Hi, am new to the forum and yet to purchase, but had a quick question. I used to keep bees as a teenager, and recently went on a refresher course. I have recently purchased a weekend property 2 hours north of Sydney which we visit almost every weekend. I intend to get a hive or 2, just wanted some advice as to whether the community felt that attending to the hives only on a weekend was enough? From memory it is, but would be interested to hear similar situations.
Thanks
Hi Jon, I don’t have a similar situation. However once a weekend should be ample.
The only down side I can see is if you have neighbors up there, if the bees swarm during the week, will that cause an issue?
A bloke up our way’s hive swarmed. Lucky he was able to catch it from the property next door. That was two weeks ago, since then it swarmed twice.
I would imagine that that could cause problems if you weren’t around to deal with the situation, should that happen.
Its a farm property so neighbors aren’t too much of an issue. Thanks for the reply
Ahhh, well done, you’re welcome Jon.
Hi Jon,
I keep a number of hives on the edge of Sydney and only visit every 3-4 weeks, you will have to do a bit of swarm management throughout spring and keep a catch box or bait hive handy so if they do swarm then they will find the box and move in.
Your weekender idea will work fine.
Perfect, thanks for the advice,
Jon
Hi John,
Looks like you have a “GO !” Or green light bro ! I help a commercial beekeeper … we only get to the bees every other week n sometimes only once a month. They do just fine n dandy.
I’m luck at my personal Apiary being in my own back yard. When I go out to check the chickens I glance or serious recheck once in awhile. I only dive in heads first about once every couple weeks unless I note something strange or weird.
Gerald (up east of Seattle).
Thanks! All good, hive ordered, now to find bees…
