I managed to get myself on a number of swarm lists, one of which the Auckland city council seem to refer to when they get Bee related phone calls.

As of yesterday, I’ve now collected a total of three swarms and turned down the offer of another four or five swarms, mainly due to lack of equipment to keep them in!

A swarm I collected from a rubbish bin in Pukekohe

I’ve also purchased one Nucleus which is doing very well and will probably end up being my main Honey providing hive for 2011.

The swarm I collected yesterday ended up actually being a number of separate swarms, all in the same tree. I’m not sure if each swarm had a queen, so I’ll just have to wait a week or two and see what happens.

I managed to get myself on a number of swarm lists, one of which the Auckland city council seem to refer to when they get Bee related phone calls. As of yesterday, I've now collected a total of three swarms and turned down the offer of another four or five swarms, mainly due to lack ...

At the end of October we put six fertile eggs underneath our broody Bantam hen and a couple of days ago they started to hatch.

We ended up with three of the six eggs hatching – they’re all Black Australorps. We’ll have to wait a couple of months before we can confidently tell which sex they are.

At the end of October we put six fertile eggs underneath our broody Bantam hen and a couple of days ago they started to hatch. We ended up with three of the six eggs hatching - they're all Black Australorps. We'll have to wait a couple of months before we can confidently tell which ...

The chicks we incubated are now seven weeks old.

It looks pretty clear to us that the two Black Australorps are Males while the Blue Australorps are Female.

The Males are for sale or swap if anyone is interested.

The chicks we incubated are now seven weeks old. It looks pretty clear to us that the two Black Australorps are Males while the Blue Australorps are Female. The Males are for sale or swap if anyone is interested.

I’m off to Kiwicon V this coming weekend.

If you’re interested in computer security and haven’t got a ticket, I suggest you make some very last minute plans to get to Wellington for the 5th and 6th November.

I'm off to Kiwicon V this coming weekend. If you're interested in computer security and haven't got a ticket, I suggest you make some very last minute plans to get to Wellington for the 5th and 6th November.