Sunday 13th September 2015.

Hello friends and family
On Monday I took a trip back to Dunedin and got the stitches out of the wound on my head. This was another step forward for me and so by Wednesday I felt fit to do a round of bee work.

Yellow-eyed penguin nest building.

The task was to put in the Varroa strips and assess the overall state of the apiaries. Once again, the hardest thing for me is to get the smoker to operate, and as usual, I give up on it and just cope with angry bees. This is very fine out in the field, as I upset them and then drive off. Not so easy to manage the hive here at home. My job today was to split it into 2 hives, as well as treat the Varroa, which was not welcomed at all by the bees.

One beehive has become two.

To cut a long story short, I ended up with about 30 angry bees in the kitchen, a problem that I managed to solve without getting stung, thank goodness for that! Some hives did not survive the icy winter and so I am now down to 18 hives. My plan is to build them up to maybe 25 this season.

Another southerly front on the horizon.

The other bonus this week was the completion of my shed at Hampden. I have asked the Council for the final inspection so will be pleased when that is done. 

A fine looking shed, all built!

Spring is slowly arriving and the penguins are taking an active interest in the nest boxes. We expect egg laying to begin in about a week so that will be very exciting.

Maybe this will be my home.

Have a great week

Rosalie