With the late Autumn sunshine last week, the apiary bees took full advantage to do some late autumn stocking up of supplies, particularly pollen provided by the flourishing ivy. The major task on hand was to check that each colony had sufficient room to store the late bonanza. Any hive with nearly full ‘super’ had an extra one added with a full compliment of frames. It was particularly satisfying to discover that the SOPHia colony had almost filled its empty super added at honey extraction time in August and was ready to start on another. The hive now comprises a full brood box with two supers, one nearly full and the top one newly added and full of empty frames. The queen excluder was raised to the top of the first super in order to allow the brood including queen access to more extensive honey supplies – likely to be a necessity over the long winter months.
In a previous blog, I mentioned that Pauline had identified one of the SOPHia honey frames as a particularly fine specimen. This she entered into the honeycomb competition which was hosted by the South Tipperary Beekeepers Association, and held in Clonmel on the 21st Sept. As ‘newbees’ to beekeeping we were delighted and surprised to get a ‘Highly Commended’ sticker for our SOPHia comb. The judge was very encouraging and provided some useful tips for achieving even greater glory in the future. Many thanks to 3 Counties Apiary, and particularly Pauline Walsh, for all the help and support.
