The beekeeping year started out so well. Our two hives had overwintered successfully and powered through spring with neat frames of brood, plentiful pollen stores, and lots of straw-coloured honey. We artificially swarmed one of the hives in June and proudly increased our apiary size by half. To our absolute joy, several swarms landed in…
bees
A Swarm in the Plum Tree
When we lived in London, we did everything we could to entice a swarm of bees into our little garden. Purchasing a colony of bees is quite pricey and the idea of being able to expand our hive numbers for free was very appealing. In the beekeeping world, lost swarms are fair game and it’s…
Beekeeping – A Spring Beehive Inspection
On warm, dry spring days, our honey bees can be seen and heard hard at work all over the garden. Foraging from the flowerbeds and orchard, collecting fresh water from the spring-fed pond, and flying further afield to explore the flora on the surrounding hills. At this time of year we try and go through…