News

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 3rd December 2019

It used to be tradition to give your bees a Christmas treat. Will you? If...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder - 27th November 2019

Now is probably a good time to visit your apiaries just to make sure all is well. Stands and hives secure - strapped and with weights on top? Roof...

From Seeds to Bees

National Bee Supplies is one of the UK’s best-known beekeeping suppliers. Customers will have noticed a new look to the business in recent years,...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 20th November 2019

There are reports of devastating situations particularly in the NorthEast of England.   We hope that you, your families...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 13th November 2019

Do you have a schedule of association meetings that you want to ensure you attend over the winter? Association membership fees due? Have...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 6th November 2019

    Anybody still got treatment in their colonies?  Check the insertion date in case you forgot to put...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder - 30th October 2019

After uniting colonies this autumn, check the brood comb in unused boxes and remove any old comb.  The NBU (National Bee Unit) recommend...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 23rd October 2019

As soon as you can after the heavy rain, check your wooden stands to make sure they aren't rotting.  Any that look or feel unstable, make plans...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 17th October 2019

Is all your equipment clean, dried and stored, ready for use next year?  Don’t forget you will need your jacket and hive tool, and possibly...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 9th October 2019

Do you have varroa trays in place and do you leave them in over winter?  Some do, some don’t.  With polystyrene hives I leave mine out. Will...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 3rd October 2019

The weather is pretty horrid for most of us this week I believe, so let's consolidate our thoughts at home in the dry and warm and set up reminders...

Safe Use and Handling of Acetic Acid

Safe Use And Handling of Acetic Acid Acetic acid is a clear colourless liquid used by beekeepers to sterilise wax comb to prevent disease during storage....

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 18th September 2019

Asian hornet week has passed with thankfully few sightings. This doesn’t mean, of course, there are none around- just that they may not have been...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 12th September 2019

From our Scottish representative, Graham Torrie: Last month I described how I was preparing to take two of my hives to the hills in order to take advantage...

Website wins silver!

The Bee Craft website, www.bee-craft.com, was awarded the silver medal at the Apimondia World Beekeeping Awards at Montréal in the class for...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 4th September 2019

Following the sighting in the Tamworth area of Staffordshire on Monday, please remember Asian hornet week will be running from 9th - 16th...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder – 28th August 2019

Well, the beekeeping season is drawing to a close for many of us who don’t have any bees at the heather. Once you have removed the excess honey...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 21 August 2019

Oops! Despite checking the Timely Reminders each week I noticed one referral last week to ‘wax month’ but I’m sure you know what I meant! Claire...

Autumn Feeding

A guide to autumn feeding   It is important to make sure colonies have sufficient stores to last them through the winter until pollen and nectar...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 14th August 2019

Another week and I would guess that extraction time is very close now unless your bees are on the heather. So how do you deal with your extracted supers?  Do...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 7th August 2019

In addition to last week’s thoughts about wax, don’t forget you can make some stunning candles. There are many different moulds you can...

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 31st July 2019

It seems the hottest weather is behind us, at least for the time being, with many parts of the country suffering more rain than they can cope with....

Bee Craft Timely Reminder 24th July 2019

August will soon be here, and with it the prospect of heather honey! Here, Bee Craft’s Scottish representative, Graham Torrie, advises us how to...

Britian's Youngest Ever Beekeeper

Archie Cridland: beekeeper: Britain’s youngest-ever qualified beekeeper   Aged five and standing just 3 feet 8½ inches (113...

Brood and a Half

Brood-and-a-half   I have kept bees for nearly 60 years and for much of that time I have used single British Standard brood chambers. Many say...

Genetic Diversity of Honey Bees

Genetic diversity of UK honey bees   The original population of honey bees found in the UK was the subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera (A.m.m.),...

What Did You Do in the Great Hornet War?

What did you do in the great hornet war?   Much has been written about the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina or yellow-legged hornet) and rather...

The Bee Craft Photo of the Month Competition, 2019

  Win a superb eyecam from Brunel Microscopes Photos must be high resolution (300 dpi). As a guideline, the final file must...

An Asian Hornet Trap - Video

Honey Bee Stings and Anaphylaxis

Honey bee stings and anaphylaxis   An allergy is a hypersensitivity (overreaction) of the immune system to something that usually causes no...

For Beginners - March

For beginners: March   If you acquired your bees as a nucleus last year, as most beginners do, this will be your first full season and you have...

The Value of a Frame of Brood

The value of a frame of brood   When inspecting a colony, we take many things for granted if they do not appear out of the ordinary. However,...

The Honey Bee Landlord: every tenant's dream

The honey bee landlord: every tenant’s dream   Have you ever considered why so many creatures want to get into honey bee colonies?   It’s...

Bees, Baskets and Brimstone

In last month’s Bee Craft (pp 9–11), we reported on a bee-driving event held by former BBKA president and beekeeping historian, David...

Gremlins - 2019 Bee Craft Calendar

The gremlins have had a hand in putting together the 2019 Bee Craft calendar. The first day of May 2019 disappeared and September thought it was 2018,...

For Beginners - December

Even though it is now December and the nights are dark and there are few, if any, flowers around, it is still important to continue with our beekeeping. The...

From the Lab

The Latest in Bee Research Bumblebees with a Neonicotinoid Addiction Experiments designed to determine the effect of pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids,...

Raw Honey

Honey labels are increasingly carrying the words ‘Raw Honey’, but what does the term mean and what do the relevant authorities think? Definition Raw:...

Should I Keep Bees

I keep bees for the pleasure they give me. I admit it; pain is also involved but their beautiful organisation is a wonder. Their industry is astonishing....

Tealight Candles in Bottle Tops

Bottle tops can be used make colourful tealights to brighten up the dark winter nights. by Pauline Aslin Each one takes just 10 g of beeswax, so...

Asian Hornet Awareness

With many press reports, awareness of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) in the UK is increasing. However, correct identification is key as the great majority...

Feeding Bees

In bee-Utopia, feeding is not necessary. The colony collects sufficient nectar during the summer months to feed all the bees and a surplus which they convert...

Bait Hives

Free Bees? By Margaret Cowley, MSc What is a bait hive? A bait hive is an empty hive which is deliberately set up to attract a swarm. You...

Learning About the Bees (And the Birds)

      Some folks say that as you drive down the lane to Englefield Primary School, just west of Reading, you enter a sepia-tinted...

Varroa Treatments

To try to ensure the survival of their colonies, beekeepers will want to minimise the varroa mite load in colonies as winter preparations begin. One way...

Swarm Control

By Adrian Waring, NDB Swarm control is what you do to a colony of honey bees that has actually started swarming preparations – if you want to...

Honey Shows

By Adam Leitch, Master Beekeeper, NDB Autumn is a time that many associations host honey shows, with opportunities to compete for various prizes and...

Bricks or Butter

Quite probably, oil seed rape (OSR) honey is what keeps commercial beekeeping alive in Britain, but it can pose extraction problems for beekeepers...

Where on Earth is Pimpalner?

In February 2018, Martin and Marianne were invited to Pimpalner by Sujana Kirshnamoorthy to visit an Under the Mango Tree (UTMT) bee project in India....

The Shook Swarm

The beginning of a new season is the time to assess the health of your colonies as well as the quality of the comb they inhabit. Old brood comb can...

Neonics Appear In Honey After the Ban

Traces of neonicotinoid pesticides have been found in honey one year after the start of the European Union ban on their use on flowering crops. In a beekeeper-citizen...

Steam Cleaning - Recyling and Reusing Hives

It is always important to make sure you have enough frames for the coming season. Each year I buy a quantity of new frames, but I also try to recycle used...

The Skeppist

Chris Park has become a familiar figure at UK beekeeping gatherings in recent years, his lectures on historical beekeeping and his skep-making workshops...