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.

National Bee Unit Varroa Workshop – Part 2 – practical apiary session with Caroline Washington

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Emily Scott

A follow-up post from my one yesterday, ‘Varroa – Know your Enemy‘, about the series of workshops on varroa given by National Bee Unit inspectors this Sunday. After Alan’s talk to all of us on the life-cycle of the varroa … Continue reading →

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National Bee Unit Varroa Workshop – Part 1 – “Know your enemy”

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Emily Scott

On Sunday Emma and I went to a ‘Varroa Workshop’ themed day held by the London Beekeepers Association, in conjunction with inspectors from the National Bee Unit. The Unit’s inspectors spend their working lives giving beekeeping training, checking for disease … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease prevention, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 12 Comments

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

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Emily Scott

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)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Emily Scott

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 →

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National Bee Unit warning

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Emily Scott

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

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Emily Scott

“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!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Emily Scott

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…

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Emily Scott

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

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Emily Scott

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

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Emily Scott

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