Cooking with Honey

Kim and Tim visited the Hive at Kew Gardens this year #KewHive and, luckily for me, the bookshop was well stocked with beekeeping and honey related books.  My Christmas stocking included "Spoonfuls of Honey" by Hattie Ellis, "A complete guide to honey's flavours & culinary uses, with over 80 recipes."

It's an enchanting book, which I have already read from cover to cover.  A high proportion of the recipes are appealing (and it's not often I say that about a cookery book).  Yesterday, I was inspired to try "Roman Honey-Baked Ham".    Triumphant from the success of helping Tim on Christmas Eve with his honey and mustard glazed ham (Tiptree honey and mustard sauce mixed with demerara sugar), I happened to buy a ham yesterday to cook for this festive season.

I had to adapt the recipe slightly as I didn't have any dried figs; or breadcrumbs; or Dijon mustard.   

The photograph above is the succulent result of boiling the ham in water and apple juice with bay leaves, more-or-less as the recipe suggests.   The closest I could get to dijon mustard was a jar of mustard seeds.   I crushed them in a pestle and mortar and mixed them with honey (Lot number 3).   After cutting off the rind and scoring the fat,  I coated the ham with the honey and mustard mixture and studded the ham with cloves, just because it looks good.

It tastes every bit as good as it looks!   Happy New Year!

Hive Products

No! Not More Honey.

This afternoon I made pure beeswax creamed polish for use on leather or furniture.  The kitchen smells warm like my grandparents' drawing room, the room only used at Christmas and when they had important guests as opposed to the sitting room that they used every day and which didn't have any distinctive fragrance.   It's only now that I realise their best room smelled of beeswax and turpentine furniture polish!

I tried to get Great Grandfather's recipe for Bionic Polish.  I recall Mum making it and I know it was a very soft polish made with beeswax and turpentine but I don't know the proportions or whether there were any additional ingredients.  She used to put it into bottles rather than jars.   Great Grandfather's (only) other recipe is for "Embrocation" a magic lotion used to treat both people and horses for sprains and strains.    Mum made both and famously rubbed Dad's back with Bionic Polish by mistake when the labels fell off all the bottles in a damp cupboard.   The Bionic Polish recipe appears lost for the time being so I resorted to Mrs Beeton's recipe:

Shred 8.5 oz beeswax into a large jar.

Stand in boiling water until melted

Add 1.5 pints of turpentine slowly.

Stir rapidly to mix well.

Pour into wide-mouthed jars or tins to set.

I had exactly 8.5 oz of beeswax from the cappings removed in the last honey extraction.   In the absence of a suitable jar, I used an old coffee pot which has lost its lid.  Coffee pots don't seem to be useful anymore so what a great way to use it.

Shredding the wax with a box grater took a long time but it was a satisfying task and Friday afternoon radio kept me entertained.  I carefully poured in the pure gum turpentine off the heat and stirred  rapidly, then the jug came in to its own, making it really easy to pour the liquid polish into the jars and the electronic scales made it relatively easy to get the weight right in each jar.  

I visited Bob at the Bee Shop last week and bought the jars and labels.  He only had labels saying "at least 90g", which is technically correct as the jars hold 250g.   For some reason, I like the warning labels more than the polish labels.   Perhaps it's the bold black cross on a bright orange background.

I wonder whether I will write another blog to report how the polish works?  To do so, I'd have to do some polishing.  Hmmm.   Don't hold your breath!

Honey Shows

Read on to find out why I have posted a picture of a handsome silver cup!

After the great experience of the County Honey show last year, when I found out that the local beekeepers were going to have a gazebo at the local country show, I had to take part.

The number of classes was minimised but all of us were encouraged to enter as many classes as possible.

1. Clear Honey
2. Creamed Honey
3. Set Honey
4. Honey Fruit Cake
5. A pair of candles

Luckily, the bees produced clear honey as well as set honey this year but we don't process our honey to produce a creamy set, so that limited me to two honey classes.   Notwithstanding my poor attempt to win acclaim at the County Honey Show with my honey sponge last year, I decided to attempt the Honey Fruit Cake.    I have been developing my efforts to melt down wax but I haven't progressed to candle making yet; maybe I'll try that next year.   

Knowing some of my fellow beekeepers, I was in no doubt that I would have to put effort in to have any chance of a prize.  Sally sent me guidance on how to prepare honey for showing from an old beekeeping magazine- 3 pages of closely typed instructions!    Given that the honey was already in jars, all I could do was select nice examples and polish the outsides of the jars, then pack it so there were no finger prints to be seen.

As usual, I practised making the cake and as last year, this involved buying 2 new cake tins because I didn't have any the right size and the recipe said, make two cakes, enter the best one in the show and eat the other.   My first attempt was pretty good and the cakes were quickly eaten.   The second attempt, which included the cake I took to work for my colleagues to judge, produced crumbly cakes with a bit of a depression in the centre.  As you can see, my final cake also sank a little in the centre.

Anyway, you can see from the photo below that the Honey section of the Horticultural marquee looked splendid.

The gazebo was nearby and included an observation hive, a model bee hive, lots of books and photographs and a table for children to have a go at making candles from coloured wax foundation.

P and I had guests for the weekend and they enjoyed their afternoon at the show, especially the dog show, while I was volunteering in the gazebo and P played cricket several miles away (!)

As soon as I arrived, Sally asked if I could come back the following day to collect my trophy.  It transpired that both jars of honey had been awarded 2nd place in their respective classes and two 2nds trump a 1st, so I had won the trophy for the beginner with the most points at the show.

It was only later that I discovered that the clear honey (Lot No 5 if you read the previous blog) was 2nd in the beginner's class and the set honey (Lot No 3) was 2nd in the grown up beekeepers' class!

    

I am very proud of my bees!

If you are wondering why there's no photograph of me being awarded the trophy at the awards ceremony, it's because on the second day of the show, P and I, along with Kim and Tim and about 30 friends were on our annual 20 mile bike ride.  We never know the route until the day itself but we were riding through the village where the show was taking place so Kim, Tim, P and I diverted off the ride to try to pick up the trophy.   This was not allowed!  This meant I had to cycle home as fast as possible in order to jump in the car and drive back in time for the awards ceremony.   This was not without some risk as I had a blow out on the back tyre earlier in the day.   Fortunately, my cup was the penultimate one to be awarded.  I did have time to brush my hair but I was still wearing my cycling gear and I had been wearing a cycling helmet all day.  I haven't attempted to get a copy of the official photograph!

Found in Dad's Shed

Dad has given me this delightful cross stitch that he found when he was cleaning out his shed.  

Kittie was a well known beekeeper in the village and she gave Dad some of her equipment when she down-sized from her house with a very large garden on the outskirts of the village to a bungalow in the village centre about 30 years ago.    

We guess that Sheila was the vicar's wife.

The verse is the first stanza from a poem by Isaac Watts (1674 - 1748).

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour,

And gather all the day

From every opening flower!

How skilfully she builds her cell!

How neat she spreads the wax!

And labors hard to store it well

With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,

I would be busy too;

For Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,

Let my first years be passed,

That I may give for every day

Some good account at last.

What makes this particularly touching for us is that both Kittie and Sheila were guests at our wedding 24 years ago.   Kitty has since passed away and Sheila and her husband moved away when he retired.

I have arranged a suitable frame and will be hanging this in the barn where we do the honey extraction.

2016 Lot Number Notes

So much honey we have to make notes about each batch

This year the bees have been extraordinarily productive.   Each colony has its own honey for the Winter and we will supplement that with Winter feed to get a better idea of the quantity and quality of stores that they have going in to the Winter.  We have removed the surplus honey over the season in 5 separate batches which are identified with separate lot numbers on the honey jar  labels.

This is raw honey, not pasteurised, heat treated, blended  or mechanically stirred.   Each lot is manually extracted by centrifugal force, filtered to remove bits of wax and put straight into jars.  

All honey will eventually crystallise and set.  The time this takes depends on how long it is stored and at what temperature.   White frosting on the surface occurs naturally on crystallisation as air escapes from the honey and the honey may shrink a little from the shoulders of the jar.   Ideally, honey should be stored in airtight containers, ideally below 10℃.   Set honey can be made runny by gently warming it.

Lot Number 1

This honey was extracted from Colony 1, the Rubettes on 14th May 2016.   Made predominantly from oil seed rape, this honey had to be extracted before it set solid in the frames.   Oil seed rape honey is notorious for setting so hard that the bees struggle to use it themselves.   Originally pale and runny, it took on a stiff consistency within a week and set solid within two weeks.  You can feel the large crystals on the tongue.   Commercial honey is heat treated or mechanically stirred to produce uniform small crystals so you don’t experience different crystal sizes which result from the flowers the bees visited.  

Lot Number 2

Extracted from the Rubettes  on 28th May 2016.   The oil seed rape flowers were fading to green so this was the last of the predominantly oil seed rape honey.   Noticeably darker in its runny state than Lot Number 1 and taking three weeks to set softly, this honey has a subtle note of hawthorn in its flavour.  The texture is also relatively coarse.

Lot Number 3

Extracted on 16th July 2016, 50% from the Rubettes and 50% from the G Bees, this honey is a rich amber colour.   Slightly opaque and initially a thick syrupy consistency it has since set and has a pleasant flavour which is slightly stronger than Lot Number 2, possibly still with a hint of hawthorn.   Alex thinks it has some Horse Chestnut in it - and given the huge tree by the apiary, he is almost certainly correct.

Lot Number 4

This Lot was extracted on 24th July 2016.  50% from the G Bees was pale, clear honey with a light floral taste entirely made in the week since Lot 3 was extracted.  The other 50% came from the Rubettes and having been made before 16th July it resembles Lot Number 3.   Some jars are thick honey, others are runnier, presumably depending on the relative amount of honey from each hive that has ended up in each jar.

Lot Number 5

Extracted on 7th August, this late summer honey has a delicate taste with the slightest hint of citrus.  It is a  translucent amber colour and the runniest honey this year.    

National Bee Unit Husbandry Questionnaire

Reflecting on the changes in the apiary in the last year

In the post this week I received a survey from the National Bee Unit who monitor husbandry practices, colony losses and bee health.   The questionnaire covered 2015 and last Winter and as I answered it I realised what a lot has changed in our apiary!

We had 2 colonies back in April 2015, both in the home apiary, then Dad collected the Sue Bees swarm which was set up in the out apiary.   These bees built up  nicely but they got a bad reputation.  Dad took 18lb of oil seed rape honey off them in May and since then they have been chasing anyone nearby.   They joined Dee in the cab of his digger; they stung dad through his veil and they also got between his glove and bee suit...ouch!   They also subsequently swarmed although no sign of preparation for swarming had been noticed.   Dad is happy with the remaining Sue Bees and rather hopes they are calmer and less swarmy.  So far, so good.

The G Bees were almost lost to wasps and they overwintered in a nucleus box

By the end of last Summer, the two colonies in the home apiary were being predated by wasps.   In August we packed the remaining bees up and transported them to the out apiary where they overwintered in a  nucleus box (i.e. a VERY small hive).   

In late Winter, we took them back to the home apiary and set them up alongside the Rubettes, a robust new colony we acquired late last Summer, thinking we had lost the G Bees.   Answering the NBU survey according to their guidelines, the G Bees colony did qualify as a "lost" colony.   However, the G Bees built up well in the Spring, quickly occupying a 14 x 12 brood chamber and by mid-May we were able to take 2 full supers of oil seed rape honey off of the Rubettes and one off the G Bees.   

By Mid July, the Rubettes had 3 supers and I knew the bottom 2 were full.  The G Bees, still dubbed "the small colony" had 2 supers.   

Last weekend, I opened up the G Bees and realised they needed a third super too.  They were cramming wax and honey in every nook and cranny.    As I didn't have any frames ready, I emptied a super and put it back on wet.  Then I did the same for the Rubettes.  I could tell the Rubettes had more space, i.e. 3 supers already, because their hive was neat and orderly with no odd wax comb sproutings.   Both colonies were producing beautiful even sealed frames (see the photograph at the top).

I am in total awe of the G Bees!

So, imagine my surprise this weekend when I checked on the G Bees.   This, my colony that was almost predated to extinction last year; the colony that over wintered in a nucleus because it was so small had filled and capped a super in a week!   Where are they getting the nectar? No idea.  Everyone tells me it's too late for the bees to be making so much honey but the G Bees have never listened to convention.

The Rubettes, my fabulously strong and slightly grumpy colony had pretty much filled their wet super too but they haven't sealed the frames yet.

Both colonies now have an empty super to fill plus 2 full supers.   I have run out of honey buckets and jars.  I am in total awe of the G Bees.   There is nowhere on the NBU questionnaire to explain how my lost colony is now the strongest one!

First Honey Extraction 2016

 

This is oilseed rape, the main crop growing around us this year.  This rogue plant popped up conveniently by a blue hoarding so the acid yellow colour really shows up and you can see that this plant is a brassica.   It is farmed for the oil its seeds produce.   Originally used primarily as a lubricant, modern oilseed rape oil has been developed to be safe and palatable for human consumption and the "cake" left over after processing is used as an animal feed.   It is also grown for biodiesel.  We love the nutty flavour and use it a lot.

For the beekeeper, the most noteworthy property of oilseed rape is how quickly honey made from it crystallises.  It has to be extracted even before the bees have sealed it over with wax otherwise it doesn't spin out.  I learnt from experience last year that oilseed rape honey left in the frames is even hard for bees to use once it's set.  Hence, this week we extracted the first honey of the season.                                                                               At the out apiary, the Sue Bees are just a few feet from a large field of oilseed rape.   On Monday Dad extracted 18lb of honey, a record for us from a single super (the box of frames where the bees only store honey as opposed to the larger brood chamber box where they have the nest and honey and pollen stores).

At the weekend, we extracted about 24lb from 2 supers on the Rubettes.  We don't know exactly how much honey there is because we ran out of jars after 14lb and the rest is sitting in a honey bucket.

Normally, we simply double filter our honey:   we don't heat treat it or blend it.  We had no choice but to use the honey bucket, however,  the likelihood is that the honey will crystallise before we get more honey jars so we will probably have to heat the honey to get it out of the bucket.

One less wasp nest to torment our bees this year.....

This Queen Wasp was found trying to get out of our bedroom window on a sunny day.

Ted Hooper (1918 - 2010) Memorial Lecture

Well, actually 2 lectures.....

The Garden planted for pollinators at The Coach House, Marks Hall

P is away, so Dad and I thought we would go to the inaugural Ted Hooper Memorial Lecture on 18th April 2016.  We weren't sure what to expect but as it was the inaugural lecture, nobody else knew what to expect either.  

The venue was the lovely Coach House at Marks Hall.   More usually  a venue for wedding receptions (we went to one there and it was great), the Coach House and its intimate walled garden are situated in a deer park and arboretum.    Now run by a trust that seeks to implement the wishes of the last owner, for hundreds of years Marks Hall belonged to the Honeywood family whose coat of arms included an oak tree with a wild bee nest in it.

So who was Ted Hooper?

Ted wrote the fantastic "Guide to Bees and Honey" ("the Bible") which is still recommended to novice beekeepers as one of the best books on the subject.    Ted, we learnt, worked for a bee farmer in Hampshire before moving to Essex in 1962 as County Bee Inspector.  As CBI he taught hundreds of beekeepers, not just in the County, but all round the country and even overseas.  He looked after 700 hives and taught commercial beekeepers and amateurs everything related to bees from anatomy to carpentry.   He was actively involved in the BBKA and in setting the syllabus for beekeeping qualifications.   We could tell by the size of the audience that he must have inspired a great many people, hence the inaugural lecture(s).  There were really two of them.

The two lecturers both knew Ted well.  Margaret Thomas described how Ted encouraged her and her husband to develop their interest in beekeeping and nudged her to write and lecture herself.  A forthright and engaging speaker, Margaret told us about her own memories of Ted.  She was honoured to be asked by Ted to update the diseases section of the Bible and more recently to edit Ted's lost book, see below.

Clive de Bruyn was taught beekeeping by Ted and eventually succeeded him as CBI in 1984 building on Ted's achievements.   Clive was wearing a rather old fashioned jacket - think Roger Moore, 1970s safari style - and it immediately became apparent that this was just to demonstrate that he could still fit in it after he showed us his first slide, a photograph of him with Ted from the 1970's in which Clive was wearing the same jacket!

It transpired that Ted wrote a book in the 1980s for new beekeepers in the belief that there was a need for a simpler guide than the Bible.  He sent it to his publishers who went bust.  The book was "lost" but came to light while Ted was still alive and he asked Margaret and Clive to update it for a modern audience.  I was able to get my copy of "The Beginner's Bee Book" signed by Margaret and Clive to go with the signed copy of the Guide to Bees & Honey that I was given when we first got our bees.  

To learn far more about this revered beekeeper, see the link below to the BBKA obituary.

http://www.bbka.org.uk/local/bigmedium/obituaries/ted-hooper-1918-2010.shtml

Nucleus Update

We discover what the G Bees have been doing over the Winter

The temperature in the shade hit 15C briefly; there was a lot of coming and going at the nucleus; all the gear was ready in the shed and the weather forecast for next weekend doesn't look as though I will be able to open up the nucleus then so I decided to open up the nucleus and move the G Bees into a proper hive to make sure they have enough space for the queen to lay and for stores.  The willows are flowering and I hear rumours that the oilseed rape is not far off flowering.    If bees run out of space, they will think about swarming and the nucleus only has 4 14x12 inch frames in it.

Frame Number 1 was very clean and completely empty with a couple of bees on it.  Reflecting on this discovery later, perhaps I should have stopped the planned move at that point and just continued with an inspection visit but the excitement of planning the operation took over and I continued.

Frame Number 2 was hard to get out.  I had to lever it away from frame 3 and up with my hive tool which is like a cross between a huge screwdriver and a scraper.   A big piece of brace comb fell into the dark of the nucleus.   This frame had something shiny on one side.  I thought it looked like uncapped honey but I couldn't really believe my eyes and there weren't many bees on that frame.  I was wondering where all the bees were - well the foragers were out in the sunshine - but where were the house bees?  I was half way through the nucleus which I expected to be in danger of being over-crowded and I hadn't seen many bees.      The other side of this frame had dark brown, almost black shiny stuff in it.  Pollen comes in all sorts of colours and although the dark pollens look sinister, I'm sure that's what it was and that's a good sign because bees need pollen to feed baby bees.

Frame Number 3 was tricky.  It became apparent that the big piece of brace comb that fell off of Frame 2 had been wedged between Frames 2 and 3 and was, in fact, a lovely, almost circular piece of comb built by the G Bees in between the frames.   Frame 3 had sealed honey in a circular pattern on both sides - hardly any bees.

Frame Number 4 was like Frame  Number 1 and also had no bees on it.  Oh dear!

I had gone past the point of no return....

Where were the bees?  There had been so much activity at the entrance of the nucleus, I was convinced there must be some bees somewhere.     I picked up the piece of brace comb and there they were - a big "beard" of bees hanging on the underside of the brace comb in the dark of the nucleus AND there was a lovely pattern of sealed brood on the both sides of the brace comb!   So, I had 3 frames in the hive and a large circular piece of brace comb in the nucleus with sealed brood and all the house bees on it.  I couldn't put the frames back in the nucleus without squashing the brace comb.

I needed to find a way to put the brace comb into a frame so I could reassemble the colony.   Luckily, I had some old 14 x 12 frames that had had the wax stripped out and been washed in washing soda.  I was intending to properly remove the wires (from the old foundation) then boil them in washing soda so that they would be properly hygienic and ready to be used again but I don't have anything suitably large enough (yet) to boil them in.  This was an emergency and I think the frames came out of the G Bee hive last year anyway so I found the one with the most intact wires and carefully laid the brace comb on the wires inside the frame and closed the wires around the brace comb fixing them in place with a cable tie.   This enabled me to suspend the brace comb in the hive in between frames 2 and 3.

The G Bees therefore now occupy half a bee hive.  They have a couple of extra frames (which I now realise they don't need yet - let's hope they are too busy to play sculpting with them).  The other half of the beehive is blocked off but assuming I haven't damaged the Queen and she continues to lay, it will now be easy to give them more space as they need it.    

G Bees coming and going from their new home

The weather is typical for April; cold mornings and evenings but warm and sunny in the middle of the day and lots of showers.    I gave the G Bees some syrup to supplement their stores in case they are confined to the hive by the weather.   I don't need to disturb them for a couple of weeks.

So, I didn't see the Queen at all but judging by the way the bees behaved when I shut up their new hive, she's definitely in there.  There was absolutely no evidence of any disease; the sealed brood was a good sign but I don't recall seeing eggs or larvae.   Thinking about that, if they were there, they must have been under the beard of bees which I tried hard not to disturb - and I wasn't wearing my glasses.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed and leaving it to the bees now.

Hurrah - They Made It through The Winter!

G Bee relaxing in the sun on the back of a daffodil just outside the hive

I know this photograph only shows one bee sitting on the back of a daffodil but this is just a representative G Bee.  If you followed last year's blog, you will remember that we moved the G Bees to the out apiary to save them from unrelenting wasp attacks.  Originally, we thought the remaining G Bees might be queenless and that their numbers were so depleted they would have to be united with the SueBees at the out apiary but there was enough evidence of a queen (even though we couldn't find her) that we set them up in a "nucleus" to over-winter.

A nucleus is a small kind of beehive (see the picture below) that has a variety of uses, one of which is to home small colonies that would be lost in a normal hive.   As they have much less space to heat, a nucleus can give a very small colony the best chance of survival in Winter.    The mild 2015-2016 Winter may have helped too but it also encouraged bees to fly raising the risk that they would use their winter stores faster.  We put fondant - (yes, like the sweet goo you use to ice cakes!) - under the roof of the nucleus within easy reach of the bees to supplement their stores as a precaution.

Over the Winter, we've cleared the soft fruit bushes (black currants, gooseberries and raspberries) away from the the apiary as we think they might attract wasps there and we will be extra vigilant for wasp nests this year so, a couple of weeks ago, we moved the nucleus back to the main apiary on a cold dry day when all the bees were huddled indoors to keep warm.   

We were delighted to see them out flying in numbers a few days later indicating that they have survived the worst of the Winter.  A quick peek at the fondant shows that the G Bees have hardly touched it.

Look carefully and you can just see the start of activity at the entrance

The Rubettes in the main hive are buzzing with activity.   I know it's probably too early but I want to move them from their two normal size brood boxes on to a single big brood chamber to give them comfortable room for the nest and when they are building up the colony in Spring is the time to do it. The weather forecast is for a mainly dry and sunny week but low temperatures.   However, these girls are flying in large numbers when the sun is on the hive and neighbours have reported them visiting their gardens too so I have risked giving them a project.     

I warmed up a spare deep brood chamber on a lovely sunny day when the wind was almost non-existent.   To make the wax in the frames inside the brood chamber more acceptable, I warmed it with a hairdryer until it smelled fresh, then I whipped the crown board off the Rubette's hive and carefully put the deep brood box on.  I noticed that the girls had started to build brace comb so they are looking for more space.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they move up into the new brood chamber.  The willows are starting to flower and that will give them the encouragement they need but whatever the weather, I can leave the Rubettes undisturbed for a few weeks which is just as well if the weather stays too cold for the first proper inspection.

Winter Beekeeping 2015/16

New Crockery Purchased to Cope with the Number of Beekeepers attending the AGM

Horse Chestnut Buds at Christmas

This weekend, the local beekeepers' branch got together for the Annual General Meeting and dinner.   If you have read more than about one of these blogs you will know already that any gathering of local branch members is a noteworthy culinary event and I don't think I could be challenged for saying that the reason that the AGM is so well supported is because the dinner is held immediately afterwards.

Last year the main item of expenditure was new teapots; this year it was new crockery to cope with the number of members wanting to attend the dinner.  Next year may mark a departure from the norm as there is a plan to purchase microscopes for members to borrow!

I could mention the inspired menu (watercress soup with a variety of artisan breads; lamb hotpot with roast potatoes and beetroot relish; a choice of trifle, cheesecake, fresh berries and chocolate roulade or cheese and biscuits; coffee and chocolates; wine, beer and water - how do they provide all this for £8 per head?) but I should focus on the main topic of conversation, namely the extraordinarily mild winter and its effect on our bees.

Everyone reports that bees are flying on an almost daily basis.  Sure, there have been some very damp days and some very windy days, which the bees don't like but with temperatures above 10C almost every day throughout the Winter so far, they are out foraging and not just popping out for a comfort break.   We can see them bringing back pollen which is good, because they need a good supply of pollen to feed to developing brood.    Pollen contains proteins, amino acids, lipids, etc in varying quantities depending on the type of pollen and a diet that includes varied pollen sources is thought to contribute to strong bees.   Maturer bees mainly eat honey.

Flowers on bloom in January

A quick tour of the garden in the last month found the following early flowers in bloom: white periwinkle, aconites and snowdrops (all in large quantities in Joe's beautiful garden next door), winter flowering honeysuckle, primroses, hellebores, cyclamen, thyme, rosemary, winter box and perennial wallflower.  Flower buds tried to open on the horse chestnut but then we had a couple of frosty days so we're hoping they have not been damaged even though they seem to have stopped opening any further for the time being.

One result of all this unseasonal bee activity is that colonies may be using their stores faster than they can replenish them because they have to fly further to find nectar.   When I visited Bob in the bee shop last month, he reported some customers buying fondant because they had some colonies that appeared to have used all their stores.  In the same apiaries, other colonies were still doing fine.   We have put fondant on all three colonies so it's there if we have a cold snap or the bees can't get out for a few days and their stores are low.  So far, they aren't using the fondant in earnest.  If there is any left at the end of the season, we can store it wrapped in sealed containers and labelled so we know which hives it came off, for next year.  Bob says fondant will keep for at least 5 years if stored properly.

Another big topic of conversation over dinner was wasps.   Douglas, who has hundreds of colonies, reported losing 20 to wasps last year.   He explained that the bees he and Robert breed are so mild tempered, they don't put up enough fight to deal with wasps and that explains a lot.    There is some hope that overwintering Queen wasps may suffer from the mild weather and run out of energy before Spring.  Sadly, though, that would affect bumble bees and solitary bees who have a similar life cycle so it's hard to wish for that fate for all of them.