Since we fostered a couple of bee hives last August, there are plenty of bee updates to share with you.
We‘re delighted that many of you have enjoyed the honey harvest created by our 60,000 black and gold miracle workers this year and we look forward to keeping you posted with our bee related adventures in the year ahead
If you’re not familiar with our journey into beekeeping, take a look at our blog here.
A snapshot of our bee diary so far
February 2023
This photo shows the wax capping that has fallen onto the screen/showing board at the bottom of the hive over the last few weeks.
The bees chew off the capping to get to their food stores, so you can see how hungry they’ve been!
These little stripes of chewed capping immediately tell our amazing beekeeper Martin Knight this is a hungry active healthy hive, and the the colony is big and strong by how many frames they are covering and therefore stripes of capping.
They are predominantly at the front of the hive (in this picture top) which is facing the sun which will obviously be warmer… So importantly Martin has a good idea of what’s going on and can picture the bees inside this hive, as ideally we don’t want to open the hive much in these colder months and let all the heat out. This is essential winter activity coupled with hefting (lifting the hives). Martin can feel how much food they have left and whether they might need a little feed before the spring flowers burst into life… Now is such an important time to visit the bees! No real food sources available and their stores from last year are beginning to run low. Hang in there girls, not much longer now! 💐 ☀️ 🌳
Jan 2023
The hive are happy and productive but looking forward to warmer weather.
Dec 2023
It’s getting pretty chilly and only going to get colder in the coming weeks! As it takes a lot of energy for the humble bee to stay warm over the winter we’ve been at the apiary today to make sure our winged wonders have plenty of honey to sustain them and keep them healthy as temperatures fall. We’ve added a layer of insulation to give extra protection, which with a little winter sun will keep them snug in the cold months ahead. And we’ve strapped the hives down for when the Atlantic winds howl up the Avon Valley.
Autumn 2022
In glorious autumnal sunshine we visited our remarkable superfamily of 60,000 worker bees at their home on the outskirts of Bath.
We never ceased to be amazed by the constant activity of the worker bees. They’re continually gathering nectar, guarding the hive and honey, caring for the queen and larvae, keeping the hive clean, and producing honey. Which, with the bees having feasted on acres of fragrant clover in the apiary’s rural environment has the most fantastic colour and flavour.
Having left plenty to sustain the bees through the colder months ahead we’ve now harvested the honey and look forward to sharing it on client visits in the next few months.
Keeping bees is an amazing experience; enlightening, humbling, educational, and rewarding. Beekeeping supports community pollination, food supplies, and fosters bee populations outside of the commercial beekeeping industry.
If you’re interested in exploring beekeeping options for your company we can’t speak highly enough about Martin.
Useful links
Martin Knight on LinkedIn
