I finally managed to inspect my hive few days ago. I think my bee colony is shrinking after the forever wet weather in NSW. Do you notice less bees after all these rains?
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Yes I do. I’ve noticed that the bees get their wings wet and stuck to the body and therefore can’t fly out of dangerously heavy rains. I also wonder if the heavy rains wash the nectar from the blossoms and the hive can’t support it’s self with lack of food supplies.
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I use the same recipe and it works really well! I pour a little of the mixture onto a folded piece of paper towel though. Since I put them right next to my hives I cover the jar with tin foil and poke small holes with a fork - to allow ants in but keep bees out.
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Last year I used some old Tupperware with a lid. Poked some holes around the bottom of the Tupperware bowl with a barbecue skewer. Added a 50/50 mix of borax and sugar to the bottom. Not had ants since. They were having a real good go at the hive before i intervened.
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Your colony is likely to be shrinking now, on account of the days getting shorter & the nights cooling. I’m finding the same thing up here on the Sunny Coast. The bees are constricting the brood & back-filling with honey. I’m noticing a lot of honey supers are only 1/2 to 3/4 full of bees, whereas a month ago, they were full of bees.
There can also be a perception that a colony is shrinking during cold weather, on account that more bees are required to pack around the brood, in order to maintain the correct temp.
An early morning inspection can indicate a weak colony at first glance, by lifting the roof & inner cover, whereas an afternoon inspection will reveal a stronger colony.
PS: to answer your question about the rains. It depends on whether the bees are able to forage & replenish stocks of honey & pollen in between the periods of rain. If bees are not able to replenish pollen & honey, they will starve & die out. A good plan is to make sure that a colony has plenty of food by feeding as required.
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Hi Jeff,
Thanks for your valuable insights.
Just wondering if there’s any ‘rule of thumb’ on how many frames of honey I need to save for the bees to get through the winter?
I noticed most frames in the brood are quite empty/ light…
Meanwhile, there are many Camellia trees that flowering in my area in winter…
Hi Ced, you’re most welcome. If the brood frames are quite empty/light, your bees might need feeding. There should be a nice arc of honey above the brood this time of year. Maybe an inch at the highest point in the middle frame, then grading to more as you move to the outside, with possibly one or 2 full frames of honey on the outside.
What I described should be enough honey to carry a colony through a harsh Parramatta winter. I grew up in Granville, I knew Parramatta well. I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize it now…
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So peeps! I’m so excited! I am having a personal record breaking honey harvest. I have one hive that is bringing in nectar in record pounds! In 6 weeks here in TN is when most bee keepers with the non flow hive hives will be harvesting. So far I have bottled 75 lbs of honey mostly from my one hive of 4. (lost 2 hives in the winter and requeened one hive and bought 2 nuks of Russians). My other hives are just now built out and storing nectar in the super. Whoop!
So here is my newest conundrum. The timing of extraction of honey to prevent swarming due to honey bound hives. It’s crazy fun and worry! I don’t want a swarm. They are filling the super up almost prior capping and ripening. Suggestions? I never thought I would be in this situation. Always more bee drama. 
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Hi Martha, congratulations on the great honey flow. May I suggest you give the bees access into the roof. Then lift the roof maybe one a week to see if bees are occupying the roof. If they are building comb in the roof, that’s fine. If they are congregating in the roof doing nothing, to me that is an indication that the colony is getting ready to swarm, and that the bees doing nothing in the roof will actually be part of the imminent swarm.
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Whoop whoop Martha!! 
75 pounds and you aren’t even close to done, holy moly.
It’s possible that the uncapped nectar in that super is actually ripe - maybe you could open like an inch or two and test it? Then if you think a few frames could be emptied you’d have an easier time getting the super off for an inspection. This is exactly what I did the other day - it wasn’t fun but I did end up splitting the supered colony. Three days later the bees refilled both of the Flow frames I took, AND were up working the medium super I put on top. The split is doing well so far too.
The reason for putting the medium on is that it helps decongest & circulate air at a time when the nectar flow is booming and the weather is getting hot & humid. @Dawn_SD gave this fantastic tip a few years ago and it’s become my regular practice 
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I’m going to check that JeffH. I also have a swarm trap out too.
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Thanks Eva! I was wondering what I was going to do if the bees didn’t cap it and worried about swarming. I guess I’ll borrow a medium super or q4 from a friend.
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Here is some thought I had on honey, probiotics and the whole raw honey thing. I have friends who buy my honey and they say they do it for the probiotics the honey has. Yet they put it in tea and pour 220F water on it. Would that not kill the probiotics?
I have some Armenian friends who want hot pepper honey. Any recipes? Thanks
So all my worries about swarming have come to an end as the nectar flow has slowed down.
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Here is one. Please note, it needs to be kept in the fridge (the peppers release water into the honey, increasing water content).
If you want it to remain shelf stable, I would just substitute the fresh peppers for dried peppers. You can choose whatever you like for heat from these types:
and for some smokey heat:
For a more powerful kick from dried peppers, you could try these (with caution!):
If you use dried peppers, you don’t need to heat the honey, but it will take a month or so to flavor the honey, and you will need to stir it intermittently.
Just some ideas 
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For sure it would. The flavor still kicks storebought butt tho!
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oh man this is inspiring!
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HMMM I wonder if this is the time to do some hot pepper honey during a pasteurizing end of year process. I have a feeling that if you simmer it long enough the water will come off the honey and peppers.
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I just passed this on to my friends. Thanks Dawn.
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I’ve read somewhere before how in Ayurvedic medicine they consider honey to be a medicinal food but toxic if it’s heated to a certain temperature. I definitely agree that 220F or close to would kill any beneficial properties.
Dr Nural Cokcetin a microbiologist specialising in medicinal honey has done lots of research on this and might be a resource to pursue for more info 
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Interesting! As a cook I only see a mess as when honey or syrups boil they foam up, boil over and caramelize then burn. However I wonder if some nectar is poisonous from certain flowers.