I've just opened up the hive for the annual end-of-summer honey extraction and anti-varroa treatment. This year its apiguard, which is a bit tedious because you have to do it in two goes at 2 week intervals. But the disappointment was the honey harvest: zero. They did have some honey, maybe six frames worth, but I chose to leave it in there for them overwinter rather than trouble to fed them. Other local beekeepers report similar. It was a wet summer, though as far as I was concerned a very pleasant one.
Now its autumn, and the first novices of the season are out on the river.
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I just got a wonderful jarful from my neighbor...i guess things haven't been too bad in the Great Lakes.
Damned sorry to hear this. I looked for more general info for England and didn't find much. Are you seeing 'colony collapse' problems locally? Are the new varieties of nicotinoid pesticides in use there?
[Not personally - my bees seem to be in rude health. Mind you they did swarm in late May, but have had all summer to recover their stores -W]
Our local museum lost its colony to the sudden colony collapse, or whatever it's called. The report they put up says it's an increasing problem in the UK, but I don't how authoritative that is. Also, You & Yours on R4 did a report on it, I think, earlier this year, where they said it was growing problem...hold on...here we are I think:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/02/2008_16_mon.shtml
Related:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry_20080802.shtml
[Various friends lose their bees, despite their careful care, but I never do, despite my careless lack of care :-) -W]
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1845064&page=1
Fun or Cruel ?