Audio (podcast) version is here or on my YouTube channel It is difficult to quantify what percentage of honey bee colonies die as a result of varroa mite infestation (and associated viruses) because multiple factors are often involved. From the information I have seen, it is the leading cause of colony losses worldwide. Probably 30 … Read more
The centennial National Honey Show event took place in October 2023, at Sandown Park, in Esher. I managed to grab Randy Oliver for a quick chat over lunch at the nearby Subway. I had something called a ‘Tuna Kahuna’ and coffee. I squeezed my walrus frame into a corner opposite Randy, who was wearing the … 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
Somebody asked me yesterday, “what makes a good beekeeper?” I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer that, but what I said was, “If you can keep your bees alive from year to year, you’re doing pretty well.” That’s probably not the best answer, but experienced beekeepers who keep on top of disease and nutrition … Read more
We recently took delivery of a piano. My wife saw it in Forsyth’s in Manchester and, having declared it to be a lifelong dream to learn to play, persuaded me that such purchase made perfect sense. I have to admit; it is a thing of beauty. It’s a second hand Kawai TP125 piano, and in … Read more
Peter Drucker The legendary management consultant, Peter Drucker, may well have kept bees; I don’t know. He certainly made a vast contribution to twentieth-century management theory, and I’m sure his influence will stretch far into the current century too. He is well known for, amongst other things, these sayings: “If you can’t measure it, you … Read more
How this Walrus does it I harvested my last honey in August and treated for mites as soon as the honey supers were off. This works for me. Many beekeepers leave the harvest until later, maximising their honey crop, but I’m happy with what I do. At that time my bees are still bringing in … Read more
Beekeeping is Local Maybe I am naive or just positive and optimistic, but I’m sure that to many people I have some dangerously liberal ideas. For a start, I deliberately travelled all over the place to meet experienced bee farmers to see what I could learn. Then I wrote a book about the inspirational people … Read more