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As some of you may know I wrote a little book during my first year as a beekeeper. It was all about my efforts to get just one jar of honey and my journey learning all about bees. I had a lovely time in that first year and wanted to tell everyone about it. I was very lucky to have been picked up by the Summersdale Publishing Company who will be publishing the book next year. However, we are all deliberating on the final title and we thought we would have some fun and open it out to everyone else to make the decision.

Therefore, put your entries in the comments box below (the more entries the merrier!); the team at Summersdale will then pick their top 5 and we will then put it to the public vote to see who gets to name the title. There are some amazing prices (!)……and I may just chuck in a jar of next years honey to add to the prize fund.

Now, ordinerily I wouldn’t use this page to essentially “promote” a company but on this occasion I shall make an exception as I think it is a great concept. I met a gentleman by the name of Dale Gibson at the London Honey Show earlier this year; in fact his honey won one of the awards that I was asked to give out. The award was for the “Best Restaurant Honey“.

I wanted to know a little bit more about this as I am genuinely interested in how people and companies in London are really pushing beekeeping. Sadly I couldn’t really talk to Dale at the awards but made contact afterwards. Interestingly his hives are 150m away from the restaurant who seem to be making a push for everything being local. Anyway, let me tell you a little bit more about the restaurant and their menu. Read the rest of this entry »

I often say that it would take a lot to suggest to anyone that I am the fountain of all knowledge when it comes to beekeeping but I say that I am the World’s leading expert at being a beginner. Therefore I thought I would write a small piece for all your potential beekeepers out there who maybe considering starting to keep bees next year.

What exactly do you need to start keeping bees? There is quite a lot of discrepancy when you read all the books on starting to keep bees and what equipment you need but, in reality, there is a basic set up and then there is a slightly more comprehensive suggestion. Let me start with the basic set up. Read the rest of this entry »

I think it is pretty amazing that this national show has been going for the last 80 years. When you think about it, the first must have been back in 1931 if my Maths is correct. I wonder what it was like back then and how it has changed over the years?

To answer my own question however, a resounding YES. It almost feels like an institution which I think is both a good and bad thing. It is very traditional in its approach and there are some very serious looking people parading around in laboratory coats not to mention the countless people with their membership lapels, akin to seeing people who have been at the races for the day. However, I quite like all of this tradition being a slight traditionalist and I think it adds an aura of respectability about the place. Something that can be lost elsewhere and has its own merits. I will say it was in complete contrast to The London Honey Show a few weeks ago but that can only be a good thing. Different cities, different audiences, different opinions, all good in my mind.

Let me tell you some more. Read the rest of this entry »

I have recently found a real interest in the historical aspect of beekeeping and so I jumped at the chance to review this book; Bee Boles and Bee Houses by A M Foster. Essentially it is a good review of techniques used to house bees before a certain group in the early to mid 18th Century got involved and invented the moveable frames (I.e. Dzierzon, Langstroth amongst a few others)

When I first received it I was shocked at its size, only 32 pages, as I was expecting a far larger book. However I will say immediately that, because you could finish it in an evening, it was perfect for the subject matter. If truth be told it is the perfect feeder book for you to want to find out more if that makes sense.

We all know that beekeeping history is a fascinating topic and this is obviously a very well researched (quoting 15 other books) and concise taster book. I particularly like some of the imagery which sadly, for copyright reasons, I cannot replicate here. There are at least 3 illustrations depicting historical scenes on each page supporting some of the written prose.

Another aspect I particularly liked was the “Places to Visit” section at the end suggesting 31 different locations to find these bee boles and bee houses. However they are all situated in the UK rather than elsewhere so sadly my readers from the US and elsewhere may miss out – I will just have to send you some photos when I go off visiting them all!

Should you want to purchase a copy you can get a copy direct from the publisher www.shirepublishers.com or apparently from any good bookstore (only wish there were more bookstores!)

Today I felt really honoured. Some friends of ours came over to take away some logs I had kept for them and, as a

Honey cake recipes?

surprise, they had baked us all a cake; not just any cake, a honey cake made with my very own honey.

I never realised before how significant Honey Cake actually is. Despite being delicious it has also a big significance in the Jewish world with a lot of honey cake being consumed over the Jewish New Year celebrations otherwise known as “Rosh Hashanah” – they enjoy a lot of apple and honey to signify a “sweet new year”

It was delicious but it led me to wonder what is the best recipe for Honey Cake? I have to say that this cake was nice but I knew there must be plenty of variations in the online world and so I set about looking. Here is just a plain recipe for a honey cake followed by other great links I have found to make some great variations: Read the rest of this entry »

I was very fortunate this week to be a part of a wonderful event at The Lancaster Hotel in London; The London Honey

The London Honey Show at the Lancaster Hotel

Show. Famed for being the first hotel in London, if not the UK for keeping bees on the roof this seemed a very apt location and WOW, what a success.

The room from start to finish was filled with people and Jo and her team got it spot on with a healthy mix of exhibitors and excellent speakers - though sadly I missed every single one of them and so am going on 3rd party reviews all of which were excellent. Of particular note was that of Tim Baker, a Head Master who has encouraged his school to take up beekeeping with superb results; more on that later. Read the rest of this entry »

As a lovely autumnal day drew to a close yesterday, I found myself, over a nice glass of red wine, reflecting on the year I have just had. Like most beekeepers, the removal of my 2nd application of Apiguard and a penultimate inspection, I feel as if this is the right time to analyse it all.

I sat in the bay window of our house, exhausted from the days festivities following our eldest sons 3rd birthday party. Being pirate themed I sat and mused in scraggy shorts, a stripy shirt, bandana and eye patch, not my usual attire while musing about bees; however I made some notes and am now typing them up as I sit aboard a flight to Turkey ready for a working week away from home. Read the rest of this entry »

There seems to be a move amongst blogs that have been going for a while to sometimes reflect on their own articles from time to time and this is what I aim to do here. It is accepted to talk about 7 different blog articles which include: The most popular post, the most helpful post, the post that surprised you the most amongst others.

I hope this review is interesting for you as it has been great to relive some of my old posts: Read the rest of this entry »

Since the start of this blog I have always saught to question every element of beekeeping. It does seem that there are plenty of ways to do the same

Which Beehive should I pick?

job and equally there are many opinions about which way is the right way. This is part of the reason that, when I started beekeeping I decided to trial different beehives.

For example read my comparison between a National Beehive and an Omlet Beehaus. Well I have decided to expand my apairy and, in doing so, am going to expand my variations of hives. I have floated the idea around several beekeepers to rather surprising reactions generally looking at me rather strangely as if to say “are you alright?” or “is one type of hive not enough?”

But why are there so many types of beehive? Read the rest of this entry »