO BEELINING by David Banks and Barbara WaterhouseAustralian Quarantine and Inspection Service Recent incursions of Asian bees (Apis cerana) into the northern islands of the Torres Strait and African bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) in Fremantle as well as … Continue reading
Mead making
You asked for it! Rosanne’s mead making tips We had some visitors one day, a while back. John and Jenny from Sydney. They came to lunch. It was a casual affair and they brought a bottle of white wine which … Continue reading
Lemon Wine
Of Swarming bees and Lemon trees It was a Monday morning one spring day at about 11.00am when the phone rang, as it usually did around that time of day, to report yet another bee swarm. In Garran. “Be there … Continue reading
Melomel
1 kg. honey 5 litres water 700 g. sugar 100 g. raisins, chopped 1 kg cooking apples juice of l lemon nutrient yeast Boil the honey and water for 15 minutes, skimming off any scum that forms on top. Pour … Continue reading
Calculating the Alcohol Level of Wine
If you want to know just how alcoholic your brews are, then you need to have a hydrometer. A hydrometer measures sugar gravity. (You can buy one in Woolworths) You use a hydrometer first of all when you have your … Continue reading
