Steve Donohoe 
What the evidence says about breeding honey bees, from my perspective in the UK Given that we are now into the autumn (fall, for those over the pond) in my area, there is not a great deal of beekeeping for me to do. I could write about some actual beekeeping, but have decided to turn … Read more
An imaginary argument about breeding better bees when you can’t control the drones Sophie is imaginary. She is a composite of arguments I have heard and read over the years, and she does not speak for BIBBA, although she may well be a member. The Walrus is, of course, me. Every figure either of them … Read more
They want the same thing, right? Beekeeping is a broad church, as they say, with all sorts of people taking part in the craft for many reasons. There does currently appear to be something of a rift, perhaps widening to a chasm, between a vocal section of hobby beekeepers and the majority of bee farmers. … Read more
We made the same amount of honey with 14 fewer colonies My son Alex (a.k.a. the Mole) and I finally finished extracting honey on 23 September at 2.30pm. It has been a slog, but, apart from a small amount still in the Apimelter, our 2026 honey is now in buckets. I hope that it lasts … Read more
For the avoidance of doubt, I am a bee farmer and I run a business that sells honey and bees. My honey customers are local stores and farm shops, although I do sell direct to consumers at one small monthly market in High Legh. In terms of scale, it’s nothing very grand; we sell about … Read more
Why feeding pollen in July might help, and feeding it in September might not Back in March I wrote about honey bee nutrition, and I pontificated (yes, I do that) about the merits of feeding during a dearth. I said that I suspected my bees had suffered nutritional deficits in late summer, that this would … Read more
In recent times, beekeeping seasons have changed for me. Only ten years ago, the idea of swarming in April was preposterous, whereas now it’s normal. The so-called ‘June gap’, a period of little forage between spring and summer blooms, has compressed to almost nothing. For the last few seasons the majority of summer honey is … Read more
Greetings, bee-botherers and those interested in the care of honey bees with the goal of producing honey and bees for sale. I have been AWOL, I deserted my post, by which I mean that I haven’t written anything on here for many moons. There are reasons – call them excuses if you will – but … Read more