Check your Beehives

December 29th, 2009

Now is an excellent time to check your hives for damage by the weather, vermin etc.
It’s also a good time to clean all your tools and equipment in readiness for the forthcoming season.

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Posted in Beehives, Beekeeping, Equipment, Tools | No Comments »

Beeswax Polish

December 12th, 2009

Ingredients and Method:
8 oz. Beeswax,  ½ oz. Carnauba wax,  6 fl ozs. Pure Turpentine ( adjust turpentine, more or less, for a firmer or softer polish).
Mix the wax’s together and melt in a double boiler.  Also, bring the turpentine to a similar temperature in the same way.  Make sure all of the Carnauba wax is melted, as it takes a higher temperature to melt than Beeswax.  Once melted, mix both the wax and the turpentine together in a large pan.  Allow to cool just slightly and then pour into polish tins.  To avoid cracking allow to cool slowly, do not rush.
All ingredients are HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, never allow any contact with naked flames, never leave unattended, always work in a well ventilated room.

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Posted in Beeswax | 4 Comments »

Easy Peasy Honey Fruit Cake

December 10th, 2009

Easy Peasy Honey Fruit CakeIngredients and Method:
300 g Wholemeal Strong Bread Flour
60 g Margarine or Butter
115 g Brown Sugar
150 g Raisins
150 g Honey
2 Eggs (medium)
75 mls Milk
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Mixed Spice
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

For the Topping:
30 g Brown Sugar
¼ tsp Cinnamon
30 g Candied Mixed Peel

Pre-heat the oven to (350°F, 180°C, Gas 4). This recipe takes about 1 hour to bake.
Heat the Margarine in a pan, stir in the Honey and Sugar, when well mixed allow to cool.
Stir in the Flour, Salt, Baking Powder, Bicarbonate of Soda, Mixed Spice, Cinnamon and Raisins.
Mix the Eggs and Milk together, add to the other ingredients and mix well until smooth.
Pour into a greased  loaf tin and sprinkle the top with the Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Chopped Mixed Peel.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.  Turn the oven down to (300°F, 150°C, Gas 2) and continue baking for a further 30 minutes.  When finished allow to cool for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire tray to cool fully.
If you can wait that long!

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Hello Beekeeping world!

November 4th, 2009

Welcome to the Beebitz Blog.  This is our first post.  We will continually place items here, hopefully of  interest to all of you beekeepers out there and perhaps others also.  You are welcome to comment on any of the entries and add your own opinions, views or ideas for others to share.  We welcome all interactive participation and look forward to many interesting additions, comments and queries.

Please note however, that our online presence is undergoing a complete upgrade and makeover and several of the links are not fully functional as yet.  Hopefully this will not spoil your visit and we look forward to reading your comments.  We will keep you posted with details of progress.

Enjoy!!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »