Our Apiary Meeting at West End on 26 August was largely uneventful. It remained dry for the duration of the inspections, the temperature was a comfortable 21c and the bees were generally well behaved. We enjoyed a very pleasant morning’s beekeeping.
All four colonies at West End are doing well and have started their winter preparations. Drones have already been cast out and the bees are back-filling former brood comb with nectar to boost their winter stores. One of the colonies had no brood at all despite the presence of a queen. Queens take a break before beginning the laying of winter bees. Sometimes the hiatus is long enough for the remaining summer brood to completely hatch out.
One notable thing we did find was little or no varroa on the counting boards. When beekeepers encounter this, they tend not to believe their eyes or they blame wasps and ants for removing mites. We had a similar situation at Swanmore a few days before and some of the beekeepers present reported a similar situation with their own colonies. It could be that conditions this year have been unfavourable for varroa and there’s been a dramatic reduction in mites. Let’s hope so!
Meridian Beekeepers’ Association 