Autumn Update

Since our last update we have been:

• Looking after the bees through the summer nectar flow
• Extracting honey
• Treating for varroa mites
• Preparing the bees for winter
• Training our new beekeeper

We have experienced a pretty good summer nectar flow which meant our bees made a reasonable amount of honey. 2020 has been a mixed year for beekeepers in the UK: some beekeepers have reported very low honey production and yet others have reported fair returns. So we consider ourselves quite lucky that our bees have been able to produce a crop for us about the same size as last year.

We removed the honey from the hives and extracted it at the very end of August. We took off 56 frames, which made 167 jars of honey. This compares to 162 jars last year. Everyone that has tasted the honey has said how good it is. It has a rich flavour, is not too sweet, and has a pleasant spicy aftertaste.

As soon as the honey was taken off we put treatment into all our hives to reduce the numbers of varroa mites. These parasites can greatly reduce the strength of a colony, and are considered to be a major contributor to winter colony losses. Our hives had reasonably low levels of varroa, but it is recommended to treat anyway to be sure the bees go into winter as strong as possible.

To prepare the bees for winter we have been making sure they have enough stored food. We left quite a lot of honey on the hives this year and only extracted the surplus. But to be doubly sure we have also been feeding the hives with sugar syrup to ensure they have as much as possible going into winter. Starvation is another major reason for winter losses.

Finally, we’ve been very pleased to have the help of our trainee beekeeper throughout this season. She responded to our request for someone interested in training as a new beekeeper. She started in June and has helped with every inspection since then. She now has her own beesuit and has developed from a novice to a very confident beekeeper. Beekeeping is a tricky thing to get into because you really need to work with other beekeepers to “learn by doing”. She’s managed to do that extremely well, and we hope she has enjoyed being involved and everything she has learnt

We currently have six hives at our apiary. We will do one final inspection before winter, in three weeks time. After that the bees will be in bed until spring.