Well, this is it - right now is normally the time to remove any surplus honey from the hives ready for the varroa treatment to begin in the middle of August. We finally have a decent weekend after a pretty awful late summer so we're not expecting there to be a huge amount to spare!
Most of the frames have been built up with wax but there don't seem to be a great deal of stores here.
This frame is what many look like - some honey stored but not much.
Finally, a frame with sealed honey on it - but even this one isn't full!
Some of the frames are more like this - completely empty on both sides!
It's a similar situation in the brood box - some stores (loads of brightly-coloured pollen on the frame here) but not nearly enough for them to spare any at all.The other hive was in an identical state too. Now that we're certain that we won't be removing any honey this year it's safe to do the chemical treatment. Once Thymol has been used in a hive it affects all the honey in it. It can still be used safely by the bees but is not suitable for human consumption.
It's not a huge disappointment for us as we could only have expected a very small surplus at best this year, having lost the swarm and then had pretty awful weather during the peak nectar flow season.
