Amberstone.au

It just keeps going.

The devastation. The loss. The heartbreak.

If I was to estimate I'd say there is over 120 frames on this wood pile! Some full of honey, some with bees that died hatching out, some infested with Small Hive Beetle but nothing salvageable because of the disease or because of the chemicals used to treat the mite

I got into beekeeping because it bourght me joy. This is the opposite, but ill be damned if this is our story forever!

Bring on spring! I'm over this mite infestation, I manifesting sunshine, pollen and happy bees

Another day another dead hive.

More work, less joy but we have to keep going!

Its a gamble to introduce external hives into our Apiary at this time but at least we have the resources to treat them more so than a hobbiest with only 1 or 2 hives

This hive had a count of 50 per 200 bees washed which is very high! So we vapped them with Oxalic acid and the mite drop was insane!

Just another day battling varroa in Brisbane

This is a normal Thursday, no commute, no scheduled lunch breaks, no time sheets! Just sharing my passion with the next generation of go-getters!

And the best part, Tikka, always my shadow is along for the ride, no matter how brisk the mornings get!

Its winter here in Brisbane and reducing the amount of times we open the hive helps to keep the brood warm

So observing the entrance gives us a little insight into what's happening inside and the lack of bees coming and going from the hive was a sign to look deeper!

And I was right to look further, all the bees were dead or had absconded leaving behind a smelly mess of a Small Hive Beetle slime out

Even tho the girls look perfect on the outside, Varroa is doing damage in the brood!

Of the 3 hives I washed we got a 20, a 13 and a 10 count per 200 bees! OA strips are in but ill have to get a 2nd vaporiser for up here and train up mum to administer

Glad I took a joyful moment yesterday to bask in the joy of a good looking hive, onto treatments for these girls!

Good news!!! Whoop whoop!!!

After weeks of awfulness at our Brisbane Apiary I felt like doom and gloom was the only beekeeping I would see for a while

But about 12 - 18 months ago I moved some hives to my parents farm in the South Burnett and checking them today bourght me SO MUCH joy!!!! Seeing delicious full honey frames, exploding bee populations and crisp white wax was the best feeling!

I haven't washed the girls yet, im sure there is some varroa in them, just not in the droves that we're experiencing in Brissy!

For now I'm going to bask in the joy that I know beekeeping to be!!!

They say you can make decisions based on your head or your heart and the decision to remove live bees from our education sessions over the winter months was a heart-based decision

And it almost sent me bankrupt...im not exaggerating!

I truly believed, and still do believe that this was the ethically correct decision but as a business owner with employees it was financially a TERRIBLE decision

because our clients were happy to move their booking to the warmer months when the bees resumed coming to the session and the threat of varroa was more manageable

So we have pivoted and designed a display hive, so we can bring bees without opening them up to the elements and money made from education will be going straight back into financially supporting our hives to make it thru the winter and the first wave of varroa