Author Archives: Emily Scott

About Emily Scott

I am a UK beekeeper who has recently moved from London to windswept, wet Cornwall. I first started keeping bees in the Ealing Beekeepers Association’s local apiary in 2008, when I created this blog as a record for myself of my various beekeeping related disasters and - hopefully! - future successes.

A new queen arrives for Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2019

Happy Boxing Day/Day after Christmas everyone – was a busy one for us as we have a new Queen in the family. Holly Cariad Elowen arrived on Sunday. She doesn’t issue many commands yet but I have a feeling that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

All tucked in for winter

Posted on December 11, 2019

A quick post on what I do to get my bees ready for winter. Here’s how the hives are looking right now. Over the years I’ve found this works for me: A thymol based anti-varroa treatment in late August – … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

Honeyland film review

Posted on November 17, 2019

Today I went to see Honeyland, which was being shown at the Falmouth Poly cinema as part of the Cornwall film festival. It’s a documentary about a female beekeeper named Hatidze; she and her elderly mother are the last inhabitants … Continue reading →

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Watching for Asian hornets

Posted on October 31, 2019

My notes from our final talk – by Phil and Karen Green – at our Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference this September. Phil is the Asian hornet co-ordinator for the WCBA (this means he co-ordinates … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Tagged | 4 Comments

Swarming from the bees’ perspective

Posted on October 15, 2019

My notes from our second talk by Scottish bee farmer Tony Harris at Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference this September. I’ve read books on swarm behaviour and studied it for the BBKA’s module exams, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Swarms | Tagged | 13 Comments

Neonicotinoid pesticides and bees

Posted on October 8, 2019

The second speaker at our annual Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference in September was Dr Ben Woodcock, from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), on ‘Neonicotinoid pesticides and bees’.  Ben is an Ecological Entomologist … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Maximising your honey crop – tips from Tony Harris

Posted on September 23, 2019

At the weekend I heard Tony Harris, a Scottish bee farmer, give two talks at the annual Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference. Here are my notes from his talk, which had plenty of jokes … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Events, Honey, Swarms | 19 Comments