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Honey, I love you

Our family are bee lovers and adore honey! And yes that was part of my motivation to become a beekeeper. In my first few years with only a couple of hives, I found it hard to produce enough to keep my family satisfied. Now, with 15 hives, my bees produce plenty for my family and all my local customers 💚 

Honey is special. It not only tastes delicious, but it also has many health benefits. 

Each batch of honey is different as the taste depends on what the bees have been foraging on and the weather. Spring honey is lighter with hints of the local lime trees. This year I even got a small crop of oilseed rape honey which is peppery and pungent. The summer ‘flow’, which is when the nectar from summer forage comes in thick and fast in July, is usually darker with a fuller flavour, sometimes with hints of caramel. If the weather is still good in September the ivy honey is pale in colour with a rather unusual taste! 

Honey contains a whole host of minerals and antioxidants that are good for us. It’s well known for treating sore throats, healing wounds, and, although still anecdotal, many people who suffer from hay fever swear by a daily spoonful of local honey to alleviate their symptoms. Whether it works or not it’s a good excuse to enjoy this natural, delicious treat.

Real, raw honey naturally granulates over time. Oilseed rape granulates within just a few days! My multi-floral honey usually takes months. If you like your honey runny simply pop your jar of granulated honey into a bowl of hot water and the crystals melt. Honey lasts for years so never throw any away. If it is past its best just use it in a salad dressing or drizzle over parsnips and carrots and roast them. Yum! Or, my personal favourite, infuse neat gin with some honey, strain it and you have a bee-licious tipple! 

There has been quite a bit in the press about honey fraud. To make sure you get the real deal rather than a jar of sugar syrup, look for honeys that are single origin, and avoid jars which say the contents are a blend of EU and non-EU honey. Specialist shops or farmers markets are a good place to find tasty honey and it’s always best to buy locally. The British Beekeepers Association is a great source of information.

If you’d like to find out more about bees and beekeeping visit us at a local market. 

 

Honey, I love you

Our family are bee lovers and adore honey! And yes that was part of my motivation to become a beekeeper. In my first few years with only a couple of hives, I found it hard to produce enough to keep my family satisfied. Now, with 15 hives, my bees produce plenty for my family and all my local customers 💚 

Honey is special. It not only tastes delicious, but it also has many health benefits. 

Each batch of honey is different as the taste depends on what the bees have been foraging on and the weather. Spring honey is lighter with hints of the local lime trees. This year I even got a small crop of oilseed rape honey which is peppery and pungent. The summer ‘flow’, which is when the nectar from summer forage comes in thick and fast in July, is usually darker with a fuller flavour, sometimes with hints of caramel. If the weather is still good in September the ivy honey is pale in colour with a rather unusual taste! 

Honey contains a whole host of minerals and antioxidants that are good for us. It’s well known for treating sore throats, healing wounds, and, although still anecdotal, many people who suffer from hay fever swear by a daily spoonful of local honey to alleviate their symptoms. Whether it works or not it’s a good excuse to enjoy this natural, delicious treat.

Real, raw honey naturally granulates over time. Oilseed rape granulates within just a few days! My multi-floral honey usually takes months. If you like your honey runny simply pop your jar of granulated honey into a bowl of hot water and the crystals melt. Honey lasts for years so never throw any away. If it is past its best just use it in a salad dressing or drizzle over parsnips and carrots and roast them. Yum! Or, my personal favourite, infuse neat gin with some honey, strain it and you have a bee-licious tipple! 

There has been quite a bit in the press about honey fraud. To make sure you get the real deal rather than a jar of sugar syrup, look for honeys that are single origin, and avoid jars which say the contents are a blend of EU and non-EU honey. Specialist shops or farmers markets are a good place to find tasty honey and it’s always best to buy locally. The British Beekeepers Association is a great source of information.

If you’d like to find out more about bees and beekeeping visit us at a local market. 

 

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Why do bees swarm?

If you see a big, swirling cloud heading out across the rooftops and trees, it could be a swarm of honeybees. They have left the safety of their hive and are flying off to find a new home – a hole in a tree, a chimney or an empty hive. It's an awesome sight! 

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Swarming bees are full of honey - carrying supplies for their new home - so they usually don't sting. But it's best to stand well back just in case!

Swarming is an important, natural process. It happens when a colony of honeybees splits and the queen takes a large number of worker bees with her in search of a new home. It's the way they reproduce. As soon as the old queen reaches the new nest site her entourage builds wax honeycomb so then she can lay her eggs and there’s space for pollen and honey stores.

Meanwhile in the original hive site new queens are hatching. Another one or two queens might leave the colony to set up a new home but one will stay to rule over the original hive. In this way the colony becomes two, three or more colonies.

Honey bees mostly swarm early in the season from late April to June. So this is a busy time for beekeepers!

Swarming early in the season gives the bees enough time to set up their new home and gather plenty of stores to see them through the winter. Beekeepers put out bait hives to try to lure a passing swarm. We also ‘artificially’ swarm our colonies which means separating the brood from the queen and flying bees. This splits the colonies and the urge to swarm goes away - usually! 

So if you are lucky enough to see a swarm of bees, marvel at this force of nature and then find your local swarm collector here: https://www.bbka.org.uk/swarm#swarmmap 

 

How do you move a honeybee colony?

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