I rescued these bees with a friend of mine from the panelling of a wall in a social club that was going be demolished, on April 10th, 2016. It was a cold day and a bit drizzly, and the location of the colony was near the car park for a popular bridleway/public footpath, and it …
Black poplars at West Rise School Apiary
This was our last visit to Langney Marsh for this year, and it was unsurprisingly cold, with the usual prevailing wind whistling across our faces. Within the apiary site, we have permission from the landowner (the Council) to plant trees. In a bid to increase the conservation potential and biodiversity, Paul contacted Fran Southgate of …
Winter Bee Check at West Rise School Apiary
A misty day on Langney Marsh for this month's bee check. The children were engaged in Forest School when myself and Paul arrived, and we were given a quick masterclass in the workings of a storm kettle as they waited patiently for bubbles to appear in the water for their hot drinks. We walked out …
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Hive check at West Rise School Apiary
It was another beautiful day at Langney Marsh when we went to check the bees: The weather has been very warm and dry recently and we were hoping that the bees would be foraging enthusiastically. We couldn't see a huge number of nectar sources in the immediate vicinity and the prevailing wind was doing its …
Beeswax from West Rise School Apiary
Our plan following the last visit was to bring the redundant hive back and melt down the beeswax before the wax moths got to it. As the apiary is some distance from the car park, we used the quad bike to bring it back. Some of the combs still had pollen in the cells and …
Warre Hive visit
Paul and I visited the apiary site on Langney Marsh to see how the bees in the Warre were getting on. We had left them with a queenless but well-provisioned hive sited near them, and a block across the entrance to reduce the amount of policing required as the colony is still very small and …
First Visit to West Rise Bee Sanctuary and School Apiary
I was invited to be involved with this project by the Head of the award-winning West Rise Junior School, Mike Fairclough, and Paul Youlten, bee enthusiast from Winchelsea. The apiary had been set up six years previously as a sanctuary for the native black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera but had sadly become rather neglected. The …
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Cross comb
It has been uncharacteristically hot and sunny here for weeks now and the bees have been making honey. I'm a bit mindful that we desperately need some rain otherwise the plants will reduce their nectar reward in order to conserve moisture, so the bees will need their stores. However, they are still producing prodigiously at …
Sketching Chickens
This was my third attempt at running this course as the weather was exceedingly unhelpful on previous occasions! Therein lies the problem with organising any outside event in the UK... The reason I run these courses is that as well as a beekeeper, I am an artist, and run a life drawing class each Monday …
Summer vs Winter honey
How and when bees store honey alters the composition and taste. In conventional beekeeping, all the honey from the preceding season is taken in late summer/early autumn, and the bees fed a sugar syrup to replenish their stores. I don't do this. Instead, I take honey little and often through the summer and leave the …
Wayward Bee 