A month in the Apiary - November

by Nick Pendleton, Woodside Farm

We’ve now passed the end of British Summer Time, and for most beekeepers this means there will be five months of ‘not beekeeping’ before it restarts.

During the irregular inspections, the hive entrances will need be kept clear so that the bees can get out on the inoffensively named ‘cleansing flights’ when needed. There will be a winter miticide treatment to apply, probably towards the end of December. It will also be important to keep an eye on the weight of the hive – particularly as brood rearing starts in earnest in late January and February, depending on the weather – to ensure the bees do not starve. I am feeding sugar syrup now to ensure the colony can get through the winter.

Unfortunately, these things are not going to fill anything like five months, so there is bound to be ‘spare’ time over the coming months. Next season, I intend to persevere with queen rearing as I want to learn about getting spare queens. Once I have worked it out, hopefully my beekeeping will improve. The learning curve on this appears frighteningly steep though.

Overall, it has been a poor year for many local beekeepers. One interesting point that came out whilst chatting with them is that many feel the weather has largely been to blame for the poor season. Those that managed to extract a crop have found that much of the honey had a high moisture content. In one case I heard of extracted capped honey with a moisture content of 22%. Usually with capped honey the moisture content should be below 18%. So, this season, the yeasts in much of the local honey will probably turn it alcoholic after 2-3 months. If you have bought any local honey, it might be best to eat it sooner, rather than keep it in the cupboard for later.

The Government’s ‘Bee Base’ notified me of a European Foul Brood (EFB) outbreak in hives somewhere within five miles of Fletching. As a result, the local DEFRA bee inspector had to inspect all my hives. Always a nervous time as it would involve the destruction of the hives by fire if EFB was apparent. Happily, nothing was found, and the Bee inspector complimented me on the calmness and gentleness of my bees. Clearly my policy of getting rid of bad and unruly queens and replacing them with calm, locally bred native Queens is working!