[google1] I was once a boy scout, not a very good one but a boy scout none the less. However in my two weeks of being there (I was told not to come back for dissobeying my “sixer”….I know I know but he was punching my arm repeatedly as only older boys knew how) I did learn one thing; “always be prepared”, the universally accepted Scout motto.
It has been so hectic lately that I have simply not had time to put any blogs together to discuss my stings, my new suits, my battles with the inevitable swarms and the fantastic weather we have been having. Therefore I thought I would play a little bit of catch up with my latest challenges dealing with a Spring honey extraction.
There was such a strong honey flow that I have almost broken several vertebrae lifting various supers off my hives (though I have to say the Omlet hives split supers have been a joy to deal with). I total I would say I have about 3 supers to extract. Read the rest of this entry »
When I first stated beekeeping I didn’t have a clue. I thought you simply put a beehive at the bottom of the garden andthen simply drained the honey out of the side every so often from one of those beer tap type systems. I presumed beekeepers dressed up for a little bit of fun making out it was more serious than it was and felt it was more like a secret club of white boiler suited, bearded, morris men liking men over 50. How wrong could I be and especially when you consider you actually have to feed bees. Read the rest of this entry »
Hopefully you will enjoy some of these videos tracking my evening of generating my jar of honey. There is a video for each stage – hope you don’t fall asleep but they are worth it for the last video!
A rather apt day being my son’s 2nd birthday, I will forever remember it being the day I extracted my honey in the hope of making my one jar for this year. It was an eventful day not only because it was Sebastian’s birthday but also due to the events that unfolded while I extracted the honey.
It was the moment I had feared as I had heard horror stories of beekeepers chancing their luck removing honey from the bees late on in the season. Stories had been recounted of the general mood of the hive as a clumsy beekeeper strides up to the hive and slowly and rather caluculatingly removes all the product of their summers hard work. Read the rest of this entry »
There have been ups and downs and more ups and downs and then some more ups and downs but that illusive jar of honey is not far off now. The only thing I have to really consider now is exactly how big that jar is going to be! Read the rest of this entry »
What can I say…….I have got my honey making mojo back…….the National Trust have agreed with my Baldrick esk plan. In the words of another hero of mine “I love it when a plan comes together”
About 48hrs ago I looked down and out. My aim for the year of making one jar of honey was looking finished. I had known it for a couple of weeks if I am honest and I was moping around not really interested in writing about my bees and trying to turn my attention to protecting them over the winter.
How it has all changed, the door has opened slightly and I may just suceed yet.
My thanks to the National Trust for giving me the opportunity, what a wonderul organisation and a particular thank you to the Head Warden from the Surrey area for letting me do it (not to mention actually putting the hive in his very own back garden!). Fabulous.
I am the type of person that likes to bury their head in the sand and I feel I have been doing this recently. Frustratingly my bees had started to put a little bit of honey in the super but had not actually capped it.
This meant my simple aim of producing one jar of honey was getting more distant each week until I finally accepted that I probably wouldn’t get anything this year. I described it as the equivalent of running a marathon and falling over, breaking a leg, 10ft from the finish line. I know I should really be thinking about the bees well being but there was definitely an element of disappointment there and therefore a resultant head burying went on.
However…..I have had a week off from work, went away with the family and I am back with a cunning plan (similar to those that Baldrick used to conjur up if you are a Blackadder fan like me) Read the rest of this entry »
I am a very rich green colour today with a mixture of both envy and jealously. All the signs are that the honey flow has stopped and I stand around with bated breath hoping that my little ones are still out there flying around trying to get the last of the nectar to make honey. The last two weeks of hive inspections I have been willing them to just make me enough for a simple jar of honey and have been practically begging them on bended knees to get a move on.
Then three separate beekeepers make comments that make we feel like my bees were like 100metre runners trying to run a 400metre race. They got out of the blocks fast enough but have been fading ever since! Read the rest of this entry »
was told not to come back for dissobeying my “sixer”….I know I know but he was punching my arm repeatedly as only older boys knew how) I did learn one thing; “always be prepared”, the universally accepted Scout motto.
