Recently we installed a beehive at High Leigh in order to help with our biodiversity and create delicious honey for our guests! We spoke with the beekeeper responsible for the bees in June to find out more…
How many colonies of bees does High Leigh have?
High Leigh now has 2 colonies, 1 of which had about 5,000 bees in the beginning and the other having about 10,000. These have since expanded well and 1 of the colonies is ready to start making honey!
High Leigh's beehive.
How soon will honey be ready to harvest?
This depends on the weather! If the weather had been warm and sunny, we would be harvesting honey by now. It will take about 3 weeks of consistently good weather to see some honey.
What’s the upkeep process?
When you start out with a small colony, you need to feed them to help them grow in number and strength. Once the weather improves after April, the colonies are checked once a week to spot the queen and see if she is laying eggs, check for diseases and make sure they aren’t planning to swarm. We also make sure they have enough space.
The queen can be spotted with the yellow circle.
What is swarming and how do you know it’s coming?
When the bees run out of space in their home, the old queen will leave with some bees to find another place to live [The British Beekeepers Association]. When they’re planning to swarm they will make lots of queen cells (for queen bee eggs). If you want nature to take its course you can leave the queen cells and they will swarm. However, to prevent this you can remove the queen cells.
After leaving their hive, bees will find an area to clump together protecting the queen bee. During this time, scout bees will be looking for a new home for the colony.
What is the bee’s living situation?
The bees start out in small boxes where we feed them until they’re big enough to be transferred to the hive. The small boxes usually have 5-6 frames whereas the hive has 11 frames. 1 out of 2 of our colonies have been transferred to the hive as they have been growing exceptionally well. The other colony will remain in the small box until they are strong enough to be transferred over.
A beehive frame.
What do you feed them?
In winter when temperatures are low, we feed them fondant. When the weather is warm, we feed them a sugar and water mix.
Sources:
- https://www.bbka.org.uk/honeybee-swarms
- https://bestbees.com/2023/04/26/bee-swarm/
- https://www.dadant.com/learn/identify-queen-cells/
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