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.

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

August bee update

Posted on August 28, 2019

My beekeeping activity is winding down now for the year. The threat of swarms has passed and my focus is now on getting them ready for winter. My Nessa hive seemed to lose Queen Nessa sometime in July, so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

US and UK honey bee colony survival rates

Posted on August 1, 2019

I saw some new data come out recently on US and UK overwintering rates so thought I would take a look at it. It’s probably impossible to compare the two countries though, because the climate, diseases and scale of commercial … Continue reading →

Posted in beekeeping, Uncategorized | Tagged | 19 Comments

Bees, bees everywhere

Posted on June 27, 2019

It was a hot summer’s evening. I stuck my head out of our attic window and looked down the hill over Truro as the sun came down. The cathedral spire in the distance, pastel pink, blue and cream rhododendrons in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments