So it is now June in the apiary and while we have had our fair share of rain and stormy weather the bees are doing really well. Some of the colonies got to the swarming stage and have been split. This produces the colonies for the next season and prevents the hive from swarming. So we are now up to approx 15 individual colonies.

The hives have been filling up with honey over the past 2 weeks and there is an opportunity to take some honey off the stronger colonies. So with the help of my young assistant we removed and extracted some of the excess honey.

This is not the main crop of honey from our hives (This comes later in the summer) The spring honey was spun out of the combs, filtered through multiple sieves and left to settle for a week in the settling tank. (this lets any bubbles rise to the top)  The left over honey was given back to the bees,

Our spring honey has now been jarred and labelled and is ready if you are interested.
Contact us for details.

At last the weather has warmed and things have been very busy. The bees have been building up their numbers and the warmer weather has given them a chance to get out and start collecting nectar and pollen. The queens are now starting to ramp up laying eggs and they are producing up to 2000 new bees a day. The colony population is increasing rapidly, and once it reaches a certain point the bees will start to think about swarming.
The old queen bee up and leaves (taking half the workers with her), she leaves behind her daughter who will hatch and take over the job of producing new bees.

I am on the British Beekeepers swarm collectors list, which means if a swarm is spotted locally I get a call to pick it up and rehouse the bees. This month has been a bit manic with swarms popping up all over the area. 

So far…..
3 from Bagshot, 
1 from Ravenswood Roundabout.
1 from Farm Road. (near Tomlinscote)
1 from Mychett.

As well as a few calls about bumble bees, and wasps. The bees are housed in a small travelling box before they are taken to the apiary, checked for disease and housed in a nice new des-res hive.

Spring has started to appear in the apiary. The hawthorn has started to blossom, and things are starting to wake up. It’s a crucial time of the year for the bees as they need to get out the hive and start foraging but the weather can make this difficult for them.

The temperature needs to be above about 13 degrees for the bees to get out, and it has been hovering around that temperature during the afternoons. The danger is that the colonies food supply is low as they have depleted the winter reserves, and survival is dependent on if they can maintain enough food supplies until spring really arrives. I will be keeping an eye on their food reserves and top them up if required.

Things now start to get busy in the beekeeping year. This weekend I extracted the wax from the old frames from last season, this will be processed later in the year to make beeswax candles and polish. I have made up more frames so the bees have some spare accommodation when they decide to swarm in the coming weeks. Regular hive inspections will commence as soon as the temperature is constantly above 13 degrees and we will be on the lookout for when the bees intend to swarm.

Until then I am repairing any equipment that needs looking at, and waiting till the weather warms up.