Dandelions

Posted on May 24, 2013 by admin

Thank Goodness for Dandelions!

The end of May and we have still to see the hawthorn blossom here in Leitrim. Is it out in your neck of the woods yet?

Well, the Dandelions have been making up for it, in their millions! The bees, when the weather lets them, have been out working away and valiantly trying to get things going for the summer…….what summer?

The beekeepers too are taking it slow to build up.

By the way, we now have Hive Alive in stock if you’re interested.

To try to stir things up a bit…..I’ll be doing a beekeeping ‘demonstration’/talk/Q&A at Beltra Country Market this Saturday morning, 25^th May, 10am-12noon. Everyone welcome!

Cavan BKA is planning a great one-day conference, 29^th June, on queen rearing with a number of excellent guest speakers on the subject. It will be in the International Scouting Centre, Castlesaunderson (along Cavan to Monaghan road, about 5 miles out of Cavan town). For more information and to book contact: Alan Brady alan@alanbrady.ie Mobile: 086 8127920.

Mill Lane Beekeeping will have a stand there. We’ll try to bring all the stock items likely to be in demand around that time but will happily take orders for later delivery too. All Welcome there too!

The Bee Movie, Mary McNutt version is still on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On-MUCJ7AiQ compliments of ‘Age & Opportunity’ (not sure I should be too happy about the inference!)

Spring at last!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin

What a relief to be doing some real beekeeping. For so long we have been peeking in quickly with fondant at the ready. It’s nice to do that first inspection finally.

We keep hearing about horror stories of bee losses from all over the country. Folks up in the North, especially east Northern Ireland seem to have been really badly hit. All down the east and across into the south all seem to have been adversely affected too. Probably that prolonged very cold period from about Paddy’s weekend to nearly mid April delivered a killer punch to already-weak-after- winter colonies

Then again, we do hear about some good survival stories, even colonies that appear to be stronger than usual! Luck of the draw?

Working the Blacthorn

We hear about farmers having great difficulty feeding their stock because growth is so late….maybe

that can work in favour of our bees. Certainly blackthorn is very late, and there’s no sign at all of the ‘May’ (the hawthorn) which traditionally breaks through around 1^st May. So the fact that plant life is running late, might benefit our bees which are also running late as they get going with spring build up, as the cold weather recedes.

So here’s hoping the forage season will extend a bit at the latter end to give our girls a chance to make up for lost time earlier!

By the way, our 2013 Prices have been out for a while. You’ll be glad to hear many prices are down.

Catologue price 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On-MUCJ7AiQ You might enjoy my own Bee Movie! Don’t take it all too seriously!

2013 Catalogue Launch

Posted on March 23, 2013 by admin

2013 Catalogue: Many prices down

The New Price List/Catalogue has just been finalised and prices and new stock items uploaded onto our website: www.milllanebeekeeping.ie

And……….the good news is that many prices are down this year.

Mill Lane Beekeeping is delighted to be able to pass on the benefits gained by the improved exchange rate between Sterling and Euro.

We have also been working hard to find alternative suppliers if by doing so we can bring prices down for our customers. For Example our fondant and syrup feeds are down substantially because we have switched to another supplier. If we can do more on this we will do so.

Anyone wanting a print copy of our Price List please let us know by email: onmilllane@yahoo.ie or by phone: 086 8599 833 or 086 2403 152. We can send electronically to any e-mail address, or alternatively we can send by snail mail.

We have also included a few ‘Special Offers’ such as slight seconds, and a couple of second hand honey extractors.

Please do have a look and we will be happy to look after all your beekeeping needs throughout the year.

Sale Specials

Posted on January 22, 2013 by admin

We’re into the last week of the Sale!!!

Here are some last minute Special Offers

Extractors

9-Frame Radial, Manual, Stainless Steel Honey Extractor €449

9-Frame Radial, Manual, Polythene Universal Extractor

Second Hand, with replacement New Valve €250

4-Frame Tangential, Motor needs to be refurbed or

Replaced, Stainless Steel Extractor €150

Hives/Hive Parts

Plywood Hive: 1 Brood Box, 1 Super, 1 Roof, 1 OM Floor € 80

Cedar Hive: 1 Brood Box, 1 Super, 1 Roof, 1 OM Floor,

1 Crown Board and 1 Plastic Queen Excluder €125

6-Frame Polystyrene Nuc Hive (with build-in feeder) € 45

“Bees on a Budget” Complete Hive (1 Brood, 2 Super,

Roof, OMF, Crown Board, Plastic Q Excl and all

Frames, Wax, nails and glue) €219

Feel free to call us for more information

Winter Sale – 15 to 26 January

Posted on January 4, 2013 by admin

Happy New Year to All our Bloggers and Beekeeping Friends

We are hoping that 2013 will prove to be a good year for Irish bees, bee-breeding, beekeeping and honey crops!!!

To get it off to a good start, we will be having our customary

Winter Sale from 15^th to 26^thJanuary 2013

(shop open Tuesdays to Saturdays daylight hours only).

We will be offering some exceptionally good value again this winter:

First and foremost we have our new stock of winter feeding fondant just in. And the good news is that we can offer the 2.5Kg VacPac at €6.50 during the sale, or a box of 5 Pacs (total 12.5Kgs) for €30 ……..That is substantially down on last year’s stock which we were selling at €10 pac/€45 box.

All 2012 stock will be discounted by a minimum of 10%, but many items will be marked down by much more, and we have bought in some special sale items which are great value……Here’s a few of the Specials: have a look and then check in our catalogue to see our normal prices: The savings are phenomenal.

Thornes slight seconds: Premier Quality Wax only.

National Brood Hoffman Frames (DN4) €1 ea with wired foundation wax €2.25 ea

National Super Hoffman Frames (SN4) €1 ea with wired foundation wax €1.75 ea

National Super Manley Frames €1.30 ea with wired foundation wax €2.05 ea

Thornes Cedar Flatpak Hive Parts (slight seconds)

Brood Box €33 Super €25 Roof €33

Open Mesh Floor €24 Plastic Queen Excluder €5 Crown Board €14

Thornes Cedar Hive (slight seconds) including:

1 Brood Box, 1 Super, I Roof, 1 Open Mesh Floor, 1 Crown Board, 1 Queen Excluder €125

Contents for same: including: Frames, Wax, Castellated Spacers, 1 pr Metal Runners, Frame Nails etc €50

Extra Supers incl C. Spacers €25 ; 10 SN4 Frames and Wax €17.50

6-Frame Polystyrene Nucleus Hive with Build-In Feeder €45

Order online, by e-mail, by phone or in person. Offers are only while stocks last….Don’t delay!

Guess what we got for Christmas from our dear friend Mel?……….Tahdaaahhh…..

Chocolate Beehive!

The diet can wait!

Christmas is Coming…..

Posted on November 29, 2012 by admin

Christmas is Coming….

It’s that time of year again. And even though belts have been tightened all year, and people still worry about the future, the Season of Goodwill is fast approaching, and we cast our minds to what we might give or receive as gifts.

Mill Lane Homemade Preserves are very acceptable gifts in almost every home: bringing the flavours of natural ingredients and home grown or organic produce back to life. Many of the flavours of our childhood memories like wild-crafted blackberries in Blackberry and Apple Jam, Real Seville Orange Marmalade, home grown Oregano, French Tarragon and Thyme in the flavoured oils, etc.

We make up gift packs to almost any value from €5 to €50 and accommodate your likes

and dislikes………..

Have a look at the information below and we will be happy to answer any questions you have, and look after some of your Christmas gift list.

Gift Packs from Mill Lane Preserves: containing all home-made preserves

You decide what your budget is….€10, €15, 20 etc. up to €50

We will select from our range below to that value, allowing €2 for gift packaging

If you would like to select the exact contents of your pack, same rules apply!

Delivery Free within 20 miles of Drumshanbo, in Dublin, and points between!

But make sure you order before 15 December if you want delivery.

e-mail: onmilllane@yahoo.ie or phone: 086 8599 833

1 lb Marmalades (Seville Orange, 3 Fruit, or Orange and Ginger) €4 ea

12oz Plum Jam €4 ea

8oz Marmalades (same selection as above), Plum, Raspberry,

Gooseberry or Blackberry and Apple Jams €3 ea

8oz Cranberry Sauce, Chutney, Apple Jelly or Sweet Cucumber

Relish €3.75 ea

12oz Pure Irish Honey €7.50 ea

8oz Pure Irish Honey €5 ea

250ml Flavoured Oils (French Tarragon and Chilli, Oregand and

Black Pepper, Thyme)

16oz Poached Cinnamon Pears in Port €5 ea

As beekeepers, we know that we really want to choose for ourselves when buying beekeeping supplies and equipment. Our family and friends will have the best of intentions, but may pick the wrong type of hivetool or smoker etc. So if you would like beekeeping equipment as a gift this Christmas, why not point them in the direction of Mill Lane Beekeeping Gift Certificates. That way, you can have all the fun of picking out the exact item(s) you want. You can redeem them at any time of year, including our winter sale in January for special value.

You can find us at some of the Christmas Gift/Craft Fairs around Leitrim and beyond including

Leitrim Village: 1^st Dec

Moorlands, Drumshanbo: 2^nd Dec

Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Co Donegal: 4^th Dec

King House Market Yard, Boyle, Co Roscommon: 7^th, 8^th and 9^th Dec

The Courtyard, Carrick-on-Shannon: 15^th and 16^th Dec

Merry Christmas everyone.

Planting, planting, planting

Posted on October 5, 2012 by admin

Rocket – bees make good use of it

This year of all years we noticed great activity in the poly tunnels.There are always flowering plants there as we use edible flowers with our salads and we plant green manures. It acts as a refuge for the bees in bad weather and was well needed this summer. Sometimes they can find it difficult to get out but it is a good source of pollen and nectar in poor weather.

Borage or Star Flower

Any extra planting we can do to fill the gaps that the native flora leave must be a great help to our bees and to bumble bees and butterflies. FIBKA has a brilliant article covering the issue on its website by James Doran, updated by Peter Whyte www.irishbeekeeping.ie/bflora/bflora for the beekeeper or for the bee friendly gardener.

My resolution for the new beekeeping year is to get planting in a big way, something I have been slow to do thinking plenty of wild flowers in our area would be enough and liking the simplicity of what grows naturally. Next year a little more help will be provided to the bees by planting to fill the June gap for instance.

Click on this list and see if you get any joy for your own bee friendly planting. Bee plants.

Wasps

Posted on September 17, 2012 by admin

Wasps on corner of feeder robbing feed

I am not at all proud of this picture. It really shows how things can get out of hand. As if the bees don’t have enough to put up with the bad weather without wasps stealing what little they have left. This is the edge of a wooden feeder with a bad seal. Much as we like to use natural materials there is something to be said about using plastic, as feeders anyway.

Brood frame of nucleus hive robbed out by wasps

When wasps make it into a nucleus hive devastation like this can happen. Killing the whole lot off.

We have been plagued with wasps for the last month and no matter how many we catch there are more to follow on. At first we used simple open traps with fruit juice, soft drinks or leftover jam as bait. The stripey monsters have learned how to get out once they get what they want. And there are just too many hiding places around here for us to find the nest.

Wasp Trap

We make it a little more difficult for wasps to make their way out now by putting narrow entrances in confusing places. Hopefully this will work until these wasps die off for another season.

Feeding Frenzy

Posted on September 4, 2012 by admin

Feeding Frenzy

Mid morning yesterday when we went out our front door we were alarmed by the sound of the bees. At some stage one of our nucleus boxes had dislodged from the base leaving a gap for robbing by other bees. It seemed like pandemonium, but was quickly dealt with by transferring the victim hive into a new box, much to our relief. Other times it might have been more difficult to stop.

We are going to bring down the entrances to a single bee space and keep to feeding only at night in the hope of avoiding the same panic again.

The Round Dance – There’s food nearby: Go out and hunt in the immediate vicinity

What a powerful communication the round dance is, probably responsible for all this excitement: scouts perform it in the hive and then it sends the workers out to search for food nearby. And the message is quickly passed on to neighbouring hives bringing them up to an excited flurry. It is directionless and means that they will find every other untidy mess you have left behind and any weak hives you might have.

Time to Feed your Bees

Posted on August 23, 2012 by admin

Welcome Back to Mill Lane!

Whether you’ve been lucky enough to get honey this year or not, now is the time to treat your bees for varroa and to start feeding them and letting them start to lay up stores for the winter.

For varroa we recommend ApiGuard: a gel with Thymol (a naturally occurring substance) as its active ingredient. For the ApiGuard to be most effective it needs to be given immediately after the honey harvest while temperatures are relatively high (15°C and above) and while the amount of brood is diminishing leading into Autumn. ApiGuard should never be administered while honey collecting supers are in place to avoid potential taste tainting.

Feeding should generally be undertaken in the evening. Even small spills around a hive can encourage neighbouring bees (or wasps) to rob a hive. By morning, this has probably already been cleaned up by other insects or washed away by rain.

There are ‘invert’ syrups and fondants available on the market now. They are inclined to be quite expensive, but they can be very good if your bees are starving as they can digest them as is. In general, fondant is used from mid-winter to early spring.

However, with budgets being tight, you may well opt for the traditional syrup made at home with pure sugar. If the temperatures are low use the heavier solution 2:1 sugar:water. Many associations buy in bulk for their members and this can make it a little less expensive. If you only have one or two hives, it’s probably just as easy to get a few Kilos of Sugar in your local supermarket. Please please do take care and make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Any crystals left may well cause the syrup to recrystallise and this will cause the bees all sorts of digestive problems.

We missed a couple of blog-posts recently because it’s been hectic…..

For one thing we ‘did’ the Tullamore Show. Wow: it’s huge. Something over 500 acres taken over and covered with everything from prize Bulls (a massive range of breeds) to bouncy castles, Farm Machinery and equipment to a Honey Show! I heard on the radio on the way home that they had about 50,000 in attendance. It was great to meet some of you there and get to ‘talk bees’ with loads of people all day long.

The folks from the Offaly Beekeeping Association were very welcoming and supportive of us, and we are looking forward to visiting them for one of their meetings during the winter.

By the way, to other Beekeeping Associations out there: We will be happy to attend one of your meetings with a range of products. Just give us a call and we’ll arrange a time to suit. We also supply Association apiaries at discount as we realise we all need to encourage new beekeepers as much as possible. We’ve done this with a couple of Associations already. If you want to know more, please just call.