Episode 323: First Frost Autumn 2024

[@DaveGoodman1959]

Hi Stewart and that was great, very professional, it’s nice to have caught up with yo a bit this year as you’ve posted a few more things on KZbin, I didn’t know you did a podcast so thank you. Kind regards 👍😊

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Dave, Thanks for the comments. The podcast is almost six years old now, and I only just found out I could add it to KZbin! It has a slightly delayed, public release of around four weeks as it goes live via my Patreon page for subscribers first. Glad you enjoyed it. Stewart

[@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801]

That was great, thanks

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Manuherikiabeekeeping]

Hi Stewart from southern New Zealand 👋 weather apps in New Zealand are probably quite different but i use three, weatherwat h, which is reasonably accurate, nz met service and a Norwegian weather app of all things called Yr weather which is also reasonably accurate. Living in a mountain region in the middle of the largest island of New Zealand presents interesting challenges for weather prediction and ive never found a single forcaster who gets it right 70 percent of the time, it just the nature of living in mountains but between the three i get a reasonable picture of what might happen weatherwise😬😂 we've had a rough start to spring here, wet snow for the last three weekends and it's our main thyme nectar flow right now so the flowers are out but the weather is up and down for flying temperatures and a lot of rain is washing nectar out but thats the nature of beekeeping. Great flowering year because of all the water, rubbish cold weather for gathering 😂 soft set honey, which we call creamed honey in southern New Zealand still gives me nightmares 😂as an apprentice, during my training i was sent to another beekeeper in Milton in the lower south island My mentor thought it was important i learned from other beekeepers as part of my training to learn different approaches. one of my first jobs every morning and evening while i was there for six weeks was stirring the very large mixing tank for creamed clover honey with a wooden oar😂 for forty minutes. Still makes me nervous, six weeks of that during my training was enough to cure me of creaming honey for life😅 and this all came about when I asked my mentor why we didn't produce creamed honey😅 thankfully the process is much simpler especially for small batch making these days. Great podcast video and thanks for posting this 👋😃

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi, Thanks for commenting, it's really interesting to hear from you and what you're going through weather wise right now, is that normal? Thank goodness for automatic stirring tank for creamed honey, even using a battery drill with a stirrer attachment can be a soul destroying task! Good luck with your upcoming season, I wish you well. Stewart

[@Manuherikiabeekeeping]

@TheNorfolkHoneyCo 😂nope, definitely not normal to get any snow in spring let alone three massive drops in the mid spring, normally it's cool in the mornings now but the frost danger has passed and warm days, not this year but warm weather has finally arrived it's 26 Celsius and the bee's are on the thyme nectar flow which is a relief 😅

[@simonfisher3258]

Treatment “over a 3 week period”. Is that repeated treatment each week for 3 weeks? Many thanks.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Simon, Yes, we use it over a three week period, once a week in order to try to hit any varroa that might be lurking in sealed cells. It's always tricky trying to find that all important broodless period to use Oxlaic Acid treatments. Stewart