Here is our May 2026 Beekeeping Report. Despite May being very cold our bees have done well on the early spring honey flows. Wild cherry was exceptionally good and looking at the honey, which is of medium colour, oilseed rape has not been the main source. There will be some in the mix and the combs will start to crystallize although this will not be a problem for ourselves.
Presently our colonies are working on field beans, hawthorn and phacelia (see above for photo of phacelia). My father said that hawthorn yielded honey one year in ten on average. This was at a time when hawthorn hedges were six metres high and dominated the countryside for one week in May (May blossom). A great amount of hawthorn has been planted around the arable fields locally, but it is rarely allowed to flower. Hawthorn honey is intensely aromatic.
Last autumn our beekeepers made very considerable efforts to control varroa and it has paid off with fewer winter losses. We are told of heavy winter losses in the south due to drought which would prevent colonies rearing young bees for winter. This situation would then allow varroa to get going, I’m sure. A drought is like a winter for both plants and bees.
We have a student from France, and she tells us that French beekeepers are treating their colonies throughout the season with oxalic acid so it looks as though varroa and associated viruses will be with us for the duration, mores the pity. She also says that hornets are an intolerable nuisance (move the hives) and that it is no longer possible to get a crop of honey in the South of France due to drought.
Willie Robson
Chain Bridge Honey Farm
