The weather might have kept the bees in their hives but they are still busy. Expert, Colin Rees, updates us on what bees do in bad weather.

Well, after last month I thought we would now be well into the flying season, but the weather has let us down yet again.   Whilst we have had some good flying days, too often we have seen the bees further confined to the hive owing to cold or wet weather.    But that does not mean that the bees are doing nothing. 

On the fine days, my water sources (an old loft header tank in one apiary, a lemonade bottle inverted over a dish in another, an old oil drum in another) are literally buzzing with bees gathering water for their young brood and to dilute the granulated ivy stores they gathered last autumn.   This is always a good sign.  The entrances of the hives have not seen so much traffic for a good few months and it is heartening to behold. 

It is still too early (in my opinion) to open up the hive for a detailed examination of the combs but this is not far off now – another week or so, hopefully. 

Despite the weather colonies are expanding rapidly but there are risks

In the meantime, watching the entrance activity or looking down into the colony through my perspex crown-boards (the “ceiling” of the inner part of the hive) can give a good indication of the state of the colony.    Now the days are getting longer and warmer (hard to believe, I know), the queen is increasing her laying rate and the number of young bees orientating outside the hive entrances last Saturday show that the colonies are expanding quite rapidly.   The danger is that the colonies will expand during the bad weather and need more stores than are available from the winter supply, so supplemental feeding is necessary.    I have had sugar candy on each of my hives since the beginning of February as an emergency back-up should the bees need it.  Some of the colonies are working their way through this like there is no tomorrow, whilst others are virtually ignoring it.  That’s fine and quite normal – no two bee colonies are ever alike. As long as there is something for the bees to eat when they need it, all will be well.    There is also a lot of forage starting to come through in the garden.  There is viburnum, cotoneaster, blackthorn as well as gorse which has been in flower all year round. 

The main problem with colonies expanding whilst being unable to fly out is that they might become congested,  resulting in a potential risk that they will swarm when the weather gets warmer.  This is not a desirable situation for the beekeeper because a lost swarm means the loss of about half the bees from the colony as well as the loss of any honey harvest that season.  This is apart from the effect a swarm might have on members of the public who witness such an event – but more about that next time.

Is honey good for us?

In anticipation of what might be coming, honey has a long history as a revered natural remedy across many cultures. Ancient civilisations recognised its therapeutic potential, employing it for various medicinal purposes. The ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans, for instance, used it to heal wounds and many cultures today continue to use it as a remedy for sore throats and coughs.

Some people also assert that honey can alleviate hay fever symptoms.  Advocates of this method claim honey can help thanks to its purported anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties (though empirical evidence for this is lacking).                                                                                      

But what does science actually say about this?  Recent investigations into honey’s potential for alleviating hay fever symptoms have yielded an age-old remedy that certainly warrants further exploration.

One fascinating aspect being investigated is honey’s ability to act as a form of immunotherapy – a treatment strategy that aims to modify the immune system’s response to allergens.

Immunotherapy involves exposing the immune system to gradually increasing doses of allergens, such as pollen, in a controlled manner. This exposure  helps desensitise the immune system over time, reducing its hypersensitivity and lessening allergic reactions.  Since the bees inadvertently capture some pollen grains in the honey they store, this provides the homeopathic levels of pollen that do no harm to the hay-fever sufferer but help the immune system do its job.

For instance, one study found that people who consumed local honey daily for four weeks alongside an allergy tablet had significant improvements in their hay fever symptoms compared to those who only took an allergy tablet.

So remember, once the honey harvest is here, buy local honey, not the inferior product that is imported from overseas into the supermarkets.

Finally, let me know if you see or have any swarms in your garden or hanging from the branch of a tree or shrub and I will arrange for it to be removed at no cost.                                                          

 World Bee Day is approaching!

We all know that bees and other pollinators, such as flies, butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities –  just look at the no-longer-existent road kill on the front of your car after a long journey!  

However, pollination is a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems.  Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land.  Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity.

To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.

The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

We all depend on pollinators and it is, therefore, crucial to monitor their decline and halt the loss of biodiversity. Since we also depend on the survival of bees for our varied diets and the abundance of food in the shops, let’s give them a helping hand by planting something bee-friendly in the garden. It can be anything from a pot with a herb growing in it (bees love ALL the herbs) if you have a small garden, to shrubs like viburnum, ceanothus, cotoneaster, mahonia and a myriad of others if you have more space.

Remember, “Every little helps”.  

Colin Rees      07939 971104      colinbeeman@aol.com     01872 501313