Search results

Twitter says the Royal beekeeper told them. I don't seem to be able to post the link. For some reason, I'm reminded of The King's Breakfast by A A Milne - maybe because it's a whimsical rhyme for children

A true constitutional job requires a true constitution, I think. Not holding my breath

We have spent the entire 60+ years of my lifetime wreaking devastation on the entire invertebrate population of the planet, but the RSPCA should worry about the one species that actually has a dedicated group of people looking after it? Maybe beekeepers sometimes lack a little perspective?

Good tip - thank you. Like Sturmer Pippin, no good until after Xmas :-) Soft set sounds like a good idea, the same jar is rock hard now

What does it taste & smell like? We bought a jar this year from your part of the world. It looks just like that but Mrs F refuses to touch it - she says it "smells like a farmyard". I've heard dandelion described as "smelly socks"

Not a particularly spectacular image, but this huge and very late-flowering buddleja was attracting not only honeybees yesterday, but two species of bumble, wasps, bee-mimic hoverflies, four species of butterfly and at least three hummingbird hawk-moth. There was also a large dragonfly...

I have treated 3 colonies with this method this year, with reasonable success. All the colonies have recovered; one lost the queen during treatment (I've no idea if this was due to the treatment or other causes) but have successfully raised another. A second colony are now trying to supersede...

I've just come back from a week in Pembrokeshire and this stuff is everywhere (where there is water) - not sure if it's a bumper year - prompting me to do a little research. Water hemlock (Oenanthe crocata) and 'Poison' Hemlock (Conium Maculatum, as administered to Socrates) are different...

Hemp straw - e.g. from equestrian supplies firms or sustainable building suppliers. Lights very easily; no prep/shredding/collection/rolling; easy to store; doesn't go out easily; carry top-up in a bag or your pocket; plenty of smoke. Just don't inhale

"What do you mean, you left two queen cells?! "

I think you will still need to go through the colony again in a week's time and probably need to take down any emergency QCs they have built in the meantime. Probably you already know that, but I thought I'd mention it as no-one else did

I'll let you know in June - I have some beans close enough for the bees to walk to :)

But how many were going to St Ives?

If you Google 'rothamstead honeybees field beans' you'll find they did some real research on this on the 60s: " Abstract 1. Honeybees make three types of visit to field beans: to the extrafloral nectaries only (a visits), to obtain nectar through holes at the flower bases (b visits), and by...

In the 1980s, I used to visit Wiveliscombe on a regular basis. Some of the most beautiful farm land I've seen anywhere in this country: never seen earth so brown or plants so green anywhere else; Tolkien-land. There's a tension between the price and the elevated risk of growing OSR now that...

Copious OSR within a few hundred yards of the hives, now in full flower. So that's another year of it being too cold to produce much nectar or for the bees to work it. Hopefully, it will warm up next week. Last year was my first time ever (since 2010) with no OSR honey

PH: The only relationship I can think of, other than the obvious one that you describe, between sugar content and fermentation is that, if the balance of different kinds of sugar is such that, like OSR, it crystallises very quickly, this can sometimes result in a residual layer of liquid honey...

This page refers to someone at Balephuil having honey-bees in 2020. Let us know if you find them! Bees on Tiree

I'll be quite surprised if these turn out to be cornflower. The newer leaves in particular don't look right. Not does the leaf colour. I hope you'll keep us updated. Your bees will be hoping for Scabious :nature-smiley-013:

+1 for PlantNet