Beekeeping is an annual cycle, and the decisions you make — or fail to make — at each stage have consequences that ripple forward for months. This category covers the seasonal rhythm of colony management in the UK: spring build-up and swarm prevention, summer honey production, post-harvest treatment and feeding, winter preparation, and the critical late-season period when the quality of your winter bees is being determined. It also includes the less predictable aspects of British seasons: dearths that arrive at the wrong time, weather that collapses a nectar flow, and autumns that do not behave like autumns.
The emphasis throughout is on proactive management — understanding what the colony needs before it becomes urgent, and planning around probabilities rather than reacting to surprises. Experienced beekeepers will recognise the patterns; newer beekeepers will find these posts useful for building a mental model of how a season actually unfolds in practice.
I’m writing this on 19th February and my bees are based in Cheshire, UK, just south of Manchester. We have a mild climate, without extremes of cold in winter nor extremes of heat in summer, although that might be changing. I have snowdrops and crocuses in flower in my garden, and it won’t be long … Read more
Drones are not the only bees that drift Something has been vexing me about honey bees. Two observations, both true, seem to be in direct conflict with each other: Do bees drift more than you think? One of the first things we learn as beekeepers is that bees are great at finding their way home. … Read more
Swarming Is Finished, Now What? Phew, it looks like the swarming season may have ended. I’m tempting fate, but that’s what it looks like to me. Also, after about three weeks of nothing much coming into the hives, there seems to be a flow again. Presumably, that’s the bramble – there’s plenty of it about. … Read more
What do people do with their bees in March in the UK? Not much! Everyone is different, and bees, climate and available forage vary enormously from place to place. Crocuses are blooming, snowdrops are still about, and pussy willow is doing its thing. Plymouth, Aberystwith, Belfast and Perth expect a maximum temperature of 12-13 degrees … Read more
I will write about feeding bees sugar and pollen substitutes in late winter and early spring. It’s very much a ‘beekeeping is local’ situation; timings vary from region to region and from year to year. Don’t panic We had mild weather recently, but we are back to typical January temperatures with a bit of sleet … Read more
Not many beekeepers pull brood frames out of their hives in the middle of winter. Whilst this is not surprising, given the risks, it does mean that we tend to imagine what’s going on inside the hive. And some people have terrific imaginations. Every beekeeper has theories about what the bees are up to when … Read more
Last Friday, I attended the National Honey Show at Sandown Park Racecourse. The last time I’d been there was to watch Desert Orchid romp home in the 1987 Gainsborough Limited Handicap Chase. Dessie was one of the all-time greats, and he loved Sandown. I was obsessed with horse racing back then when I should have … Read more
I feel pretty good about how things have gone as I head towards the end of my beekeeping season. There have been some ups and downs, but I’ve learned new things and made progress as both a walrus and a beekeeper. This is my first blog post since the marriage of Eldest Child. It has … Read more