Conditions, conditions, conditions.

Alf Brugman Beekeeping Blog

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 from tree trunks and cavities …

Honey to feed the people

Alf Brugman Beekeeping Blog

Yesterday I read an article in the Melbourne Age that gave me optimism about the future survival of the honeybee. Jaqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environmental Agency says that our cities have the potential to become a major supplier of honey. “City honey is cleaner than country honey because there are fewer pesticides”, she said. This really makes …

Preventing swarming

Alf Brugman Beekeeping Blog

As the daylight hours become shorter in the late autumn, the bees consolidate the brood chamber. The queen lays fewer eggs and the brood is confined to the middle frames. The remaining frames are filled with honey for winter survival. The queen starts laying again from about mid august onwards and as the new bees hatch out in the next …

Pollination hives

Alf Brugman Beekeeping Blog

This week we supplied 6 beehives to a blueberry farm to pollinate the flowers and ensure a crop of berries. Blueberry plants will not produce fruit without honeybees to spread pollen from flower to flower, so the hives are vital. Our bees have helped this farmer to produce large crops of organic blueberries for many years. The bees work on …