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 new queen arrives for Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Emily Scott

Happy Boxing Day/Day after Christmas everyone – was a busy one for us as we have a new Queen in the family. Holly Cariad Elowen arrived on Sunday. She doesn’t issue many commands yet but I have a feeling that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

All tucked in for winter

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Emily Scott

A quick post on what I do to get my bees ready for winter. Here’s how the hives are looking right now. Over the years I’ve found this works for me: A thymol based anti-varroa treatment in late August – … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

Honeyland film review

Posted on November 17, 2019 by Emily Scott

Today I went to see Honeyland, which was being shown at the Falmouth Poly cinema as part of the Cornwall film festival. It’s a documentary about a female beekeeper named Hatidze; she and her elderly mother are the last inhabitants … Continue reading →

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Watching for Asian hornets

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Emily Scott

My notes from our final talk – by Phil and Karen Green – at our Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference this September. Phil is the Asian hornet co-ordinator for the WCBA (this means he co-ordinates … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Tagged | 4 Comments

Swarming from the bees’ perspective

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Emily Scott

My notes from our second talk by Scottish bee farmer Tony Harris at Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference this September. I’ve read books on swarm behaviour and studied it for the BBKA’s module exams, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Swarms | Tagged | 15 Comments

Neonicotinoid pesticides and bees

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Emily Scott

The second speaker at our annual Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference in September was Dr Ben Woodcock, from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), on ‘Neonicotinoid pesticides and bees’.  Ben is an Ecological Entomologist … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Maximising your honey crop – tips from Tony Harris

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Emily Scott

At the weekend I heard Tony Harris, a Scottish bee farmer, give two talks at the annual Cornwall Beekeepers Association/West Cornwall Beekeepers Association ‘Bit of a Do’ conference. Here are my notes from his talk, which had plenty of jokes … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Events, Honey, Swarms | 19 Comments

August bee update

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Emily Scott

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 | 16 Comments

US and UK honey bee colony survival rates

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Emily Scott

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 by Emily Scott

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments