Here are some Beekeeping Notes by Willie Robson for July 2026. Colin Weightman kept dairy shorthorns at Riding Mill on the Tyne and spent the greater part of his life as an understudy to the late Brother Adam from Buckfast Abbey. I have taken these notes from a little book edited by Colin but written…
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…
This spring has been a difficult time for beekeepers at Chain Bridge Honey Farm due largely to unexplained losses. The weather was very bad last year from October 2023 to July 2024. Rain was persistent during that period. We think that there were too many old bees in the hives. Bees that have to go…
I don’t know when the wasps last failed, but they certainly have this year. As always there were plenty of queen wasps in the spring, but they need great amounts of protein to build bodies. Unlike honey bees that get their protein from pollen, wasps being omnivorous get their protein by consuming caterpillars and greenfly…
We purchased 9 tons of Thuya logs from the Ford and Etal Estates, trees that were brought down by Storm Arwen in 2021. They have been cut into planks suitable for making beehives by the Barbers at Brackenside Farm. We would expect to get about 4.5 tons of usable timber as a result of this…
Recently we have been building new hive bodies (brood chambers) out of Western Red Cedar. A brood chamber is usually the bottom box of a hive and houses worker-made cells where eggs, larvae and pupae develop. Some cells in this part of the hive also hold pollen, nectar or honey which is used to feed…
We had a look at some bees on 28th April at Cornhill, fifteen miles inland, and found that they were doing well on the wild cherry blossom known locally as ‘the gean’. There were many young bees taking flight for the first time and making a lot of noise as they orientate on their hives…
I came across this photo of 24 wild white clover sections and thought about it. There were beekeepers (3 brothers) who lived locally at Crookham who constantly selected their queens for excellence and this included the bees ability to make a perfect job of sealing their sections. It was never easy to persuade bees to…
In response to an enquiry from Eire regarding overwintering of honeybee colonies (30% year on year winter losses). A good way to minimize winter losses is to get the hives into sites that are totally suitable. It is important that the fronts of the hives are exposed to the winter sun all day and that…
We went to a wedding knowing that a swarm of bees was hanging high up on the 11th century church. I left the empty hive on a dustbin and, when we came out, they had taken up residence. The swarm would be hanging on the church because the ‘scouts’ would have identified a place to…
