Title photo: Mouse in the House As it starts to warm up in what is turning into a very dry but warm March, well when the sun comes out, but with ground frosts persisting until late in the month, the bees are getting active. It is time to take off the Woodpecker protection and see […]

Title Photo: Dismantled Smokers ready for cleaning. This month we start our preparations as we see the bees get active on cleansing flights and collecting pollen. I’ve several smokers which I use over a season, so about this time I take them apart, clean off all the tar and ensure the bellows are working efficiently

As the harshness of our winter weather settles in, it may not be very cold but the winds are certainly causing damage, hopefully not to our surviving colonies. The weather has a way of helping to sort the weak from the strong in many ways and the following shows an Old Oak tree which had

As we reflect back on the passing year the headline picture shows how Keeping Bees has not changed much in the last 100 years, even if the protection equipment is better improved.Those of us who watched the BBC drama concerning Henry VIII and Thomas CROMWELL have seen “Monks” of the time (in the background) working

Title photo: Bees busy flying fourth week in November. Well at last the winter arrives with the cold and wet ensuring all our colonies stop the breeding process and cluster to survive the onslaught. The month started off well but then the frost and snow arrived curtailing all activities. You may be tempted to “poke

As normal, the month started off mild but ‘very wet’ confining colonies to their hives when the Ivy was in full flower. On those mild days when temperatures rose and it stopped raining, every ‘worker bee’ that could be spared was out working the Ivy flowers and any other plant they could find still in

Title Photo: Ready for Repair! The weather certainly continues to play tricks with the ability of Beekeepers and bees to settle down for the winter.  But at least the Wasps were washed away in the torrential downpours we have had over most of the month. Autumn Preparation It is time to really prepare our colonies

Title Photo: Too Late for this Hive – all robbed out At the start of the month it was so hot I took out all my Varroa slides and sat roofs on top of supers to allow a through draft so the colonies could more easily ventilate themselves and not cook.  When I shut the

Well after a cold wet start to the month somebody let the “sun” out at long last and our colonies worked the nectar flow that arrived from the BlackBerry, Lime and everything else that suddenly burst into flower. By this time in the season my 9/10 day checks have started to falter as lifting supers