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The village where I live is full of lovely neighbours all who did a collection to buy me my first bee hive for my significant birthday last year. We live near Gatwick airport and so a few of my neighbours run Bed and Breakfasts for the weary travelers with early flights, handfuls of kids...

How exciting to finally collect my very own bees. Jim and I bought two buzzing boxes of bees (nuclei) back to the house on a very hot April morning. We sited the two hives, unscrewed the tops of the nuclei and pulled out the sponge bungs to release the bees. Now is the time I should be...

I’ve been under enormous pressure all summer to continue with my Waxsbees blog and I really haven’t had the time – so an enormous apology to all my fans (that will be Hattie) for the delay. The good news is, that I’m back and there is a lot to write about - do feel free to take mini-breaks...

Lots of dark red/orange pollen in West Sussex. Only problem is that, as the bees return, the hornets are attacking them, killing them and flying away with them. Any suggestions - they are new colonies and so not very strong.

I currently have had the pleasure of being able to compare a wasp and a bee sting within a few days - wasps are worse! Hydrocortisone cream is good for the swelling and itching - trademarked "stopitch" in South Africa!

At the end of my garden, in the orchard, under the dappled shade of the trees, are two beautifully made cedar bee hives. Jim has clearly not read my hive rules. As I’ve told you before, I have a bee-mate called Jim, who keeps his hives in my garden. I’m helping him with his colonies until I...

Don't be too shy to go to your local beekeepers association. It's a fantastic way to get hands on experience and not at all expensive. Thanks so much for your kind comments re the blog!

So, I promised to tell you about the day Adam the wasp man came over. We’ve had so many wasps this year. A couple of weeks ago rather a lot of them were flying in and out of the eaves of the house. Cue, Adam the wasp man. Adam arrived and thought that there was at least two foolish things...

I recently had a significant birthday and all the lovely people in my village donated money and bought me a complete beekeeping kit – what an amazing present! The only thing I did know about beekeeping at that time was a) that I had always want to do it since I was a little girl breeding...