Author Archives: Emily Scott

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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 wedding present from the bees

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Emily Scott

I see the last time I posted was April 21st. Since then I have become a married lady named Emily Scott and met the wildlife of Borneo. And in Beeland… the bees have been equally busy. The day of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Swarms | 42 Comments

Easter inspections; a new queen emerges

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Emily Scott

There was a lot going on at the apiary on Saturday. Naive people might think that on a bank holiday Easter weekend the apiary would be quiet. Not so when there is tea to be drunk, hot cross buns to … Continue reading →

Posted in Queens | 45 Comments

What’s flowering now – mid April; and a new allotment site for our bees

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Emily Scott

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that in the summer I like to go for a walk round my local park (Elthorne Park in Hanwell) and see what wild flowers are out. Last week … Continue reading →

Posted in Foraging | Tagged , | 23 Comments

How it’s all going: two weeks after shook-swarming

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Emily Scott

The apiary entrance is getting really pretty now as the wild flowers shoot up. White dead nettle, green alkanet and bluebells decorate the floor. Buzzing can be heard as bees on a mission zoom past your ears. Today was overcast … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease prevention | 10 Comments

Building comb and a home

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Emily Scott

Last weekend was warm, so Emma and I did a shook-swarm on our two strongest hives, Myrtle and Chilli. We worked as a team, Emma shaking the bees into a fresh brood box with new foundation, then passing me the … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention, Uncategorized | Tagged | 16 Comments

Notes from a talk by David Rudland, ‘Bringing bees from winter into spring’

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Emily Scott

On Wednesday evening I went to a London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) talk by David Rudland on the topic of ‘Bringing bees from winter into spring’. David and his wife Celia (who came to the meeting too) are commercial beekeepers in Surrey … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Our empire expands and I see beautiful wild comb up a tree

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Emily Scott

When I walked into the apiary, Albert said to me “I hear you’ve gone commercial”. He pointed past his shoulder, where a row of three new hives had been set up next to our existing three, all six neatly labelled … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 38 Comments

First peek under the bonnet

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Emily Scott

Yesterday wasn’t predicted to be sunny. And yet it was. The whole apiary was lit up; the daffodils glowed, the bees zoomed. It was the first practical session for this year’s intake of newbee beekeepers doing the Ealing association’s beginners … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease prevention | 21 Comments

Return of the piper

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Emily Scott

What a beautiful day it was yesterday. Today is predicted to be even better, a very un-March like 15°C/59ºF in London! As Jonesie said, there was a “buzz in the air” at the apiary. The bees were zipping in and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 27 Comments

Sunshine and missing heads

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Emily Scott

Saturday was a beautiful day for doing some digging. I went down to the Ealing Dean Allotment Society’s Radbourne Walk project, behind Northfields Allotments, where they will be planting wildflowers (corn poppy, corn marigold, corn flowers, plus eventually wild foxglove, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 38 Comments