So how are the bees, you ask? Great question…in a word, challenging! The weather for Spring and Summer 2024 has been everything apart from (don’t say it…) snowy. The bees were slow to get out foraging, and that meant they were slow to expand their colonies.
Now – in Devon at least – warmer weather has arrived, there’s lots of nectar, and the bees want to get to work. Make honey while the sun shines, you could say.
Why has this summer been challenging for bees and beekeepers?
We need to inspect and adapt the beehives regularly to make sure there’s room for the colonies to grow, store lots of nectar and evaporate moisture.
Slow and steady is the best way to get a sustainable honey harvest without too much stress for bees – or beekeeper. This year has been slow in parts but it definitely hasn’t been steady!
When the season is condensed and erratic like this year, the rush to get things done can be a struggle, and can lead to grumpy bees and grumpier beekeepers. The good news is that if the weather doesn’t go too haywire now, we can keep on top of things.
What are you doing with the bees right now?
Keeping on top of things means lots of hammering and banging of wooden boxes, frames and sheets of beeswax foundation, washing and sterilising equipment, and watching the weather as usual.
We hope to take a new harvest of honey and beeswax to share with friends and family – always leaving enough for the bees. The bees will have enough space to expand or reproduce, and enough to put a little something away for the winter.
So let’s think positively, and not about the hornets, wasps and ivy flowers that will be sent to challenge us as autumn looms…
Want to get some of this year’s harvest when it’s available? Email us to join the waiting list.
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