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.
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.
Moe mai rā, Nicholas.
We're sad to announce the passing of Nicholas Boyack, our Hutt Valley reporter who has long written for The Dominion Post, The Hutt News and Upper Hutt Leader.
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