Tag: Save the Bees

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Wild brood comb in a bee hive

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.

  • Wild comb resting on the top of the hive
    Wild comb resting on the top of the hive
  • Hive before the tidy up and removal of wild comb
    Hive before the tidy up and removal of wild comb
  • Wild comb attached into a frame with elastic bands
    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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Happbee Easter - Bee themed Easter egg

Happbee Easter!

Happbee Easter!!!!! The bees are doing fab lately.

The fine weather has meant they can get out and gather nectar and pollen. The colonies have built up really well and already very large and storing lots of honey.

Fingers crossed, it is going to be a good year for the bees!

We currently have some of last season’s honey for sale, but currently with lock down, can not sell it 🙁

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New beehive all prepared for the new season

Preparing for Season

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.

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Honey Bee on crocus gathering pollen in early spring

Bees are Springing into Action

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/

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Beehive blown over by #StormCiara

Unhappy Bees!

Well wouldn’t you bee unhappy too if your house has been blown over, and you are exposed to all the elements?

I can see the hives from the house and am always keeping an eye on the them checking all is well.

Everyone had been warning us about #StormCiara, but for some reason I didn’t think about the hives. This morning when I got up, the hives were fine, but the wind was gusting. The BBC website said gusts up to 70 miles per hour.

Mid morning, one of the hives blew over! Spotted as it happened, I shot out to pick the hive up to protect the poor bees from the wind and rain. As I upped the hive and went to get some blocks and straps to to put on the roof and hold it down, it blew over again!

Angry, unhappy bees is an understatement! Poor things. Anyway, I managed to up the hive again (Four stings later – four little bees obviously managed to get into my bee jacket) I weighed it down with bricks and strapped it together. I then strapped all the other hives down too.

Fingers crossed the queen has not been damaged, and all the girls will support her as she starts to lay in the coming weeks.

Strapped down beehive ready for the winds
Strapped down beehive ready for the winds
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Dead bees outside a beehive in winter

Bee Clean

I look out on the beehives every day, but make an effort at least once a week to do a quick walk around and check there are no issues.

Most of the time, they seem quiet with nothing happening. They might as well be empty boxes. However, today one of the hives had this big pile of dead bees outside.

Bees keep there hives clean and tidy and this one had just had a big clean-up pushing out all the bees that had died.

It appears alarming to see this small handful of bees on the ground, but this can be quite usual. As the bees born in the summer die they fall to the bottom of the hive.

Dead bees at the entrance of the hive
Dead bees at the entrance of the hive

As part of housekeeping, the overwintering bees will cast all the bodies out of the hive entrance.

This happened to bee a bright warmish day, and later on bees could be seen flying from all the hives, including this one.

Geese inspecting the beehives at Chilcotts Farm
Geese inspecting the beehives at Chilcotts Farm
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Honey bee on an ivy flower in autumn

Ivy Flowers, good for the Bees

Even though October is drawing to a close, on warm days the bees are VERY busy.

If you look closely at the ivy, you can see it covered in insects busy at work on the ivy flowers. Not only honey bees, but wasps, flies and bumble bees. All going about their work gathering or consuming the produce of the ivy flower.

The Ivy flower is quite easily overlooked, but is a valuable source of nectar and pollen for the bees. Especially at this time of year when there is not much more forage around. This is one of the last chances for the bees to gather last minute stores.

A fly on an ivy flower in October
A fly on an ivy flower in October
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Honey Bee on ice plant Sedum spectabile 'Iceberg'

Busy Bee

We are having some warm weather at the moment. The sunny warm days are great for the bees allowing them to get out and about to build up their winter stores. Caught this lady foraging on a flowering ‘Iceberg’ (Sedumspectabile ) plant.

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