The Solar Bee Project is not only about honey bees; biodiversity is also a core aim. Honey bees are not endangered, but encouraging an awareness and provision for these well-known and much-loved insects provides a focal point for wider biodiversity challenges. The site at Berwick is valuable for its low intervention and lack of disturbance. …
Thermosolar Visit in the Sunshine
What a glorious spring day! I wanted to see if the colonies were flying and bringing in pollen as it was such lovely weather. The wind was still pretty chilly so I decided against opening them up but it was good to see the leaves starting to appear on the hedgerow trees, and sure enough, …
Early Spring Thermosolar Visit
It was raining when I arrived at the Berwick solar farm today, but I'd been to visit a friend nearby and wanted to make sure the bees were ok after Storms Eunice and Franklin. There wasn't much flowering apart from some brave blackthorn blossoms, and I was not expecting to see the bees flying. There …
Winter Solstice and the Thermosolar hives
It's the shortest day today, and the weather has been calm and cool. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week (including, obviously, the Christmas weekend) so I wanted to go and check on the Thermosolar hives while it was at least dry, if a little cold for the bees to be flying. A …
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Late Autumn and the Thermosolar Hives
I wanted to pop in and check the inspection boards of the Thermosolar hives to monitor the mite numbers, and generally make sure all was well. It was a cool day but there was some sunshine so I hoped the bees would be flying. https://videopress.com/v/uKhpxIBe?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata Sure enough, the second hive was active, with bees steadily …
School Beekeeping Podcast
I recently featured on the Living Being podcast, talking about my involvement with schools and honey bees. You can listen to it here, or it's over on my Patreon as a public post. If you'd like me to talk to your school, or be on your podcast, please email me.
New Look Wayward Bee
If you've been following me for a while, you'll notice a new layout for the website and possibly a few other changes too. As for most of us, the past 18 months have given me an opportunity to think about how best to use my resources and share my knowledge. Beekeeping has always been about …
High Summer at Shawpits
It's taken a while, but it's lovely to have some proper summer weather. There haven't been many swarm calls which has meant I've been able to focus on some other garden projects which I didn't get round to last year despite going literally nowhere for 15 months...anyone else in that situation? My friend helped my …
Themosolar Swarm Update
A glorious day, and the daisies have popped up almost overnight! Great to see such a swathe of these: they are not only good pollinator plants but also provide some nice tall cover for mammals. The blackthorn has gone over now, as has much of the hawthorn but this late spring does mean the traditional …
Darling Buds of May
Hawthorn I have had a couple of swarm calls and a few bumble/solitary bee queries, but nature seems to be rather on hold at the moment. We've had strong winds and more wet, cold weather but the bees are foraging well when they do get the chance: lots of pale yellow pollen and at least …
Wayward Bee 