News
Not all salvias (also called sage) flower year round, but this purple one does (see full newsletter). It provides bees with high nectar and low pollen. You can grow several salvias into a six foot hedge or keep trimmed to two feet. Plant your pruning as it grows easily from cuttings. In fact, if you plant a hectare of salvia you would yield 200 -400kg of honey!
In this region Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus Robusta) is starting to flower in April and may continue to August. The bark is rough, fibrous and greyish brown. The leaves are shiny on top and dull underneath with a leathery texture. The honey has a pleasant taste and is dark amber in colour. The honey is good for winter stores or spring build-up in dry weather. Light creamy pollen is also produced.
The weather included a downpour of nearly 400mm in the Bungawalbyn area one Sunday, followed by a real downpour from Cyclone Debbie a week later. The Bungawalbyn road, which had bad potholes and corrugations, was graded just before the first downpour. This produced bad washouts, and it has gone under again. It will be closed for a while. There is also the problem of getting out of the properties with 16 hives on the ute.
Bee hives need not be disturbed during the colder months. Provided they are well prepared they will survive until Spring.
Check the queen to see that she is performing well. If she is failing kill her and unite the colony with another healthy one above a sheet of newspaper.
Check all brood combs for disease, particularly AFB.
