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.

Going steady

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Emily Scott

Emma and I checked up on the nuc and the old hive yesterday. The nuc’s doing fine, it’s got a couple of frames of brood, some stores and about a frame and a half still to draw out. I popped … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Passed :)

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Emily Scott

This week I got a nice letter through the door. This is what it said: I was pleased and surprised. I knew before I opened the envelope what it was and got a sudden feeling that I had failed. Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Exams | 12 Comments

Bee Health Day

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Emily Scott

Went down to a Bee Health Day held at Roots & Shoots (a wildlife garden and base for the London Beekeepers’ Association) in Kennington, south London, today. It’s run each year by the London bee inspectors to give beekeepers information on looking after their bees well … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Inside the nuc

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Emily Scott

Today was beautiful, proper summer weather, and I had the day off, so I went down to see the bees before the rain predicted tomorrow arrives. On Saturday we split our hive into two because we had sealed queen cells … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

A royal break-up

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Emily Scott

On Tuesday Caroline Washington, our local bee inspector, had found a queen cell in our hive. Yesterday we decided what to do about it. Caroline hadn’t been able to find Queen Rose on Tuesday. Possibly she was wisely hiding at … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Queens, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

A bee inspector calls…

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Emily Scott

Today I have been down at the apiary watching Caroline Washington, our local FERA Bee Inspector, go through our hives. She was taking samples of bees as part of a nationwide analysis FERA are doing of the diseases present in … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The double brood box is on…

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Emily Scott

So this week I was supposed to make up ten frames and take them down to the apiary. What actually happened was that I realised I had everything to make up ten frames except the nails and couldn’t find quite … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 6 Comments

Not so super after all

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Emily Scott

Yesterday my hive partner, Emma, had put a super on our hive as we thought it wouldn’t do any harm to have one on there ready for all the loads of honey we’re going to get this year. Today I … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management | Tagged | 17 Comments

Three weeks after shook-swarming & swarm collecting tips

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Emily Scott

London has been basking in a heat wave this week. I can’t remember the last time I looked at the BBC weather forecast and saw three dazzling consecutive days of suns up there. It’s been 21C today and the bees … Continue reading →

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Two weeks after shook-swarming

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Emily Scott

It’s now two weeks since I shook-swarmed my bees. Doing either an annual shook-swarm or the Bailey comb exchange is compulsory for all hives kept at the Ealing Association apiary, to help prevent disease. I think some new beekeepers are … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments