This year, our beekeepers Anthony and Alexandra will be keeping you updated on what they get up to in the apiary here at Rand in Lincolnshire.

We have a new Beekeepers Cabin! This is situated on our apiary at Rand and provides convenient storage and work areas for all the necessary beekeeping jobs. Anthony has done a great job making work benches and shelving units and with a lick of paint we have a fully functioning Beekeepers Cabin.

Here is Anthony hard at work:

January saw an end to the Christmas and New Year festivities with many beekeepers realising that there is a lot of work to do before the beekeeping season really begins to take hold!

As soon as we were back at work, preparations for winter oxalic acid treatment were underway to rid our colonies of any Varroa mites that may still be lingering. We used the vapourisation technique which involves a vapouriser, Api-Bioxal oxalic crystals and a 12V battery. This technique turns the crystals from a solid state straight into vapour, bypassing the liquid state.

We treated our colonies during a broodless period, meaning that any remaining mites would be phoretic (on the bees). Bearing in mind oxalic acid does not kill mites inside sealed brood, these phoretic mites were therefore receptive to a vapourisation of oxalic acid.

The reason we used vapourisation is because it is a very effective, efficient and easy way to treat bees for varroa infestation, at 3 minutes on average per hive and a very high mite mortality rate. It does away with the need to open up the hive such as when the trickle method is used. We picked a calm, still day to carry out this treatment. This is very important as the vapours can be harmful if inhaled and full protective gear is required.