Episode 13: Winter check in, hefting and creaming honey.

[00:00:03] Welcome back to A Beekeepers Diary Podcast. It's a very rainy 12 degrees out here in the Hartfordshire countryside. I've timed it terribly, thought I'd nailed it but obviously not so I shall keep it brief.

[00:00:21] It's been a few weeks since my last podcast. I've not been back to visit the bees, they were nicely tucked up. It's been very frosty the last few weeks so there wouldn't have been any activity really.

[00:00:36] But it's a bit warmer today and it's been a couple of weeks so I wanted to see how their food levels were doing.

[00:00:45] So I've taken all the woodpecker protection off, taken their bonnets off and had a little look inside.

[00:00:53] I haven't opened the hive but I've got a Perspex board on top so I can see into the hive without breaking any of the winter seals that they've made.

[00:01:02] So I've taken a hive to the bees, the bees are hunkered down right in the middle of the box there. There's no condensation which is good.

[00:01:15] Nothing's going to drip on them and make them cold and do them a mischief.

[00:01:19] So they look okay and I've hefted the hive which is when you pick up the back of the hive with a couple of fingers and lifted a couple of inches so you can assess the weight of the hive.

[00:01:30] So I've done that on both hives and they're both fine, they feel nailed down so no need to think about fondant or any extra feed at the moment.

[00:01:39] So I put that hive back together and hive one, the bees aren't clustered, they're spread out all across the hive, pottering about.

[00:01:49] That one's actually got a couple of bees flying today but they've got plenty of stores as well so they're all good.

[00:01:57] I'm just watching a bee trying to fly in the rain, get back into the hive.

[00:02:03] So hive two, nothing happening at all, no activity. Hive one, it's only a metre away and they're flying in the rain.

[00:02:13] Yeah, so it's interesting how different colonies behave over the winter.

[00:02:19] As I walked into the field there was a lovely charm of goldfinches, I think I counted eleven that lifted off from the ground feeding on the seeds of all the ragwort etc.

[00:02:30] in the area and a nice flock. It's nice to see the finches flock at this time of year.

[00:02:35] Just where I live, we're very lucky to have a flock of about 15 green finches.

[00:02:40] They're quite rare these days but they've come together quite early this year and I've got a nice winter.

[00:02:45] It's a mixed flock actually, there's chaffinches and green finches in there.

[00:02:53] Outside of visiting the bees, today I'm trying to start on making some creamed honey.

[00:02:59] So I've got my all seed rape stock from early in the year and I'm warming that gently till it's liquid.

[00:03:06] And I've sourced some creamed honey from another beekeeper which I'm going to use as a seed stock.

[00:03:14] So I warm that gently and mix the two together and the crystals hopefully from the creamed honey will spread fat size crystals into my all seed rape honey.

[00:03:25] And the whole batch should become, infected is the wrong word, but it should spread those sized crystals into my all seed rape honey

[00:03:34] and should make a beautiful creamed honey that's nice and spreadable for a few months.

[00:03:38] So that's what I'm going to do for the rest of the day.

[00:03:42] I think I'm going to draw it to a close as it's absolutely tipping it down here and I'm getting soaked.

[00:03:49] So I should probably check in in a few more weeks once I come back to check the bees' stores levels.

[00:03:54] Oh and I've also checked the entrances of the hives.

[00:03:57] If you get a number of dead bees at the entrance of the hive, sometimes it can block the entrance and the bees can't get out and fly.

[00:04:04] So I've poked a little stick in the entrance and cleared the way just to make sure they've got unfitted access.

[00:04:15] I'll probably put some video of that on my Instagram page for this podcast, Beekeepers Diary Podcast on Instagram.

[00:04:26] So I'll put some clips of that if you're interested.

[00:04:29] And thanks to all my new listeners and people that are paying attention from around the world.

[00:04:34] Nice to have you here.

[00:04:35] And if you're patient, we'll get cracking in the spring in the UK and things should start ramping up.

[00:04:42] But it'll be occasional check-ins until then.

[00:04:44] But thanks for listening and I'll catch up with you soon.