Today was the day to collect the new beekeeping equipment I had pre-ordered from E.H Thorne's open day at Stockbridge in Hampshire, it's an hour and a half drive up, but it was a lovely day for it. It was nice to meet several members of the local beekeeping association there too - and the … Continue reading Spending Money made from honey
Autumn Jobs
By now, most beekeepers will have finished the harvesting of the honey, unless they get a second honey flow from plants such as balsam and heather. The Ivy will start to flower soon, and provide more nectar, but it is a very bitter honey and many don't take it but instead leave it for the … Continue reading Autumn Jobs
Harvesting Honey
How to Harvest Honey Ethically? I do not favour taking all the honey from the bees. Harvesting honey from a beehive should only be done when the bees have surplus. Beekeepers do not normally get a harvest of honey from new hives their first season, but there are exceptional colonies and exceptional nectar flow years … Continue reading Harvesting Honey
New Incubator
Royal Mail have just delivered my new incubator, I've removed the egg turning mechanism (like most beekeepers incubators, they are actually for chickens eggs) and it looks like I could get 100 queen cells/cages in there, easily. Now to plug it in and test it......
Protecting my investment
Beekeeping is not a cheap hobby, with a standard BS National hive costing in the region of £325.00 before you add bees, frames or wax foundation, and a nuc of bees currently selling for ~£200.00. So called "honey rustling" or hive theft appears to be on the increase. As the majority of my hives are … Continue reading Protecting my investment
Recovering from winter losses
The winter of 2017/2018 seems to have seen larger than normal losses across the UK, with forum and social media reports of up to 80% losses for some beekeepers. Colonies fail for many reasons; Disease, queen failure, starvation, lack of forage and cold wet weather restricting foraging activities and forage availability, amongst others. Luckily, I did … Continue reading Recovering from winter losses
New Equipment
Winter is a busy time for beekeepers, all spare kit has to be cleaned and disinfected ready for the new season, broken and damaged equipment needs repairing, and all the new kit for the coming year has to be made.