Bees - native and honey

Add a Comment

Comment by CHERYL SLAPP on September 30, 2020 at 17:13

Thanks Andy I will PM you.  I was given a hive well before I purchased my bees (probably 3-4 years ago) but not sure if it's OK for the bees I have - Hockingsi.  Thanks for the info Christa and for the offer of the hive, I will have to show Andy the hive I have and see if it is any good.  I'm sure my bees will be happy to have their hive split, it must be chockers after so many years.

Comment by Christa on September 30, 2020 at 17:01

Cheryl, Ian can give you an empty hive if you need one.  Although Andy has kindly offered to help you, you can leave the bees where they are, unless you wish to make another hive for your garden or the old hive box wood is deteriorated. 

Like Andrew we intend to leave ours alone if we can for a few years, they, the bees, work hard in the garden.  

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on September 29, 2020 at 20:13

Get in touch Cheryl.  I'm happy to help.  I've decided to only split mine every second or third year now.  Do you have a spare box or do you need one?

Comment by Christa on September 29, 2020 at 16:34

Yes Cheryl, Our son came over to help.  It's amazing. we noticed one of the hives were very quiet and calm.  Another lot was feisty and nipping our neck and arms, we wore our head veils but forgot to put on long sleeves.

Have a go yourself Cheryl, just watch a video on utube and get the gear and go for it, you could end up with another hive in your garden. Do you have a spare hive for the new lot. Otherwise you could ring a beekeeper in your area but sometimes they charge a bit.  A split hive could cost a fair bit of money to buy, and when they fill up they are worth more.

But unless you need more bees, or your box is breaking up, your hive will last for a few years. 

Comment by CHERYL SLAPP on September 29, 2020 at 6:56

Did you split them yourselves?  Mine needs doing badly

Comment by Christa on September 28, 2020 at 15:46

Just split our three stingless bee hives today( Tetragonia carbonaria). Two of them were full and one not so full but we spit it anyway.  They can weigh nearly 14 kilos when full.  We also have a log with australophebia australia that are in a log.

Comment by Sid Saghe on September 12, 2019 at 9:50

What a coincidence, I also just picked up a hive for the yard, my first one! I have Hockingsi and hopefully in twelve months or so I'll be all ready to go to split.

Comment by Christa on September 11, 2019 at 9:10

Hi Lissa, great to hear from you. Hope all is well.  We are happy with our little bees and have put them closer to the house so we can supervise them. 

The Austroplebeia australis name covers a few existing types now under the same heading.  They have different types in N.T and Q'ld and Nth Qld, and Nth W.A. and then some from New Guinea.  Some scientist has decided that through DNA they are very similar.  This means they have different markings in different locations, and some of the workers have bright yellow abdomens.  I haven't seen those abdomens yet.   They are amazing, each night they weave a delicate net over their entrance hole to protect their hive from intruders. 

Thanks for that info, most of what I learnt so far is from Tim Heards Bee Book.

Comment by Lissa on September 11, 2019 at 7:55

Wonderful Christa  :)

Here's a little article I found about your new bees: https://www.aussiebee.com.au/aussiebeeonline025.pdf

Do they have the glowing orange abdomen talked about in the article?

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on September 10, 2019 at 18:20

That's very exciting.  I'll have to come and have a look. 

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 14
• Next ›
• Page