Category Archives: Uncategorized

A visit to the bees in April

Posted on April 18, 2019 by

It was the first sunny day in ages – or the first day not filled by wind and rain in ages – and I was out in the garden sweeping up vast pink piles of camellia blossom when my phone … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

What’s flowering now: late March/early April – a bee update – and an oil beetle

Posted on April 4, 2019 by

By now I think I can tentatively say both my hives – Kensa and Nessa – have survived winter. Over the past couple of weeks my priority has changed from getting the bees through the cold months to being on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

A day in the life of a beekeeper

Posted on March 20, 2019 by

The children’s clothes company JoJo Maman Bebe contacted me recently and asked me to write a post about ‘The day in the Life of a Beekeeper‘ – so here it is! A day in the life of a very small-scale … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

What’s flowering now: late February

Posted on February 26, 2019 by

This week the UK has been enjoying warm air from Africa and the Canary Islands coming our way – I even felt toasty enough today to happily sit outside eating lunch and walk around without a coat on. A record … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Comments

How many honey bees are there? A 2019 update.

Posted on January 14, 2019 by

A year ago I wrote a post titled ‘How many honey bees are there?‘, after a question on Quora got me intrigued about whether any kind of data exists on worldwide honey bee numbers. Would anyone really have counted? Well, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 25 Comments

Book review: The History of Bees by Maja Lunde

Posted on December 13, 2018 by

I haven’t written for a while because it’s been a difficult few weeks. My little boy, Tommy, was very ill, first diagnosed with pneumonia and then with pericardial effusion – excess fluid around the heart. He needed an emergency operation … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 35 Comments

My latest beekeeping bungle – and how I fixed it

Posted on October 24, 2018 by

This autumn I made the classic error of giving bees too much space. I put an eke on top of the brood box to do Apiguard treatment. Then I went on holiday. The first opportunity I got to inspect the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments