Zoom Talk on Wintering Bees
This week I did a Zoom talk for the Suffolk beekeepers, which was fun. Well, as much fun as it can be for an introvert. Maybe the virtual environment suits people like me who shy away from big crowds and…
Interview With Paul Beardmore
Paul Beardmore of Happy Valley Honey When Paul worked in IT over twelve years ago, he used to spend "far too long" gazing out of the window. "I'd had enough of office work; I was sick of it," he told…
Mating Mathematics
Math or Maths? In 2005 some researchers studying matings in the Hope Valley (England) found out some interesting stats on mating distance. Mating distance is the distance between the hive from which the virgin queen flew and the colonies from…
Buying Early Saves Money
Bees on Ivy Now is the time when I buy lots of bee stuff. It's better to buy things when items are being discounted than wait until spring when suppliers run out of stock. I know that beekeepers are not…
Interviews with Beekeepers
Great Christmas Pressie! How to Buy If you want a signed copy: signed book (delivery may take a few weeks if you are thousands of miles away from the UK). Otherwise, there are lots of outlets throughout the world -…
Local Bees?
Sister Queens (same mother) There are some confusing messages out there in beekeeper-land regarding bee types, imports and so forth. In a world where the news that gets picked up is the one delivered in the loudest voice, sometimes accepted…
Lorraine Muldoon (NZ)
Uncapping Honey Frames Interview with Lorraine Muldoon This article appeared in New Zealand Beekeeper magazine recently, or it's about to. It's over two and a half years since my trip to the other side of our beautiful planet; I hope…
The best laid plans…
Kyles of Bute This summer I was going to be staying with Mike & Lesley Palmer in Vermont, followed by a road trip to Toronto via Niagra Falls. Alas COVID intervened. Instead, we bundled into the car (farting beagle too)…
The Mighty Pen
The author with a frame of honey When Richelieu said, "The pen is mightier than the sword," in Cardinal Richelieu (a play by Bulwer-Lytton in 1839) he was in a bit of a pickle. As a man of the cloth,…
Pigs on the Wing
Piglets at 2-3 weeks old Many beekeepers in the UK are in the process of removing supers and extracting their honey. The summer is nearly over, queens are laying less, and the bees are beginning to arrange their nests for…
Better Bees
Mike Palmer's Cell Builders Humans (and walruses) are part of the natural world. We are animals. Sometimes we like to set ourselves aside from nature as if we are not part of it, but this is wrong. However, there is…
Nine Years In
Hollyhock in Ulta Violet light I am coming to the end of my ninth beekeeping season. I started with two hives, and now I have nearly forty, including nucs. My journey has just begun, but at least I'm through the…