Raw Organic Honey Melbourne – VicHoney

Category: Beekeeping Blog

  • Preparing for winter

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    Alf Brugman
    in

    Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) did not yield as much honey as we hoped this autumn. It is interesting how the trees were flowering in both sites where we have hives, but only one site gave us honey. The soils and conditions can vary greatly and affect the secretion of nectar. Now is the time to…

  • Late summer flowering report

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    Alf Brugman
    in ,

    As of the second half of February, our bees are working many species in both northern and southern Victoria. Hives in both areas have excellent brood and good populations of bees, so that if the flowers yield nectar, there should be good honey yields. In the northern country the Grey box(Eucalyptus microcarpa) is well budded…

  • Flowering Eucalypts Report

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    Alf Brugman
    in ,

    As of late January 2012, there a several species of flowering eucalypts that our bees are working.  North of the Divide, Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) is still flowering heavily and has been going since late November.  Red Stringybark (E. macrorhyncha) is well budded and due to start flowering any day now, this tree provides good…

  • Beekeeping Lessons for Beginners

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    Sharon Livesey
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    On the 7th January, 2012, we conducted our first beekeeping lesson for beginners.  Our students were very enthusiastic and the day seemed to fly by. The weather held out and it was almost perfect conditions for opening up the hives in the afternoon after a pleasant lunch.  Our students, to their delight, viewed brood in…

  • Soldier bees discovered

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    Julian
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    There is an interesting taster article (and ensuing discussion) on a new caste of soldier bees in a stingless bee of South America – the Jatai bee (Tetragonisca angustula). Soldier bees guard their nest against attack by robbers The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that Jatai soldiers…

  • Inadequate standards

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    Alf Brugman
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    I received a phone call last week from a man from country Victoria who stated that he wanted to ask a few questions about organic honey. He said he bought a jar of certified organic honey for a premium price from the health food shop in his town and was shocked to find,in small print…

  • Yellow Gum honey flow

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    Alf Brugman
    in

    Yellow Gum or Eucalyptus leucoxylon has been flowering throughout the winter in the northern country of Victoria where we have some hives. It has been yielding nectar freely and is expected to flower until the end of November. Last week I visited the hives and found that each one had up to three boxes full…

  • The spring dwindle

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    Alf Brugman
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    This spring around Melbourne has seen a quite severe cold snap having a detrimental effect on our beehives. Queens have produced a lot of brood in October and the cold and windy weather into November has stopped the field bees from flying and so, instead of gathering pollen and nectar, bees have been eating into…

  • Requeening day

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    Alf Brugman
    in

    This morning we picked up a post bag containing 15 Italian queens from our local post office. They came in the little queen cages which are about the size of a matchbox and contain a young queen and about a half dozen workers as attendants. We immediately went to our home bee yard and started…

  • Conditions, conditions, conditions.

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    Alf Brugman
    in

    There is a perception among beekeepers that commercially bred queen bees are essential to achieve very populous colonies and therefore large yields of honey. This is not necessarily always the case because local bees which are endemic to an area for several generations can also be very successful. Colonies which have been hived from swarms…