I have needed to send this off for a while. The honey I took from the hives back in July ( the spring honey) is going to be sent off to have a DNA analysis undertaken.
The objective of the analysis is too assess long term impacts on UK floral resources in the changing environment.
I am hoping that we not only help with this national scheme, understand where our bees have been and what they have been foraging in the spring.
This year there seems to be a lot of wasps about in Devon. I have had to narrow the hive entrances down quite considerably to help the bees protect their colonies and honey stores.
Hmmmmmm slight problem. 5Kg of honey spilled in the boot of the car. Problem ….. how do you clean up the sticky mess?
A frightful mess, and a real waste of this precious harvest. This honey was destined to be fermented and become mead. However during transportation, the bucket turned over and ended up all over the boot of the car and a load of honey jars.
PANIC! How do you clear up this sticky mess. Instinct was to get the carpets out the car and hose them down. Worried about how the carpets would cope with water, as much of the honey as possible was scarped up and scooped into a bucket.
After this, we put the bees to work! (Strictly, as a beekeeper this is not good practice! It can spread disease between hives…. but needs must) The boot of the car was left open, and whatever could be removed, from the car was left sheltered in the garage.
Bees cleaning honey from the boot of a car
Before: Honey Bees cleaning honey from the mat taken out from the boot of a car
24 hours later: Honey Bees cleaning honey from the mat taken out from the boot of a car
Within minutes, the bees from the hives were coming to recover the honey. Pools of honey had been cleared within an hour. 24 hours later, the interior of the car had virtually been cleared. None of the sticky residue was left. Quite amazing.
This morning has been spent jarring up some of this year’s spring honey. The hives have done really well, building up the colony, but also out and about collecting and abundance of nectar.
“Another May new buds and flowers shall bring: Ah! why has happiness no second Spring?” – Charlotte Turner Smith
This spring certainly keeps bringing. The weather continues to be fantastic for the bees. The recent rain has been welcome. This enables the plants to draw up water and increase the nectar flow in the flowers.
In turn this ensures the bees supply continues to come.
The hives are still doing well, and the bees continue to build up their honey stores. Hopefully at the end of May, I’ll be able to harvest the first honey crop of 2020
I’ve been keeping bees for 10 years, and I don’t remember an April like it.
The warm dry weather here in Devon, has definitely benefited the bees. They have been out and about every day. The blossom is flourishing and producing the good stuff …. nectar and pollen.
In the garden, the old apple trees, are buzzing. The buzz from the trees provides a background hum to the whole garden. It literally sounds like a swarm of bees is somewhere settling.
The hives are bursting. The workforce has been busy taking advantage of nature’s bounty.
The bees have been so productive that the hives are filled with honey and I have had to make more room for them to store their harvest.
All I need to do now is manage them from swarming and taking their produce away!
Last year I housed a honey bee swarm I collected from the local area. On returning, I put the swarm into a new hive with about half the intended frames I had to hand. I needed to assemble more and intended to put the remaining frames in the following day.
However, I didn’t get the chance to return to the hive for a couple of days. At this point the colony had drawn wild comb which was hanging from the crown board (the lid on the top of the hive).
In a dilemma, I decided to leave the hive until the following season and sort it out then.
Yesterday, was the day. In the main picture you can see 5 pieces of wild comb. Each of these were packed with brood (growing baby bees).
I took three pieces of the wild comb and attached each piece into a frame using elastic bands (not sure how this will work). I then transferred these to a new hive with new frames. The new hive was put back in the same place as the original hive.
Wild comb resting on the top of the hive
Hive before the tidy up and removal of wild comb
Wild comb attached into a frame with elastic bands
I couldn’t find the queen, but hopefully she was somewhere amongst the existing frames or was brushed off into the new hive as I removed each piece of wild comb.
Now all tidy and manageable, the hive can be easily inspected. Next week, I will go in and see if I can find the queen or evidence that she is still laying.
Spring is gathering momentum, and the spring blossom is beginning to erupt with flower buds bulging and about to explode. The bees are out and about on warm days looking for blossom and sources of water.
I am frantically trying to get prepared. This new hive is ready to hopefully house another colony of bees in the coming months.
I still need to put together loads of frames to replace old wax, but also to allow for expansion and new colonies. Not much time left, but I am sure it will come together and we will be ready.
We have had so much rain in the UK, but North Devon, although wet, seems to have got off lighter than some parts of the country!
In the dryer, warmer spells, the bees have managed to get out and collect pollen. They are returning to the hive with their pollen baskets loaded up with mainly orange and yellow pollen at the moment.
If anyone is interested, I have written a small guide on the colour of pollen and the flowers the bees have been visiting in North Devon. See: https://chilcotts.farm/bees/local-pollen-guide/
