The last, full inspection of the season was planned for next week but, when I went over last Wednesday, I decided that was the last day I open the hive for this season. There are several reasons I decided to do that: The weather has turned. With the temperatures dropping considerably and winds picking up, …
Autumn Beekeeping Taster
02 September 2018 - Beekeeping Taster The local Association runs biannual taster sessions for anyone interested in peering into the world of beekeeping. It is just over half a day of what seems like a crash course into the buzz. Well, an introductory crash course... As a volunteer I was tasked to lead a …
#014 A New Front Door
Bees in nature select their homes based on a few criteria, one of which is the size of the cavity they will occupy and its entrance size. When beekeepers tend to bees, the entrance of the manufactured beehive is often quite large, which is suitable when the colony has a fantastically large population; circa 60,000 bees. …
Borage Honey from Mick Smith
I had never heard of borage honey before coming to the UK. I wasn't sure what the plant even looked like. Well now I do: it is a blue flowering, edible plant mostly used for medicinal purposes - especially when processed into oil. Both honeybees and bumble bees love it. Mick Smith is a beekeeper …
#013 All my Single Ladies – Independent!
Arriving at the hive, I was originally worried that I might find a colony starved of all it's honey, especially if more robbing went on during the week that passed. But, oh no! Not these ladies! I cannot express my pride in my (sweet) small colony being able to ward off the bullies time and …
Hampton Court Celebrates Bees
This weekend I was invited to visit the Hampton Court (in Herefordshire, not London) in a day event celebrating bees. I was very excited to attend as a guest this time and not a volunteer representative, but my enthusiasm added to representation just as much. In fact, it was a much smaller event than I …
#012 Battleground
It only struck me during this inspection how much information I can deduce, just by observing the hive entrance. The activity at the entrance of a hive speaks a thousand words about its health and population and betrays weaknesses and threats. It is extremely difficult for me to explain in words the differences between entrance …
