Well June will soon be upon us and the dutiful beekeeper will be checking their hive(s) in a 7 day cycle. Why? Well the early summer honey should be due for removal before the first week in June.

Honey left where it is and the bees left to their own devices will result in (if the early summer bloom has been good) bees gradually taking back the honey ready to swarm. The bees will take the stored honey ready to feed the swarm for the three to five days it takes to relocate and get settled. If the honey is…

A recent conversation with my Mum has sparked this post and I think it raises and interesting point regarding the health of bees.

Obviously one of the benefits to keeping bees is the crop of honey provided but lets not forget why the bees make the honey in the first place….its certainly not for us to put in our tea? No, it is of course to help them survive the harsh winter months. But we can supplement their food/diet with sugar syrup and fondant I hear you cry! This I imagine is especially prevelant in more commercial apiaries but perhaps its…

The role of honey in being beautiful is ever growing as cosmetics companies and health and beauty businesses catch on to the beneficial properties of honey although it has been used for centuries by woman to look beautiful.

The Creole women of Louisiana rub their entire bodies with a lotion consisting of honey and water, to which all possible assortments of spices are added. They use it not only as a cosmetic but as a cure for all kinds of skin trouble and sore throats. This application is also supposed to have the power to drive away evil spirits and…

Mead has been around for centuries and is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages on Earth. There are many different variations of mead and it doesnt necessarily have to be thick and sticky. Mead can be light or dry or both. Mead has to main ’schools’; the wine school and the beer school.

Some Wine School Mead Types –

• Metheglin – is a spiced Mead
• Pyment – is a Mead with either Grape Juice or wine added
• Melomel – is a Mead with fruit
• Cyser – is a

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