The Walrus and the Honey Bee1 Jan 2025

How To Increase Honey Production: Three Factors That Matter Most

Imogen reads from Steve's blog post of 1st September 2024

00:53 Queens

The importance of the queen in a honey bee colony cannot be overstated

02:37 Gruff Rees reviewed "Healthy Bees, Heavy Hives" by Paul Horton and Steve Donohoe, calling it "the best beekeeping book ever". We'll take that.

02:40 Comparison between colonies headed by my normal queens and four which contained queens made by Ivan Nielsen in Denmark. It turned out that the Nielsen queens made lots more honey. Nielsen says that the aim is for honey to be uniformly spread over all colonies, rather than have some monsters and some small ones.

04:40 What makes a good queen? Prolific queens will lead to bigger honey crops, but only if forage is available and the weather is good.

05:50 Starvation and having to feed syrup in early June.

06:00 Buying queens. Quality will vary, as with all natural things.

06:40 Making your own queens

07:15 Heavy queens tend to be better

07:30 Ideal conditions for making queens.

07:50 Controlling Disease and Parasites - the second important factor in producing a good honey crop. Chalkbrood, European foulbrood, varroa mites and associated viruses, chronic bee paralysis. The treatment protocol followed by Steve and Alex at Walrus Apiaries. Formic Pro. Thymovar. VarroMed.

10:38 Forage and Nutrition - the third important factor.

Fixed apiaries versus migratory beekeeping.

11:20 When to feed? Sugar and pollen substitute. Importance of pollen stores in Autumn.

13:00 Sugar contamination risks. Manley's thoughts on syrup feeding in May. Timing of feeding for winter stores.

14:20 Summary

The Walrus and the Honey Bee

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Episoder(19)

Non-Treatment Sanity Check

Steve Donohoe gives a quick review of the beekeeping season, then plunges into the topic of non-treatment beekeeping, that is , not treating colonies for varroa mite infestation. He tries to understan...

24 Sep 202541min

Open Mating Queens

Whether you are raising queen honey bees or just dealing with colonies that have swarmed or superceded, the success of the mating of the new queen is a matter of some importance. Steve Donohoe talks a...

17 Jul 202553min

Walrus Wobbles (beekeeping blunders)

Some of the many things that can and do go wrong when beekeeping, and what to do about them Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

18 Jun 202514min

Beekeeping: Myth Busting

Steve Donohoe discusses the beekeeping season so far, as well as some beekeeping myths, and ideas on intensive versus extensive farming methods. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

29 Mai 202536min

Beekeeping Twilight Zone

Some strange and unexpected things can happen in beekeeping - here are some of them Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

18 Mai 202512min

Swarming Hurts Your Honey Crop

A little about how much honey you might lose if your bees swarm, and some ways to prevent swarming or reduce the honey lost. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

4 Mai 202511min

The Best Queen Cells

Steve Donohoe walks through his method for making the best queen cells he has ever seen. It's the same method as used by Brother Adam, back in the day, and by Mike Palmer, and others. Bluesky Threads ...

21 Apr 202514min

Varroa: Why Treat? by Kirsty Stainton

A balanced and detailed look at the science surrounding the issue of non-treatment of honey bees, including a comparison between the two main approaches: selective breeding and using survivor stock. ...

13 Apr 202522min