All is well that ends well

[Obee1]

On Saturday I went to inspect my 3 hives on caerphilly mountain. These used to be the meangreenqueen colony that went mental and was cut down in its prime.
The mean colony was made into 1 full size and two Nuc colonies which were so generously populated they soon got moved to full hives. It is now nearly 2 months since all 3 were requeened and I'm pleased to say all three colonies were very well behaved. One got a local mongrel and two raised queens from buckfast eggs. So, no honey crop for me since the split but I'm very pleased to have 3 lovely strong colonies ready to overwinter.
It must be said the buckfast cross queens have outperformed the local Welsh queen and are on 8/9 seams rather than the 5 seams of the local queen who had a two week head start.
All I need now is to find them a new apiary that isn't on top of a windy mountain.

 

[Tremyfro]

How about asking if the club apiary has room for them?

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

It must be said the buckfast cross queens have outperformed the local Welsh queen and are on 8/9 seams .......
All I need now is to find them a new apiary that isn't on top of a windy mountain.

May I offer the roof of Manchester Cathedral?



Dusty

 

[Obee1]

Dusty. I would love that. If only I lived anywhere near! Now I do live near llandaff cathedral. Maybe you could put in a good word upstairs

Seriously I didnt realise cathedrals had flat roof space that was accessible. How do you get your full supers down for extraction?

 

[Obee1]

How about asking if the club apiary has room for them?

I have a few irons in the fire... And the dinas garden offer if all else fails. But I want somewhere closer to home if possible. I'm thinking urban setting for the good forage but not too close to joe public wandering around ..... Oh and a building for storage and cofee making of course!

 

[madasafish]

Dusty. I would love that. If only I lived anywhere near! Now I do live near llandaff cathedral. Maybe you could put in a good word upstairs

Seriously I didnt realise cathedrals had flat roof space that was accessible. How do you get your full supers down for extraction?

With lots of choirboys

(Only joking - read Dusty's threads.. with care down steep staircases which make corkscrews seem straight.)

 

[kazmcc]

Seriously I didnt realise cathedrals had flat roof space that was accessible. How do you get your full supers down for extraction?

Down this very narrow stairway. I think he said they used volunteers and passed down a frame at a time in a ziplock bag, but this was taken on my visit to the apiary. I have a few other pics I posted. This one is of the flat roof

 

[B+.]

This one is of the flat roof

It looks perfect on a sunny day, but....how often is it like that?

 

[kazmcc]

It looks perfect on a sunny day, but....how often is it like that?

Well, this is Manchester LOL

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Hi Obee1

A lot of cathedrals have flat roofs over the side aisles. Not absolutely flat, of course, as rainwater has to run off.

The main concern for the architect is to have the hives on 4 x 2 beams, to spread the weight on the lead, to avoid puncturing it.

As for full supers, yes, we use volunteers from our employment programme; we put each frame in a plastic bag (to prevent honey dripping on the stairs) and station people every 10 steps or so - passing them down to the ground. So far, we've only had about 8 supers' worth each year, so it's not too bad. But if we ever get four or five per hive, I've got a few contingency plans in mind.

Hope you find a good site.

Dusty