Unlike the Duchess of Cambridge, beekeepers should never go commando. Let me explain why.
My bees are fairly placid, but some bees can be really nasty as I was reminded yesterday. I was helping my bee-buddy with his hives. It had rained for the last week and we expected the bees would be tetchy, especially as the day before he had removed some honey. Tetchy is an understatement; before we got within 20 yards of the apiary we were being attacked.
'We'll start with the feisty hive first,' he suggested. On reflection this was not the smartest strategy, but I was well protected with my veil and gloves.....or so I thought.
When bees are annoyed they buzz around your face trying to ward you off, and when they are angry they 'ping' off the veil because they fly so hard at you, but when bees go ballistic.... they burrow! They crawl all over you looking for any gap in your armour and if one manages to sting it releases pheromones that direct the other bees to your weak point.
'Ouch!' One managed to get me on the back of the neck delivering it's sting right through the bee suit. She was lucky, the material must have been close to my skin for a moment and she seized her chance, but such a long shot did no real harm.
More worrying were the bees on my legs. They'd worked out that my trousers had worn a bit thin on the thighs. Then some discovered the trousers had pockets and went burrowing, whilst others found the gap between my legs and Wellington boots and headed down to my feet, intent ascending my trousers on the inside.
I beat a retreat, initially 50 yards, but they were still going for me so I carried on walking. At 200 yards the flying bees finally left me, but I still had to deal with the burrowers!
I gingerly emptied my pockets - bees! Then my boots - more bees! Then off came the veil - no bees thankfully, .... but I could feel something tickling my leg. I dropped my trousers. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed, me or the bee, but she gave up all notion of further attack and flew away - laughing, I suspect.
I had 6 stings on one leg and 4 on the other, some perilously close to .... well let's just say, 'Thank goodness for pants!'
My bee-buddy toughed it out with no stings. I was astonished.
'Do your trousers have pockets?' I asked.
'No,' he replied smugly.
Nevertheless I expressed surprise that he hadn't been stung through his trousers, as I had.
He smiled. 'I'm wearing two pairs,' he explained.
I didn't ask if he was dressed 'comme la duchesse'.
Friday, 30 May 2014
Sunday, 18 May 2014
Tell them about the honey, mummy!
You've got to be quick with rape honey - as soon as the flowers start to fade the honey has to be off the hive and into the extractor, otherwise it sets rock solid in the comb.
I wasn't quick ........ I went on holiday instead and after I got back it rained and rained. So when I finally got into the hive earlier this week I wasn't sure whether I would need a honey extractor or a pneumatic drill!
Initial signs were encouraging - I couldn't lift the top box because of the weight of honey. Instead I had to resort to removing the frames two at a time and carrying them into the house, having first carefully brushed off the bees. Twenty frames later and all the honey was safely inside and a number of rather angry bees were buzzing around outside.
As I started to uncap the honey comb with a knife it became immediately obvious that some of the honey had already crystallised, which meant extraction was going to be tricky: Spin the extractor too quickly and the honeycomb would fly apart; spin it too slowly and the liquid honey would stubbornly remain in the comb.
Three hours later I had one smashed comb and about 10 lb of honey remaining firmly set in the frames. But best of all I had 40 of these:
40lb of spring honey off one hive is a respectable result, but as you can see, it has already set in the jar just 4 days after extraction.
There's one consolation - at least the Honey Monster won't be able to get his paws into it!
I wasn't quick ........ I went on holiday instead and after I got back it rained and rained. So when I finally got into the hive earlier this week I wasn't sure whether I would need a honey extractor or a pneumatic drill!
Initial signs were encouraging - I couldn't lift the top box because of the weight of honey. Instead I had to resort to removing the frames two at a time and carrying them into the house, having first carefully brushed off the bees. Twenty frames later and all the honey was safely inside and a number of rather angry bees were buzzing around outside.
As I started to uncap the honey comb with a knife it became immediately obvious that some of the honey had already crystallised, which meant extraction was going to be tricky: Spin the extractor too quickly and the honeycomb would fly apart; spin it too slowly and the liquid honey would stubbornly remain in the comb.
Three hours later I had one smashed comb and about 10 lb of honey remaining firmly set in the frames. But best of all I had 40 of these:
40lb of spring honey off one hive is a respectable result, but as you can see, it has already set in the jar just 4 days after extraction.
There's one consolation - at least the Honey Monster won't be able to get his paws into it!
Thursday, 1 May 2014
A foxy tale
Foxes eat bees.
Well they eat bumble bees for sure because I watched an emaciated old fox wandering around the flower beds one afternoon last summer snapping at them, so you can imagine my consternation at seeing a young vixen sniffing around the hives early one morning this week.
I wasn't too concerned about the large hive - it's over five foot high and full of honey, there's no way a fox could topple it. But a couple of weeks ago I created a little colony of bees which is housed in a small box, and sure enough, the fox went over to it, then back on to it's hind legs to reach up to the hive and poked it's nose in the entrance hole.
"Oh no!" I thought, "she's going to tip it over...."
Both the fox and I assumed that because the bees weren't flying at that early hour, they must be sound asleep. Not so - the guard bees were clearly vigilant because as soon as the fox poked her nose in the entrance hole she leaped back in surprise!
Was she stung on the nose? I don't think so because she didn't dance around in agony. I suspect they just gave her an angry buzz, which was enough to send her running.
Well they eat bumble bees for sure because I watched an emaciated old fox wandering around the flower beds one afternoon last summer snapping at them, so you can imagine my consternation at seeing a young vixen sniffing around the hives early one morning this week.
I wasn't too concerned about the large hive - it's over five foot high and full of honey, there's no way a fox could topple it. But a couple of weeks ago I created a little colony of bees which is housed in a small box, and sure enough, the fox went over to it, then back on to it's hind legs to reach up to the hive and poked it's nose in the entrance hole.
"Oh no!" I thought, "she's going to tip it over...."
Both the fox and I assumed that because the bees weren't flying at that early hour, they must be sound asleep. Not so - the guard bees were clearly vigilant because as soon as the fox poked her nose in the entrance hole she leaped back in surprise!
Was she stung on the nose? I don't think so because she didn't dance around in agony. I suspect they just gave her an angry buzz, which was enough to send her running.
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Fields of gold
With prices for oil seed rape currently at £330 per ton most farmers might not agree that this is a field of gold, but the owner who lives in the castle in the background seems to be doing all right!
For sure, oilseed rape is 'gold' for my bees because over the last week or so they have been frantically working this field. Already one 'super' has been filled with about 30 lb of honey and they are starting to fill a second box. What a turn around compared to last year (see Oh crapus - there's no B. napus!).
 |
| Fields of gold in Windsor Great Park |
Better still, the field in the foreground contains field beans which should start to flower in the about a month, just as the rape is fading and before the wild flowers in Stag Meadow come into bloom. It should be a good year provided the weather holds.
However, there's a Sting in the 'tale' - your man was singing about barley!
Friday, 28 March 2014
When the south wind doth blow..
We're off!
The wind switched from a cold north easterly to a warm southerly breeze at 1.00 pm today and out came the sun .... and the bees; hundreds of them!
They had been more or less hive-bound except for the occasional 'comfort' flight. Even so, I knew from a pile of wax cappings underneath the hive that lots of new bees had emerged over the the last 7-10 days and they would be curious to experience the outside world; today they had their chance.
Initially most of the youngsters were engaged in short play flights (see Biggles learns to fly) which ended with them resting on the hive roof, panting to get their breath back. But within an hour they could be seen 'foraging' on various flowers around the hive such as forget-me-not, grape hyacinth, pierus, rosemary and heather. I say 'foraging' because it was the half hearted effort of a novice that has yet to learn her trade. That's going to change over the next 24 hours because I can see the rape fields in the distance are turning yellow by the day. It's going to stay warm so by this time tomorrow a more senior forager will have found that rape and all those youngsters will get their flying directions. Then the nectar gathering will start in earnest.
It's time to put another box on the hive and with luck and good weather in 2 weeks time it will be loaded with of honey.
The wind switched from a cold north easterly to a warm southerly breeze at 1.00 pm today and out came the sun .... and the bees; hundreds of them!
They had been more or less hive-bound except for the occasional 'comfort' flight. Even so, I knew from a pile of wax cappings underneath the hive that lots of new bees had emerged over the the last 7-10 days and they would be curious to experience the outside world; today they had their chance.
Initially most of the youngsters were engaged in short play flights (see Biggles learns to fly) which ended with them resting on the hive roof, panting to get their breath back. But within an hour they could be seen 'foraging' on various flowers around the hive such as forget-me-not, grape hyacinth, pierus, rosemary and heather. I say 'foraging' because it was the half hearted effort of a novice that has yet to learn her trade. That's going to change over the next 24 hours because I can see the rape fields in the distance are turning yellow by the day. It's going to stay warm so by this time tomorrow a more senior forager will have found that rape and all those youngsters will get their flying directions. Then the nectar gathering will start in earnest.
It's time to put another box on the hive and with luck and good weather in 2 weeks time it will be loaded with of honey.
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Who you gonna call?
Ghost Busters!
Something spooky is going on around the apiary; there are yellow ghostly figures gliding around before disappearing into the hives. Initially I thought they were some sort of exotic wasp, but its too early in the year and they were the wrong shade of yellow. Moreover, these things were translucent and seemed to glow....
One landed on the outside of a hive and I had to laugh. It's was just a worker bee that had been out collecting pollen. Usually pollen is neatly collected in pollen sacks on the back legs, but this bee looked like it had fallen in a bucket of yellow powder paint; it was covered. It could only mean one thing - the pussy willows are in flower.
Pussy willow produces masses of pollen at a critical time the when the colonies are building up, which is just as well because bees eat a lot of pollen - between 20 and 60 kg per hive per year!
Pollen contains proteins and fats required to raise brood, but it's not very appetising. So instead the bees store it in the comb together with a some bee-spit, and leave it to ferment. Various yeasts and bacteria get to work on the pollen and the result is a sort of 'pollen sauerkraut' known as 'bee bread'.
Bee bread builds better bees because its packed with vitamins, thanks all that microbial activity. Better still queens that are fed lots of bee bread lay more eggs - which means more brood, and more bees.
That's just as well because the oilseed rape is starting to flower in the fields around Flemish farm and I need all the bees I can get to bring in the spring honey crop.
Something spooky is going on around the apiary; there are yellow ghostly figures gliding around before disappearing into the hives. Initially I thought they were some sort of exotic wasp, but its too early in the year and they were the wrong shade of yellow. Moreover, these things were translucent and seemed to glow....
One landed on the outside of a hive and I had to laugh. It's was just a worker bee that had been out collecting pollen. Usually pollen is neatly collected in pollen sacks on the back legs, but this bee looked like it had fallen in a bucket of yellow powder paint; it was covered. It could only mean one thing - the pussy willows are in flower.
Pussy willow produces masses of pollen at a critical time the when the colonies are building up, which is just as well because bees eat a lot of pollen - between 20 and 60 kg per hive per year!
Pollen contains proteins and fats required to raise brood, but it's not very appetising. So instead the bees store it in the comb together with a some bee-spit, and leave it to ferment. Various yeasts and bacteria get to work on the pollen and the result is a sort of 'pollen sauerkraut' known as 'bee bread'.
Bee bread builds better bees because its packed with vitamins, thanks all that microbial activity. Better still queens that are fed lots of bee bread lay more eggs - which means more brood, and more bees.
That's just as well because the oilseed rape is starting to flower in the fields around Flemish farm and I need all the bees I can get to bring in the spring honey crop.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Killer bees?
It's been a mild winter and on sunny days the bees have been out gathering pollen. Until recently it was light grey pollen from the snowdrops, but yesterday I noticed heavily laden sacks of bright orange pollen being bought into the hives. That could only mean one thing - the bees were working the crocuses.
I checked a patch I'd planted last summer and sure enough, there was a bee rummaging around inside a flower. On closer observation it appeared that the only way she could get at the pollen was to poke her head right into the middle of the stamens and give them a good shake. The result was a bee with a ridiculous bright orange head! Hardly the face of killer, you would think, but research published this week in Nature suggests otherwise. It seems diseases that infect honey bees also infect bumblebees, and transmission is from honey bee to bumblebee, not the other way around.
This is surprising. Honey bees have relatively short tongues and therefore don't usually work the same flowers as bumblebees. From time to time I have seen a bumblebee and a honey bee in the same flower, poppies for example, but just for seconds; surely not enough time to transmit an infection?
But the DNA evidence is damming; bumblebees are getting Deformed Wing Virus infections from honey bees, and this is probably contributing to bumblebee decline.
Thankfully nobody is suggesting culling the UK honey bee population, but there is now an even greater requirement of beekeepers to ensure their bees are healthy. That means controlling varroa mite, because more varroa means more Deformed Wing Virus, which means more chance of infecting wild bumble bees.
My orange-headed honey bee was too comical to be a killer bee, but the consequences of poor beekeeping on my part is no longer a laughing matter.
I checked a patch I'd planted last summer and sure enough, there was a bee rummaging around inside a flower. On closer observation it appeared that the only way she could get at the pollen was to poke her head right into the middle of the stamens and give them a good shake. The result was a bee with a ridiculous bright orange head! Hardly the face of killer, you would think, but research published this week in Nature suggests otherwise. It seems diseases that infect honey bees also infect bumblebees, and transmission is from honey bee to bumblebee, not the other way around.
This is surprising. Honey bees have relatively short tongues and therefore don't usually work the same flowers as bumblebees. From time to time I have seen a bumblebee and a honey bee in the same flower, poppies for example, but just for seconds; surely not enough time to transmit an infection?
But the DNA evidence is damming; bumblebees are getting Deformed Wing Virus infections from honey bees, and this is probably contributing to bumblebee decline.
Thankfully nobody is suggesting culling the UK honey bee population, but there is now an even greater requirement of beekeepers to ensure their bees are healthy. That means controlling varroa mite, because more varroa means more Deformed Wing Virus, which means more chance of infecting wild bumble bees.
My orange-headed honey bee was too comical to be a killer bee, but the consequences of poor beekeeping on my part is no longer a laughing matter.
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