Bees under attack!

Tonight I went to visit one of my hives near Shuttleworth at my Bee buddy Margaret's place, I'd been a bit concerned about wasp activity around the hives so I thought I'd better go and check it out. Turns out, one of the hives is under full attack from wasps. I closed the entrance up to a space which would only fit one bee in, one bee out - but they still persisted. They're treating it like a hotel! I'm really worried this might affect the hive and bees quite badly, the colony may even collapse...

I took a fly swat with me, you know those ones shaped like a tennis raquet that zap unsuspecting flies and wasps? It worked quite well but didn't really seem to have any effect on the numbers of wasps there were so many...

I've decided the only thing left to do is to unite this colony with another so they are stronger and better equipped to fight against the wasps. This will give the colony a stronger chance of surviving the Winter and bringing us more honey in the New Year. I'll do this as soon as I can and hopefully (fingers crossed) it will do the trick.

Come and feed the piglets for charity!

We're raising money again for The Alzheimer's Society - I'm climbing Ben Nevis in a months time (lucky me!) and I'm trying to raise as much money as possible for this very worthy cause - for more info on why I've decided to climb the UK's highest mountain please see here: www.justgiving.com/janeandfotoulla

So, we'll be bringing along two lovely little Gloucester Old Spot piglets to The Two Brewers pub in Stotfold and selling bags of piglet food for £1.00 - All money raised will be donated to the charity. We'll be there to answer all your questions about rearing pigs for the table too - so feel free to come along just for a chat...

We'd like to say a really big thank you to The Two Brewers for being such a lovely bunch and to all their regulars who have been steadily filling a jug with their spare change to go towards our fundraising efforts, we really, really appreciate it!

Jane x

A Hog Roast Testimonial...

'Andre made a fantastic hog roast, the occasion was our engagement party with a hundred people attending. The cooking started in the morning and by early  evening our garden was filled with wonderful aromas. To accompany the meat, Andre made fantastic salads and dressings, also a delicious homemade chutney. Everyone loved it, even my teenage children... we just need an excuse to have another party now.'

Fiona + Mark

Clapham, South London

Gold from the garden...

Our first proper honey harvest - we've been waiting for this for so long! We got 24 jars in total this time around - super happy... 

Margaret is cutting the white capping off the super frames

nicely does it....

Gold is on its way

Into the spinner...

Stacking up

The best thing I've seen for days - we're all chuffed to bits! I wonder how many miles the bees had to fly to give us all this lovely honey, fascinating stuff. 

Making Sausages!

 I decided it was time to learn how to make sausages... With the help of Ben and Cheryl, Jane and I spent the day making some lovely pork, honey and harrisa home made sausages. Ben and Cheryl made some cracking lamb sausages full of Morrocan spices. Its good to get a better idea of how our butcher puts together our Cardona & Son sausages... Its no mean feat I tell you! 

Grinding the pork cuts... 

Not too much fat... 

Ben adding spices to his lamb sausage mix.

Almost there! 

Lovely stuff! 

The finished product! We were all pretty chuffed with our efforts... Tasty and home made. 

How To Hive A Swarm

The main trick to hiveing a swarms is to get the queen. I try to find the queen. If you know you see her and can make sure she ends up in the box, brush off the stragglers and leave. If you're not sure, then let them settle in.

 It helps if the box smells like lemon grass. Either put some lemongrass essential oil in it. Sometimes they will settle into the box. I just keep shaking them in until the stay. and losts of smoke on branch It usually works. 
They are not looking for an occupied house, they are looking for an empty or abandoned house. Old empty comb sometimes helps. 
Always wear protective equipment. Swarms don't usually get mean, but things are unpredictable.

I love using a skep.

This is a nuc box bees walking in.

Honey on its way! Taking Orders now...

Wow the bees have been working hard! Lots of honey stores coming in so I'm planning on harvesting in the next 2 weeks. I've just come home from moving 2 hives over to Graveley to my new apiary, I have lots of room if anyone out there would like to sponsor a hive or two.... I was geting over-crowded with bees in the garden, I now only have two nucs left which are waiting to be re-homed at a school in Ampthill. I've just got to keep an close eye on them to make sure they're good natured enough before the big move. Can't wait for this honey its going to be cracking!