The beekeeping routine of weekly hive inspections has been going on for some time now. We lost one colony early in the year, but still have three others working away. One of these we are a little concerned with, as the new queen does not appear to be laying in any quantity, and we may… Continue reading Honey, honey, honey
Tag: honey
Getting the bees ready for winter
Many beekeepers will have prepared their hives for winter many weeks ago. Here, in our sheltered southerly location, our bees work late into the year. Even now, they are still very busy and bringing in lots of pollen. However, with a change in the weather forecast, last week we took advantage of what turned out… Continue reading Getting the bees ready for winter
Honey extraction
The bees in the long deep hive have been busy and we expected to take the first honey last week, but found that it was not quite ready. The bees process the honey until the water content is just right, when it will store indefinitely, and then seal it with a wax capping, at which… Continue reading Honey extraction
First hive inspection of the year
Although the bees have been flying now for quite some weeks, the weather has not really been warm enough to open the hives until now. Opening the hives when it is cold is not just bad for the bees, the beekeeper is quite likely to meet with some angry ladies. This week, though, was warm… Continue reading First hive inspection of the year
Another colony of bees lost
Today we were continuing to prepare the bees for winter. We had one colony, started earlier in the year, that was still building up; another that was looking good for the winter, having put quite a bit of stores away, although not producing any surplus for us; and the long deep hive, which had packed… Continue reading Another colony of bees lost
A big surprise in the hive
Today we checked on the bees in the long deep hive. Whilst they had built up a huge colony, we were nonetheless a little concerned about how much stores they had put away, as last year they ate through them very quickly before winter had properly set in and needed additional feed to survive. We… Continue reading A big surprise in the hive
Getting the bees ready for winter
The season is long here in a sheltered pocket near the south coast, much longer than in other parts of the country. Our bees are still putting honey away, the heather is still in flower, although it emerged rather early this year, and the ivy and other late season plants are yet to open. It… Continue reading Getting the bees ready for winter
First honey harvest of the year
Following a quick inspection of the conventional hives, which are doing fine, although not yet producing any surplus honey, we moved on to take our first honey from the long deep hive. This is a rather odd looking hive of my dad’s design, but similar to others of its kind. It takes deep frames, and… Continue reading First honey harvest of the year
Pressing heather honey
Today I visited Mum and Dad to tackle a job we had been putting off since the end of Autumn last year, when we removed the final supers from the hives. We had harvested some honey earlier in the season that was extracted in the normal way. However, the last supers, which were only partially… Continue reading Pressing heather honey