Summer 2024 Bee Update

We caught up with our resident beekeeper, Mandy, to find out how are bees are doing this summer.⁠
⁠
As always, she very kindly gave us a nice big update on the bees! It's been a tough season for our bees due to the unsettled weather we've been having in Scotland, but Mandy has assured us they're all doing well!⁠ Here's what she had to say below:

"It is proving to be a challenging year for the bees (and the beekeepers!). Spring was so cold and wet that the bees were unable to get out foraging, so missed most of the spring flowers and crops. Oil seed rape is an important first forage for bees, but they missed it this year.

We had a bit of swarming activity during the nice days in May; I retrieved two swarms, which are building up nicely in my home apiary. I also split a hive to try to prevent swarming, so that gave me a new colony, which is now at the distillery. There was a concern that newly hatched virgin queens would not get out on mating flights, but thankfully that does not seem to be the case. A hive with an unmated queen is doomed.

I checked all the hives this week, and am happy to report that they all have healthy patches of brood in them, so good strong queens are present.

Unfortunately, there has been no honey harvest so far. I am not alone in this, I don’t know anyone who has had honey. The big hive at the distillery had started to store honey in frames, but they are now eating this themselves. Much better that they do this than be fed sugar syrup. Having said that, we are all feeding smaller weaker hives, which does not often require to be done in July! I am hoping for some late summer honey if the weather improves, but I suspect that this year might be more about getting bees through the winter than about honey harvest.

Watch this space, and keep your fingers crossed for a good end of July and August!"