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.

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 | 13 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 →

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Tips from Cornwall’s Bee Health Day 2019: How to keep healthy bees

Posted on June 24, 2019

I enjoyed Bee Health Day at the weekend – it’s an annual day run by the two Cornwall Beekeeping Associations (CBKA and WBKA) and the National Bee Unit Bee Inspectors. There are talks on keeping healthy bees, varroa and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Going on a (mini) bee safari

Posted on June 5, 2019

Last weekend I went on a very enjoyable mini bee safari at the home of two Cornwall Beekeepers Association members. For their privacy I won’t give any names and shall just say the location was central Cornwall. A bee safari … Continue reading →

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The tree bees come down

Posted on May 21, 2019

You may remember from my last post, ‘Surrounded by bees: a tale of four swarms‘ that I had a swarm which was determined to stay high up in a tree. They had been there a few weeks and had been … Continue reading →

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Surrounded by bees: a tale of four swarms

Posted on May 14, 2019

What happens when a beekeeper gets behind on their inspections in May? SWARMS. This was the first: It was rather high up… The hives underneath are my comical attempt to tempt the bees down. I smeared lemongrass oil inside the empty … Continue reading →

Posted in Swarms | 15 Comments