We rang our bee keeper who happened to be working over here in the BOP with his hives so at 10.30pm he came and collected the swarm. They probably weren't his bees - but it is very hard to tell, as all swarms look alike.
At the moment as there is so much to do I am trying to do appointments ( with the podiatrist ) housework; P and Q work, office work in the mornings so I can spend all afternoon till 5.30 working on the kiwifruit vines.
As well as removing old clips and spent stems I am now thinning buds.
We are aiming to have 7 buds left on the biggest strong shoots.
Here is one before I remove the triples.
There can be over 1000 buds left in just one bay, so that's lots of thinning. I will never run oput of work!
I read this out to The Bean who wants me to ask you if there's any hope he'll get fruit from the kiwi vines he's been growing for about three years. He has a male and a female plant but they have never flowered. What are the chilling requirements, he wants to know? We are at latitude 28 degrees N.
ReplyDeleteOMG, that swarm is insane!!!! I would have run for the hills!!
ReplyDeleteHi Molly,
ReplyDeleteWe are at 38 degrees South. The more Winter chilling the better as long as it isn't frost on buds or shoots.
I suspect the Beans vines may not have been grafted onto root stock so could take longer to produce flowers. Does he know what variety his plants are? The female will have a different name from the male( which might just be a number. ) Perhaps you could post a photo of his vines?
( Winter chilling is measured in Richardson units )
That bee swarm gives me cold chills, even at this distance!
ReplyDelete