I had no idea that a colony of bees could have what can best be described as good or bad bee-haviour (groan!). The subject came up when Evan was checking our new hives recently and he told me that the bees just seemed to be so much more laid back compared with the angry old buzzers we had last year.
Hives need to be opened for many reasons: to check that a new queen has been accepted, to establish whether or not there is any disease, to make sure there’s enough room for the bees to produce honey without getting too overcrowded and swarming and to see how the honey production is coming along.
This year we started, tentatively, with two hives and one nuc and, thanks to Evan’s dedication and constant monitoring of things, we’ve now got FIVE hives and three nucs. I often wondered what nucs (pronounced ‘nukes’) were, but now understand that they are a kind of small, easily-warmed-up nursery hive….nothing to do with nuclear missiles!
Evan’s been checking everything regularly, particularly because of the generally rubbish ‘summer’ weather (cool, rainy and windy) but, this year, with our new hives, he has found the bees to be much more gently accepting of these essential interruptions to their busy lives.
Also, according to Evan, once the honey starts to flow, bees apparently become more docile so, even when moving frames from hive to hive, to balance things out they’ve just got on with their buzz-iness!
We’re hopeful that, very soon, we’ll be able to announce the first batch of 2024 Oakfield Honey from the Huntley hives. It‘s great for local hay-fever sufferers and it’s available on a first come, first served basis. When it’s gone, it’s gone…until next year!
Coming soon: The Honey Harvest