OK so I have had a busy weekend. The weather has been truly horrible. It has rained now for pretty much every day of the entire year. It is 22nd February and I think we have had more than 50 days of continuous rain. Last week on one of the few non-rainy patches I went … Read more
So late in the year I noticed that the green hive was empty on Station F. This was a real shame as the bees that were in there were from a lovely swarm that I pulled out of a gutter in Broadbridge Heath. From a near death experience to a happy and prosperous hive –> … Read more
OK so this brings us to the end of 2025. It has been a strange year; started really early and built up quickly in the spring. Blackberries out in July, and now in mid August it is clearly moving into Autumn!! I tend to time my years based on the flowers. end of year is … Read more
So it is that time of year where I take a deep breath and lift the covers to see what I have managed to get through the winter.. This year we had 5 hives going into the winter. Purple died in the latter stages of the year so that doesn’t count. Coming out of the … Read more
So the super mild weather showing 13 degrees at the end of November has given me the opportunity to add a little extra winter feed. I have tried to set up my hives for winter so that even when cold I can check on the sugar remaining in the winter feeder box and add more, … Read more
So it is that time of year where the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Time to wrap up the hives for winter. We have a mild winter here in the UK so I don’t plan to do much. The poly hives are great for this as they retain heat much … Read more
Had a good check of the hives this afternoon. They are all buzzing. Didn’t open any other than to add the supers. Loads of bee activity with pollen coming in from all angles. Lovely orange pollen. I added 2 flow supers to the Red and Green Poly hives in an experiment to see how they … Read more
As is always the case with my beekeeping I have one harvest a year. Like other years the harvest was end of August and beginning of September. It is a difficult job judging when to take the harvest. You want to have a period of good weather where the flow is in full stream. Too … Read more
This was a bit of a “Fluid” hive inspection. I wanted to have a look at all the bees and make sure things were OK as well as change the batteries in 4 of the hive hearts. These batteries that should last for a year have managed 6 months. I also gave the area a … Read more
The plan today was to put supers on all ready for spring. the bluebells are out and there are lots of flowers around. The colonies were looking strong last inspection so it is about time. I also like to get supers on early with the poly hives as they are easier to keep warm. There … Read more
