Hefting

heft

/hɛft/

verb (transitive)

1. to assess the weight of (something) by lifting

2.to lift

Hefting is something beekeepers do [keep your jokes to yourself] and as the definition above says it means to assess the weight by lifting.

Beekeepers heft their hives [I said no jokes please!] going into winter into assess the amount of stores built up by the bees and generally the change in  weight of a hive can tell how the hive is progressing throughout the year.

To me hefting has always been a rather imprecise and subjective process but to get accurate figures can mean buying expensive bits of electronic wizardry.

I recently took possession of two new colonies one of which was in two brood boxes. Both boxes were absolutely packed with bees and weighed a ton. The idea of hefting this with some supers on wasn't realistic for an old man like me so I thought about what I could use that do the job hopefully without costing a fortune.

Wandering around the interweb net  I found something perfect for the job, only problem they didn't send to the UK from America

Looking on You Tube there were all sorts of home made things. A lot had complicated pulley systems or were too clumsy to carry around. However some used just a basic set of bathroom scales so I thought I would make one.

I added some blocks to the bottom of the mesh floor that were high enough to slide the scales under the hive.

You then need a lever to raise the hive and fortunately I found something in the pile of rubbish behind my shed. Initially it didn't quite fit but I 'persuaded' it.
Its put either side of the scales and the hive is lifted just high enough to put a block of wood under the hive and resting on the scales.

The hive is then lowered onto the scales and a reading taken.You can either take another reading from the other side or just double the first one.

The entrance is now higher than before. The bees will get used to it but if not I might have to make some very small ladders or steps. More likely I will make some lighting boards for them to land on.

Flow Hive Update
 In the Great Lost Blog about the Flow Hive I speculated amongst other things how long it would take before someone copied it.
A few days ago this appeared on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291747786689?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Apart from the roof it looks the same, the frames look to be identical and they refer to 'Flow'. Pretending to be interested I emailed them asking if it was the actual Flow Hive or a copy.
Their reply was:-

 

Hello friend
Thanks very much for your message
It is not the Australian origined, but our quality of the hives is excellent as well
It is also a very reliable products
Best regards
Vanky

Yes, Vanky
Its a lot cheaper than the Australian origined but I expect its the usual high quality product you can expect from China.

I'm so excited

The season has now started in earnest [wherever that is] and spread to Ravensden.
The bees have all survived the winter although one hive in Ravensden is very small - first time I've managed this in a couple of years.

I bought two colonies to replace the ones lost to wasps last year. You can have problems when moving bees and to try and get over this I put some branches in front of the hives. When they were released they come out to find things very different to how they were when they last went into the hive. The branches force the bees to re-orientate themselves. When they first came out they just did short little flights but now they are in full forage mode.

I put the boxes on the hive stands where they are going to go but will give them a few days to get settled and used to their new environment before putting them in their new brood boxes. The old ones have to be returned.
As the weather is getting warmer it will soon be time to carry out my first full inspections of the season. Its thought you shouldn't open the hive up if its less than 15C, which is has been today  but the forecast for the weekend is to be a bit cooler.
Several of the colonies look to be very strong and although its very early in the season, conventional wisdom is once the brood box has 8 full frames, its could be time to put a super on for them to expand into and to keep any swarming instinct as low as possible. I can get an idea
of what the frames look like without having to take them out so I will see if they need supers.

Below is a video of the Ravensden apiary and I'll do something similar for Scald End when I'm next there. Apologies for the poor picture quality.

Glyphosphate

After much toing and froing today the European Parliament has voted to re approve glyphosphate that may, or may not, have all sorts of unpleasant side effects on humans and animals and can be bought in easy to dispense containers of Roundup from your local DIY store.


To me European politics is as clear as mud but it appears this 'decision' is non binding [voting was 374 to 225 with 102 abstentions] and will be put to the European member states on the 18 May.

All I can find is rather triumphant comments from people like the NFU, however the 'decision' is that it should be re approved for only seven years rather than the usual 15 years.
According to Farmers Weekly 'and the non-binding resolution says glyphosphate should be for professional uses only, and not used in parks and public playgrounds' and according to The Undisputed Truth Daily [Daily Mail] 'should not be used by the general public.'

A couple of things about this:- 
I wonder how farm workers feel about using bulk quantities of Roundup that is apparently too dangerous for the general public or to be used in public places, and
I wonder if Roundup is going to be removed from places like Tesco, B&Q or Homebase.