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 hive
I noticed over the last few days that the last over-wintered poly nuc left has had bees bearding outside, this means they are having problems with the hive temperature getting too high, probably due to overcrowding. Overcrowding is one of the main reasons why bees swarm, so I knew that I had to move them … Continue reading New hive
Honey
Why Do Bees Make Honey? Honey bees are special in that they overwinter as a colony, unlike wasps and bumblebees. The colony does not hibernate but stays active and clusters together to stay warm. This requires a lot of food, which is stored during the summer. Although a hive only needs 20-30 lb of honey … Continue reading Honey
Better than expected
When you travel to one of your out-apiaries expecting to be disappointed, and you find this - Plenty of brood in all stages, capped honey and stacks of very busy bees.
How Bees Make Honey
1. Nectar Collection Honey bees collect pollen and nectar in the spring when most flowers and plants are in bloom. They use their long, tubelike tongues like straws (called proboscis) to suck the nectar out of the flowers and they store it in their stomachs and carry it to the beehive. This is called foraging. … Continue reading How Bees Make Honey