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.

Battle of woman vs beekeeping exam: and the winner is…

Yesterday I came home to a long-awaited letter. As soon as I saw the British Beekeeping Association’s address on the back, I realised it must be my Module 1 Honeybee Management exam results. Opening exam results is hard, isn’t it? I … Continue reading

Posted in Exams | Tagged | 38 Comments

Book review – ‘Beekeeping: A Novice’s Guide’, by David Wootton (2011)

I bought this after reading a very positive review in the BBKA News and starting to follow David’s blog: (www.beekeeping-book.com/blog). I am pleased with it! Do not buy this if you are an experienced beekeeper wanting to learn extra tips … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 24 Comments

National Bee Unit warning

This email was sent out by the National Bee Unit yesterday: With the on-going poor weather, there is a real risk of bee colonies starving. Please check for stores in the colony and if in any doubt feed your bees. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 22 Comments

A day out with John

“What are you doing tomorrow?” John Chapple had asked Emma and me, “Would you like to help me at Osterley?”. Well, when a beekeeping legend invites you down to some hives it would be madness to say no! Osterley is … Continue reading

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Bee macro shots by Drew Scott…and queen news!

You are in for a treat. In my last blog post I shared with you some of my boyfriend Drew’s awesome photos from Saturday, but I didn’t show many of the macro shots. Now you get the macro shots. Plus, … Continue reading

Posted in Bee behaviour | Tagged , | 22 Comments

EFB or not EFB? And the answer is…

We were really lucky today that Andy Pedley was able to come down and help us. As well as being incredibly experienced he has such a kind and patient manner. I felt better as soon as he started going through … Continue reading

Posted in Disease prevention | Tagged | 28 Comments

Trouble in bee-land

I had the day off today so went down to the apiary to take a look in the hives, as several days of rain plus work have meant there haven’t been many chances for Emma and me to inspect. Today … Continue reading

Posted in Disease prevention, Uncategorized | Tagged | 41 Comments

Lavender on the loose

Our first inspection of Lavender’s hive since last autumn… Doing well! So much better than Rosemary’s hive, with plenty of eggs and full frames of evenly laid, biscuit colour, worker brood. Below is an empty drawn out frame with some … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Exams over – and the Bailey comb exchange begins…

After months of revising, I finally took the British Beekeeping Association’s Module 1 Honeybee Management exam on Saturday. It’s a relief to get it out of the way – I can finally start on the pile of non-beekeeping related books I haven’t … Continue reading

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9th Honeybee Management revision post: the value of honey, pollen, water and propolis

A 9th revision post for the British Beekeeping Association’s Module 1 exam, Honeybee Management, which I’m taking…on Saturday (arrrgh so not ready!). I’m at 1.15 on the syllabus: “The Candidate shall be able to give a detailed account of:- the value of honey, pollen, … Continue reading

Posted in Exams, Honey | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments