What is in a beehive? apart from bees!
How do bees store their honey?
Is a beehive just a couple of boxes?
In New Zealand it is illegal to have a beehive in a Skep (the old traditional upside down basket shaped hive) bees must be kept in a hive with removable frames. This is so the hive can be inspected for disease regularly.
Each box usually has 10 frames with beeswax sheets to encourage the bees to make their comb in an orderly way.
The bees draw out the wax to make the comb and in the cells the queen lays her eggs, and the bees store pollen and honey. The beekeeper can lift these frames out to see how the queen is laying and to see how much honey the bees are collecting and inspect for disease.
The bottom box is where the queen lives with the eggs and larvae. On top of that we have a queen excluder that the workers can fit through but not the queen as she is bigger. The boxes above this are the honey supers where the bees put all the honey.
Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.
This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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85.5% Yes
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13.4% No
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.
The Hikoi on Tuesday 19th
I copied this from a Facebook page: The expected route of the hīkoi on Tuesday is from Takapuwahia Maree in Esldon towards Porirua and along Kenepuru Drive to Tawa, then up Middleton Road to Johnsonville, down Ngaraunga George and along the old Hutt Road to Wellington. They are anticipating significant congestion on the roads between 06.00am and 12.30pm.