Sunday 22nd September 2019

At last - our first egg of the season

​Hello friends and family
This week it was time for me to put the Varroa strips into the beehives. Most of the hives were strong, but the apiary south of here was dead. This is the apiary that was blocked off from access by a field of corn. When it came time to harvest, the corn was higher than my truck, so I left it unharvested and untreated for Varroa – wrong thing to do. I have removed the honey which was being robbed by other bees and will see if it attracts a swarm this spring. If not, I may close it down.

Spring abundance in the garden

​It was great having the three of us for the working bees on Tuesday and Thursday. Yet more Cabbage trees are now protected. We will not do anymore planting until we get significant rain. We visited the island and there are no Little Penguins there. The colony survived there for the last 30 years but now it has failed. I suspect Malaria is the cause.

The seal pups are now old enough to go swimming

The big day for us this week was Saturday. Hiltrun came up and we did the rounds together in the morning – 2 eggs here at Katiki!  The new season has begun. In the afternoon we went to the Moeraki hall and held the inaugural meeting of Penguin Rescue Incorporated Society. We soon will have a legal entity that can enter into contracts with others to help save penguins! I feel hopeful for the future.

A shy juvenile checking me out.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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