Author Archives: Ewa&Mikael

English summary: We have never experienced a swarm which we beleive is due to our preventive job where we create space for the queen by always ensure three empty combs in the brood room. Last week, however, we had a pickle since we noticed queen cells in a fairly weak colony and decided in favorContinue reading “20 Juli – Slut på Linddraget och överraskningssvärmen”

Short English summary: Heather honey is claimed to cause dysentery due to high mineral content and this statement is repeated in most books without any references to studies to support the claim. We carried out a test some years ago where we used 30-50% heather honey on 9 hives where all hives survived and inContinue reading “Ljung som vintermat”

English summary: It’s still in the middle of the summer but the planning for the winter should start. The bees want to have the foodstuff above them and they also need empty cells to sit in when it gets cold. Therefore we always use two boxes and fill the upper box with honey combs ,Continue reading “11 Juli-Planering för invintring”

Nu blommar Linden för fullt och i vår hemgård drar bina också på Lind och vi kan hoppas på ett hyggligt resultat som kanske kan hjälpa upp årets skörd. Även i Öxabäck blommar Linden men där har bina hittar lushonung som uppenbarligen är mer attraktiv för bina än Linden. Jag kan iofs förstå dem förContinue reading “8 juli – Bina gör som de vill”

Short English summary: Sometimes we see two queens in the same hive and we usually remove one. But lately we have started to challenge that strategy since the bees probably know what they are doing. So, in future when a silent change is going on we will not intercept in any way and if theyContinue reading “Parallelldrottningar”

Englis summary: In july the press is eased since the swarm period is more or less over and the drone period as well. Since nectar and pollen is more scarce now we must ensure that we ahve enough food in the hives and thus we always leave 5 combs with honey and if there isContinue reading “Veckogenomgång i Juli”

English summary: After a period with scarce nectar flow we suddenly found plenty of pitch dark honey in the hives with a very distinct taste of “caramell”. We were expecting a bit of light Linden honey but the bees have instead found some exclusive honey dew!In one of our hives we found several queen cellsContinue reading “30 Juni: Överrasknings – drottning, -drag, -avläggare och -blomning”

Så har vi kommit till den sista delen i den här serien och i tidigare delar gick vi igenom befintliga fältstudier där invintring på socker jämfördes med naturlig mat (del 1), de verkliga orsakerna till utsot (del 2) samt näringsbehovet på vintern (del 3). I denna del går jag igenom studier som visar att honungContinue reading “del 4. Honung är bästa maten – vinter som sommar”

English summary: Protein is needed during the winter since the bees make winter brood in order to get rid of excess water to avodi dysentery. Protein is also needed to increase longevity in young bees as well as older bees but the old bees only need the protein level that is found in honey. ThereforeContinue reading “del 3. Honung är bästa bimaten- sommar som vinter”

Nu får vi betala priset för den tidiga blomningen då det är knappt om mat, speciellt i vår skogsbigård där samtliga kupor utom en behövde få extra matramar. Vi hade med oss 6 ramar honung som vi fördelade så att alla hade 4 ramar som minst. Lupinerna kom för ett par år sedan och harContinue reading “22 Juni, dåligt drag”