Seems early for grapes. But these seedless eaters are really sweet and juicy. Admittedly, they were grown in the greenhouse, but the first bunch of many to come. Delicious!
Tag: Bickington
Spring 2021 Poor Weather Means No Spring Devon Honey
Our 2020 Honey sold out rapidly last year. Throughout the seasons we regularly get asked if we have honey for sale and look forward to when we can sell it again. Unfortunately for the bees, the Spring 2021 weather has been poor. As a consequence our bees have been unable to get out and about to gather sufficient nectar for a surplus of spring honey to sell. Hopefully we may have some honey in August. We will notify all our Honey Newsletter subscribers when available. If you want to know when honey is available, sign up to our Honey newsletter.
Goose Egg Salad Niçoise
As the geese come to the end of their laying season, we still have goose eggs for sale. About 3 times the size of chickens eggs, they are a meal in themselves.
Last night we had salad niçoise for tea. One goose egg per adult, soft boiled (boil the eggs for about 15 minutes to get a lovely soft boiled egg with a creamy yolk)
You can buy online or from the door. We take contactless payments.
Local collection only.
Goose Eggs for Sale!
We have goose eggs for sale. About 3 times the size of chickens eggs, they are a meal in themselves.
You can buy online or from the door. We take contactless payments only.
![Two goose eggs laid at the beginning of March](https://chilcotts.farm/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_2436-1024x768.jpg)
Local collection only.
Bickington & Fremington Devon Honey For Sale
We have jarred up this year’s Summer 2020 Honey which is now for sale. Collected and produced by our bees. The girls have again done us proud, the runny honey tastes delicious. Although it will probably crystallise over time (as all naturally produced honey does), when it goes solid, we provide instructions on how to make it liquid again.
What do you do if you spill honey in your car?
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.
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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.
Bees are out collecting the summer honey
The weather has not been bad or good, but the bees are out at every opportunity.
The summer flowers are blossoming, and we are hoping for a good honey harvest come August!
Bickington & Fremington Devon Honey For Sale
We have jarred up this year’s first batch of honey (Spring 2020), which is now for sale. Collected and produced by our bees. This spring honey is still runny and floral. Although it will probably crystallise over time (as all naturally produced honey does), when it goes solid, we provide instructions on how to make it liquid again.
Sticky Morning
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.
Now onto labelling and getting out for sale.
Roll on the summer honey flow!
Wild comb
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.
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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.
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