To the handful of crazy beekeepers who wait in anticipation for my blog posts – there are a few, apparently – I’m afraid this one is basically a few photographs that I have taken this season. It’s all too much effort to string words together into sentences, because I have just MOVED HOUSE. This means … Read more
I seem to have been quite busy lately, resulting in a lack of blog posts. A cynic might suggest that the real reason is that I have nothing much more to say, or that there are so many sources of beekeeping information nowadays that mine will be drowned out, so what’s the point? Well, the … Read more
The snow that had covered the ground here in Manchester, UK, has melted, and temperatures are set to be above freezing for the foreseeable future. By which I mean, the next nine days that my weather app sees. And we all know how reliable they are. But still, I’m optimistic; the days are getting longer, … Read more
Audio (Podcast) Version: Click here When you start to look at the history of life on Earth, it quickly becomes apparent that humans have only been around for a relative blink of an eye. For bees, it’s a different story. Here is one version of the story of the evolution of honey bees and humans. … Read more
When I started interviewing beekeepers and passing on their stories and wisdom, I was not the first nor the last to do this; there are loads of people at it. In fact, it’s a growing phenomenon, particularly on YouTube, as content creators seek content (funnily enough) for their channels. After I release a book (it’s … Read more
There are a growing number of people who believe that treating honey bees to remove varroa mites is bad, whereas non-treatment is good. This is literally the opposite of what government funded experts in bee health say. How can this be so? How can some beekeeping associations actually encourage the idea that not treating for … Read more
Now that we are in that time of crazy colony growth, it won’t be long until some people start to raise their first queens of the season. My experience and research into weather patterns tells me to hold off until later because the weather can be quite unreliable for mating flights in May. The best … Read more
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