Winter flowers ...

Mahonia is one of my favourite winter flowering shrubs, the flowers are very scented, the bees, when they ventue out, love it and the berries which follow the flowers are a stunning purple. I also love the prickly, sculptured leaves !

The gorgeous witch hazel flower and it smells wonderful ! There are 2 of these lovely small trees growing in the American Modernist Garden here in the Hamilton Gardens, both are flowering now. The red flowered one above doesn`t smell very nice but it certainly beautiful, the yellow below still has last years leaves on.

Winter gardens are beautiful, magnolias, michelia, daphane, winter sweet, hellebore and a wealth of other sweet smelling trees and plants are flowering here in the Waikato at the moment, not to forget the bright, sunny Aussie, aka Mimosa or Wattle, plus the Banksias which the tiny wax eye flock to and so much more ... The native Kowhai is even starting to flower in some areas, always the first sign of spring.

I am honoured ...

It is autumn here in NZ, the days are cool and the light mellow ... Our bees are all tucked up in warm hives ( hopefully) and it is time to tidy up the woodwork, read lots of books and generally rest - yeah right, not this gal - I was nominated President of my local Bee Club along with librarian and news letter person - ahhhh

I have been doing the news letter for a year or so now and really enjoy it, the President role will be somewhat different - I have lots of ideas, but will take it slowly as not to upset the older gentlemen to much.

I am also really keen to have a Top Bar Hive this year, not much is known about them here and if I mention it to established beekeepers that tend to scoff at the idea, but I am determined to succeed !!

I will try and add more posts regularly ..

late summer bee flowers ...

What bee could resist this sight ?? Rudbeckia `Herbstonne` flowering away in the English Garden`s long border, seed heads are starting to appear now, the gardeners leave them for the birds most years. This tall, slightly straggly plant is flowering amoungst the brilliant blue salvia patens - quite a striking sight.

Monarda didyma or Bee Balm, wonderful scent and a real bee attractant - this plant is flowering in the Herb Garden here in the Hamilton Gardens where I spend most of the week - well, someone has to do it !! I spent the morning walking around the different areas of the Gardens photographing the plants the tutors will use in their classes this week. I put the pics onto disk and the photos are then used on a power point lesson, along with a real sample of each plant.

Late summer is upon us here in the South Pacific, it is still warm but the nights are drawing in and it seems cooler. Day light saving ends next week, thank goodness. I believe it goes on far to long now, I look forward to autumn and the changes that this mellow season brings.

Above is the pink sedum ( ignore the name plate next to it ) flowering in the Gardens at the moment. It had many bees on it`s honey scented flowers this morning. My bees are still out and about most days, we have finaly had some rain, not enough to break the drought but hopefully the nectar flow may start again, especially here in the city where there is always something flowering.

Roll on autumn days, my favourite time of the year, I think we humans need this time to wind down ready for winter. Of course it doesn`t happen like that anymore, we are still as busy as ever through the colder months.

Summer Honey ..

A small selection of the honey I collected last week from one half-depth super - it is very sweet and incredibly tasty, I use honey now for any sweetner - wonderful in stirfries, baking, over ice cream - anything really.

It has been a fantastic year for honey, every plant seemed to flower early and strong, my bees are out every day with the hot summer weather - just hope it rains soon ..

Here is a picture of all the jars full of Ora honey, ( Ora being Maori for `pure`) , my small collection of honey pots, all except one, have been given to me !

I have 2 supers to extract in the coming days, they are very full and heavy !! Once I have my label printed I will take some of the jars to the local market. I give jars away to family and friends but will still have far to much to keep in the cupboard.

Summer Days ...

Phormium tenax or Flax, full of nectar for the birds, much loved by the Tui and Bellbird who come away from these plants with a dusting of yellow or orange pollen on their heads. Maori believe that if the Harakeke (flax) flower early we are in for a long, hot summer and it sure looks that way this year with the tall spires of flax flowers swaying in the breeze, at times covered with nectar seeking creatures, especially the tiny wax-eyes

A glimpse through the Golden Elms with their beautiful crisp yellow/green foliage, through to the Roses here at the Hamilton Gardens, the Horse Chestnuts are flowering in the background. It is just starting to get hot here now, up to 25 degrees some days.

My little families precious Christmas gift, Elliott Thomas, with his Mum, Pip - he is truely a darling - Nana will be buying him his first bee t-shirt soon ..

The Pohutukawa flower which always means Christmas and long hot summer days here in New Zealand, is flowering now along the coastline - a truely iconic kiwi symbol and the bees love it !

I don`t think there would be a New Zealander alive that doesnt think of this tree and long,hot days - blue, clear skies, the ocean, golden sandy beaches,( or if you live on the west coast), black sandy beaches and endless summers. No where in NZ is that far from the sea, lakes or a river.

Country hives ..

Last night my friend and I took our 2 small hives captured from swarms we had afew weeks ago, out to their rural home.

We tied the bottom board, hive box and cover tightly together with ties, loaded them into Doug`s van, covered them up securely and drove (quite quickly I might add) , out to the countryside. We did all this at about 8.00pm, it was still reasonably light, I just hope most of the bees were home for the night !

An uneventful 15 mins later, minus afew odd looks from people, we arrived at my friend`s place, drove across the paddock and gently put Totara and Rimu ( more tree names) under the Poplar trees, where I know they will be very happy and productive (I hope).

I am looking forward to having rural hives, it is not that far out of the city, surrounded by 2 acre blocks, lots of trees and the Waikato river, but has a totally different feel about it, if that makes sense ??

The Life of the Bee

Where would we be with out this little gem, `The Life of the Bee` by Maurice Materlinck, translated by Alfred Sutro. First published in May 1901, reprinted every year up to 1912, with the Pocket Edition in 1908 to 1920.

`What is this "spirit of the hive" - where does it reside ? It is not like the special instinct that teaches the bird to construct its well-planned nest, and then seek other skies when the day for migration returns. Nor is it a kind of mechanical habit of the race, or blind craving for life, that will fling the bees upon any wild hazard the moment an unforseen event shall derange the accustomed order of phenomena. On the contary, be the event never so masterful, the "spirit of the hive" still will follow it, step by step, like an alert and quick-witted slave, who is able to derive advantage even further from his master`s most dangerous orders.

It regulates day by day the number of births, and contrives that these shall strictly accord with the number of flowers that brighten the country-side. It decrees the queens deposition, or warns her that she must depart; it compels her to bring her own rivals into the world, and rears them royally, protecting them from their mothers political hatred. So, too, in accordance with the generosity of the flowers, the age of the spring, and the probable dangers of the nuptial flight, it will permit or forbid the first-born of the royal princesses to slay in their cradles her younger sisters, who are singing the song of the queens`

I love the language used by Materlinck, it sings to me and describes even the most ordinary occasion beautifully. Who could not resist reading the chapter `The Massacre of the Males`??

Russian Bees

This interesting book was written by I Khalifman and won the Stalin Prize in 1951. Translation made from the Russian addition by Molodaya Gvardia Publishing House, Moscow 1953 and revised by the author.

Another book with interesting chapter titles, eg, `The Nest of the Four-Winged`, `Living Brush` and `A Turn of the Spiral` amongst others.

As you can imagine, this book has socialist views of beekeeping and some interesting perspectives on life in general, this is from the last couple of pages: This creative impulse manifests itself in the every-day work of millions of working people of the Soviet Land, workers in the green factory.
Orderly rows of the future forest belts stretch criss-cross over thousands of kilometres; there, in clusters, rise young oaks, spreading their green leaves and growing stronger and stronger as years go by.
Powerful tractors furrow the fields with glittering steel coulters and leave behind wide ribands of soil made fertile by the roots of sown mixed grasses.
Fields of these grasses form an endless carpet and the bees sent here by man reach with their proboscides into floret after floret of collective - farm clover.

All this has been done by the hands and minds of the Soviet people, people that were the first in the world to become masters of their own destiny and are the first to become masters of Nature`

Well, life in Russia has changed over the last few years, this book is certainly an insight into a period of history I didn`t know that much about.

The Apiary ..

This beautiful book was given to me by a friend, it written by Alfred Neighbour and published in 1878. It still has the original watercolour painting of Geo Neighbour and Sons Bee Farm West End, Hampstead. Chapters have interesting titles such as `Abdomen and Secretive Organs` , `Thorax and Organs of Motion` and `Bee-Keeping in London` all which delve into wonderful worded detail, eg `There are many persons, now in this noisy city pent, who frequently remember the days of childhood when, among pastures of clover or amidst flowery heath and woodlands, they listened to the cheerful hum of bees.`

The next 2 pictures are of different hives used, both very handsome - I wonder how practical ?
I found this book fascinating, these hives were works of art - very pleasing to look at. The inside of the hive was often grained and varnished with elaborate entrances and facade.

The hive with the 3 bell glasses must have been a delightful sight. The bees would come up throught one of the 3 holes and convey their honey into the bell glasses( with ventilators), which, when filled held about 6 pounds each. There were 3 windows in the lower hive, each closed with a shutter, very useful and interesting for inspection. Across the centre window was a thermometer , enclosed at the sides by slips of glass. The hive, in 2 parts, was made of straw with a zinc ventilator, ornamentally painted, forming the apex: this was useful in letting the confined hot air pass away in warm weather.

Sustainable Garden Ramble

Our native fuchsia, Kotukutuku, note the blue pollen - a beautiful small tree with red peeling bark and these stunning flowers that the birds love for the nectar.

Today I went on a sustainable garden ramble around the fair city of Hamilton, this was one of the first gardens, a small inner city paradise with NZ native plants and beautiful roses, herbs, a worm farm, vege garden - all grown with no sprays, everything as organic as possible. The woman who owns this garden runs the Envirocentre here in Hamilton. There was an excellent working worm farm in the garden, it was quite compact and I think I will invest in one, I need somewhere to put food scraps that doesn`t smell or attract flies.

The second garden I went to was this gully section on the outskirts of the city. Hamilton is made up of a number of gully systems that run through the city. At last people are bringing these areas of land back to life and replanting with native plants. Most of the gullies are full of weeds like willow and privet plus old car bodies and fridges !! This garden went down to a steam and has been planted with flax, cabbage trees, kauri, kahikatea, pukatea and many other appropriate plants, many being eco-sourced from the surrounding areas.

I went to another gully section that has been planted up for 35 years, it was like being in the bush somewhere far from any city - amazing place with a small nursery and very productive vege garden. The English couple who had done all the hard work were happy to show people around, they also had a chap talking about the bird life or lack of it, native birds that is, here in the city. Compared to other places in NZ, Hamilton has a very dismal record of leaving bush areas and planting native trees and other food souces like Banksia, Gums etc. Hopefully this is changing as people become more aware of what can be done with abit of effort.

Queen Cells and a Hive A Buzzzzz

Yes there were 5 queen cells in Matai, some had hatched which would explain the 2 swarms over the previous week or so, others looking ready to . I felt bad about destroying them but I didn`t want to loose any more bees to the neighbourhood. There was no sign of disease in either of the hives, lots of bur comb and brood quite high up in the top supers. Also, quite alot of drone cells.

A queen bee ready to emerge from her cell - trying to hold it and camera made for difficulties getting the exact moment - I dropt the camera in the end - blast .

The bees where remarkably calm while all this intrusion into their home was going on. I am not the fastest or most agile when it comes to checking on frames, I do try to go slowly and quietly and not make any sudden movements, all the while telling them ( bees, that is ) how beautiful and clever they are and please don`t take offence and sting me, not too many times anyway. I did get stung once, on the knee of all places. I quickly flicked the sting out and put honey on the spot, it takes the `bite' out of the pain.

This was Miro after I had finished checking and swapping frames around - there was this huge number of bees out the front and there was no aggression or loud buzzing, it was like they thought, thank goodness for that, we have got more room. I must fix the `leaning tower of Pisa` look on this hive !

I am taking the 2 swarms captured out to a friend`s place in the countryside, I am looking forward to having rural and urban bees, it will be interesting seeing how each different situation performs. These 2 hives will be in a paddock situation but also within close range to a number of large country gardens and lots of trees.

First Honey for the Season

After checking all the frames for queen cells I decided to harvest 4 frames from Miro - the bees had been busy for acouple of weeks already and had nearly filled a super. I like this picture, it shows the construction of the cells so clearly.

Our new extractor - it is bolted into place now, no more jumping like a demented washing machine and she works like a dream. So easy to clean, just unbolt the top bit, take the hard plastic drum and metal frame holder outside to wash.

So much easier then turning the handle, especially when there are alot of frames to do. I have decided this year to extract more often, probably when there are full supers, it means I will (hopefully) have honey to sell on a regular basis.

I sold 12 jars last week from this extraction !! I put a sign up at work and the whole lot went in a day - to students and tutors alike. Now I have orders to fill - its amazing. I am so in awe of these creatures and I must admit, I do feel abit guilty about taking their stores, even though there is always plenty left for them.

It`s swarming time again ...

I can`t believe it - both hives swarmed last week and here`s me thinking I had made a good job of checking for queen cells acouple of weeks ago. This is the nuc with the swarm from Miro, it was easy to capture, having landed in a small maple tree in the garden. A beekeeper friend asked if he could have it as he had lost a hive recently, I wish I had kept it now as I am going to be putting 2 hives out on a friends lifestyle block in the countryside as soon as I get the bees !!!

The bees from Matai landed on a high fence and were quite happy there, or so I thought ... Dashed off to get acouple of boxes from a friend, leaving the swarm happily buzzing away in the sunshine, got back 20 mins later and they had vanished, not a bee to be seen - I was cross with myself for not putting them into a cardboard box or the like until I got back - never trust homeless bees ...

A friend and I have brought quite abit of hive gear including a 4 frame extracter, electric uncapping knife, excluder and hive boxes, lids etc from a gentleman who has had to give up beekeeping after nearly 60 years as his eye sight is failing. I really felt for Bernard, he had a great collection of books also that he very kindly has given to me. I will post about them later - some really old books which I can`t wait to read.

I will be extracting this week hopefully as there are a number of frames full of capped honey already.

Bee Poems by Lia ..

This is my beautiful Granddaughter Lia, who turns 11 this Dec - a delightful child who is very interested in her Nana`s bees and all of nature - I love her to pieces ..
She penned these poems for me and I had to share them.

BEES
Bees live in hives
in each hive there are more then 50005.
Sometimes they are cute
and much small then a ute.

Little worker bees
I feel sorry for their poor knees,
working out their wings
flying and seeing all sorts of things.

You might have seen them before
flying in packs of 5 or more.
The Queen is so fat she wears a hat -
her crown ...

My honey label is `Ora` which is the Maori word for pure, here is her 2nd poem ..

Ora honey is so yummy
it feels warm in my tummy
Have it on toast
I always eat the most
Sweeten up your roast
with a little Ora honey

New beginnings ...

New growth and the flowers on the Judus Tree ( Cercis siliquastrum), in the Hamilton Gardens this week. I love the way the light shines through the new heart-shaped foliage. This small tree flowers before the new leaves appear, heralding the change of season. The pea - like flowers appear on the stems, followed by flatterned pods. An exotic tree that is grown widely in New Zealand, sometimes used as street trees. The autumn colour is yellow, not that great really, but this multi-stemmed tree is popular here.

The Kowhai (Sophora tetraptera) are in full bloom everywhere at the moment - such a joyous sight ! It produces alot of nectar with the small waxeyes forever jostling for space on the twiggy branches. This NZ native tree used to grow along the river banks and for old Maori it was another signal to plant kumera or sweet potato. Here in the city, with the Waikato river running through the middle, we have begun planting these trees again, hopefully the birds will be drawn back with this food supply provided.

Zoom in and have a close look at the flowers, they are bright yellow with all the petals pointing forward, a yellow dye can be made from the petals.

All parts of the Kowhai were used by ancient Maori as medicine, infused bark was drunk for internal ailments, cuts, bruises and swellings. Boiled and crushed bark was used for sprains, broken limbs and cuts.

Isn`t this gorgeous ? There is something about new growth on a tree that really touches me deeply, I can`t explain why.. maybe its the sign of new life, the colour is always stunning, so fresh and vibrant - I am a sucker for leaves, no matter what time really, although spring and autumn would have to be my favourite times of the year. I could never live in a climate that did not have the definate 4 seasons - do I hear a Crowded House song coming on ?? This young Fig tree (Ficus carica) is growing happily in the sustainable garden here at the Hamilton Gardens http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/ and I couldn`t resist taking a photo - I mean, how beautiful is this ? My children always tease me about my photo albums and the lack of human pictures there are in them !!

Busy Creatures

This Australian Grevillia, not sure which one, was covered in bees on a warm spring day. This is one of the many plants grown at Ngaroto nursery, propogated and sold to the public at very low prices compared to the bigger nurseries. I always try and buy from smaller places as I find their plants are usually better cared for and healthier, plus it is supporting a small business. Grevillias grow well here, they don`t mind the heat over summer, being from Australia they thrive on lack of water. They are an excellent source of nectar for the bees and birds such as the Tui, flowering in early spring right through into summer, often when there is not alot of nectar available.

There must have been a bumblebee nest close by as this small, strongly scented Rhododendrum had many small bumblebees diving headfirst into the flowers, emerging covered in pollen ! I love watching bumblebees crash-landing from flower to flower, they look so uncoordinated but really they are proof that nature is amazingly clever - this bee shouldn`t beable to get off the ground let alone fly home with a load of pollen and nectar .. but she does.

An afternoon at Ngaroto

Ngaroto Nursery is a 7 acre wonderland just north of the small township of Te Awamutu, about 30 mins drive from home. I often go there to blow the cobwebs away and recharge my batteries. The nursery sells plants they propogate themselves from the many mature plants and trees grown in the park-like grounds. This is the place I came to after my adored Father died 4 years ago, I could walk and cry with no one to see me ..
It is a beautiful time of the year with the blossom and new growth, the Rhodos were humming with bees and the wee native fantail or Piwakawaka followed us around the garden, darting and flitting quite close, I know its the bugs we disturb, but it always nice to think they are not afraid.




My friend Julie`s foxie, Jess, loves going there, she runs for miles chasing rabbit smells and flushing birds out of the undergrowth - a dog heaven. Thats Julie below, no sign of Jess !!

Ngaroto is out in the countryside, surrounded by farmland. Before European settlement the land was covered in native forest with abundant birdlife, fish in the nearby Waipa river and the small lake Ngaroto, ( one of the many peat lakes dotted throughout this part of the Waikato region), nearly all of the bush was cleared for farmland, leaving small remnants of Kahikatea, poisoning the waterways with chemical run-off and nitrogen from the dairy farms - great uh ?
There is also a little cafe where one can sit out under the trees with a latte , always good for the soul ..

Opening the hives - spring check

Last week I opened both Miro and Matai for the first time after the winter months and look what I found !! The busy little queen has been laying in the top boxes, even with plenty of room the bees have made extra cells on top of the frames which she has also laid in. I knew I should have taken the top 2 boxes off over winter, it won`t happen again thats for sure. I am going to put a queen excluder on both hives and will have to take frames with brood in and swap them around with frames from the bottom box. I put 2 apistan strips in each hive, down amongst the brood, they will come out next month. I did not see any sign of varroa or other disease and both hives were very busy with lots of flying too and fro! For the amount of bees and the time I spent looking through each box, I was amazed at how docile and calm we all were, it was a really peaceful experience - I do like working with bees ...

I`m not sure why, but these 2 gorgeous pieces of comb had been built inbetween the 2 top boxes, one had some larvae in it, the other was empty - would anyone know why this would happen ? I took the comb off and kept it for Lia to take to school. There was still plenty of room on the frames for the bees to fill - maybe they decided they wanted a penthouse suite !

Keeping Bees

Out west on the Raglan road there is an interesting farm owned by Rick and Liz, where everything, right down to the milk in our tea and the composting toilet, is organic. It was here on Sunday morning I took part in a beekeeping lesson. Rick, seen here at left, explaining some of the differences in the size and shape of the queen, worker and drone, was well qualified to take the course having kept 2 hives on his property for about 8 years. Being organic, there are no sprays or chemicals used and going by the taste of his honey, there is a wide variety of flowering trees and plants around. They grow specific bee food like Tree Lucern which flowers twice a year.

Most of the other people there did not have their bees or hives yet so all the equipment needed was shown and explained, including the smoker - very important ! Rick explained the different materials used in the smoker, he prefers dried pine needles which do give off a pleasent smell and light smoke, what the boxes are used for, the different sizes, clothing needed, pests and disease including the varroa mite which is here in New Zealand now and for which we have to treat our hives on a regular basis. The queen excluder was on one of the hives and it was a good example of how it works, especially at this time of the year when the queen has started to lay, she will often lay up into the top boxes if given the chance. The picture below shows Rick clearing out propolis that the bees have started to put on the excluder. The course was run by the Envirocentre in Raglan, they also run permaculture, sustainability, seed saving and eco sourcing lessons. Raglan is a great little seaside town on the west coast of the North Island of NZ. It has a large number of people living there that are artists, writers, weavers, alternative life-stylers - great cafes and shops. It was a sleepy village for many years but is now a popular destination for day trippers plus has the best left-hand surf break in NZ.

We had a good look at some of the frames from the more docile hive, apparently the other one is quite agressive ! There were a number of drone cells plus worker brood, pollen and as we expected, queen cells.

I found I knew about most of what was being talked about, but it was wonderful being with like-minded people all really enthusiastic about keeping bees. I don`t think any of them lived in an urban situation like myself so that is my next goal, to get more bees in the cities !