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By the time this lands in your inbox, we will be done with our flurry of Spring shows for 2025. This will also mean that the marketing emails will now slow down as we gear up for the season ahead. We are excited to see what the season will bring! |
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This week, we were excited to spot some great crested newts on the grounds at head office! These fascinating creatures are a protected species in the UK, making their presence a special sight. It’s always a privilege to see wildlife thriving in our surroundings! |
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The London Honey Co. are now offering a selection of beekeeping equipment for sale at their Saturday Shop. |
They have partnered with Thorne to bring convenience into the heart of the city! |
You can find their shop at Arch 3, Voyager Business Park, Spa Road, London, SE16 4RP where they are open 9am to 2pm every Saturday. |
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We are offering the Cell Punch Kit with everything you need to get started with this method of Queen rearing. |
The Cell Punch Kit includes; MJT Cell Punch, Queen Rearing Frame and Wax Cell Cup Mould. The kit is priced at £38. |
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As the season fast approaches, beekeeper's thoughts are turning towards cleaning and preparing old kit. The Easi-Steam is an excellent tool for melting and reclaiming old wax comb, especially as the messy bit can be outside in the open! |
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An electric steam generator is attached to a steel cover via a steam hose which fits snugly over a brood box (not supplied). The steel tray and grid are placed on a solid floor (not supplied) and the wooden eke placed on top of the floor. All wooden and metal components are produced at our factory here in Lincolnshire. |
Follow the link below for a video showing the Easi-Steam in action... |
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Have you ever seen a Honeybee cocoon? |
As beekeepers we are all very aware of the 4 stages of a honeybee from egg to adult. |
The Stages of Bee Development
1. Egg: The queen bee lays an egg, initially upright from the base of the cell. The egg hatches within three days.
2 Larva: Once the egg hatches, the larva emerges and is fed a special diet of royal jelly (for future queens) or worker bee food (for worker or drone bees). The larva grows rapidly and moults several times.
3. Pupa: After the larva has fully grown, it enters the pupal stage. This is where the cocoon comes into play. The larva spins its cocoon and transforms into a pupa. Inside the cocoon, the pupa undergoes dramatic changes as it develops into an adult bee.
4. Adult: After a period of 6 to 14 days (depending on the caste), the adult bee emerges from its cocoon. It chews its way out of the cell, ready to begin its role within the hive, whether as a worker, drone, or queen. |
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The Importance of the Cocoon in Metamorphosis |
The cocoon plays a critical role in the process of metamorphosis. It shields the pupa from potential harm or disruption from environmental factors, predators, and disturbances inside the hive. |
Although the cocoon material must be water-resistant, it also must protect the bee from drying, pathogens, and parasites. At the same time, it must be permeable to the gases of respiration, including oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. |
The protective nature of the cocoon allows the bee to undergo significant internal changes. Within the cocoon, the pupa’s body reorganizes as it transforms from a soft larva into a fully functional adult bee. |
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The Structure and Composition of the Cocoon |
“Silk” is a functional term used to describe protein fibres spun by honeybees and many kinds of insects and other invertebrate animals. The spinning of silk by honeybees does not involve either rotating or twisting fibres as is done in commercial fibre production but refers to the process of making an insoluble filament from an aqueous protein solution containing different fibrous and glue-like proteins. |
In honeybees the silk comprises of 4 sub coils within a coiled single strand of silk and the newly spun cocoon looks like a cellophane sack. As the pupa progresses through the miracle of metamorphosis it gets bigger and hence the sack gets pressed into the cell wall. Each time the cells is used to raise brood the cocoon remains after emerging, conveniently locking up the larva waste products which helps with hygiene, but inconveniently making the cell smaller internally each time. Is there a correlation between old comb and smaller bees? |
Social Hymenoptera insect (bees, hornets and ants) silk differs chemically from silkworm silk but performs the same principal function i.e. protecting the pupa. Analysis of the mechanical properties of bee silk vs silkworm silk shows greater toughness and extensibility but reduced tensile strength which probably accounts for why we don’t use it as a luxury fabric. |
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Interesting, but so what? |
The question remains – we know they exist, but have you ever seen a honeybee cocoon? |
If you have good eyesight, you may sometimes see white/yellow tufts at the top or edge of cells particularly when clumsily removing unwanted queen cells and breaking into neighbouring sealed cells. Not ideal! |
The best way to see cocoons is to melt away the wax from the comb leaving behind the cocoons, pollen, propolis and waste products. Honeybee silk remains stable up to 175C, well above the meting point of beeswax (62-64C) and that of steam(105C). Solar Wax Extractors and Easi-Steam enables the recovery of valuable wax to exchange for fresh foundation. |
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Written by Nigel Armstrong |
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As expected, this month the active beekeeping season began, especially kicking off towards the end of the month with those lovely warm, sunny days. This has meant we have been able to have a more in depth look through the colonies and see where we are at and what we are working with. Thankfully, the hard work we put in last year has paid off and the colonies are looking the strongest they have for a long time at this time of year. |
We have noticed the bees bringing in lots of pollen on their back legs which has been a lovely site to see. We have therefore removed all wasp outs or any remaining mouse guards to make sure that the pollen is not knocked off when entering the hive. Towards the beginning of the month, we provided the bees with some pollen patties to support their growth however it has been nice to see the bees collecting their own pollen as this is a good indication of Queen and colony health. We have not needed to actually feed the bees any syrup yet this spring which we are quite pleased about. Not only does it show that the colonies are strong and looking good going into the Spring, it also means that it’s one less job for us to do… always a win when there are a thousand other things to do! |
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As you can see from this photo, there are plenty of bees in this hive. It is always a bit of a shame when you remove parts of the hive to get in the brood and you are met with this scene of brood cells which have been torn open. This is unavoidable if we want to inspect the bees so fingers crossed once everything has been cleaned up, the bees will stick to the main body of the frames and we won’t have to deal with this too much in future. |
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Going forward into April, we will be making a concerted effort to swap in new frames for old ones so that we are starting the year on good decent frames and getting rid of any that are looking a little bit worse for wear. This just helps keep disease at bay and it also makes it easier for us to check through the brood and identify eggs and young larvae. It is also prime nuc making season, so we anticipate being extremely busy in April and May. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly! |
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The early April, first Friday at 5.15pm UK local time, lecture release from the 2024 show is Professor Alan Baxter’s ‘Fit2Fight – A Practical System for Managing the Asian Hornet’. This draws from Alan’s experience in fighting back, from 23 years’ beekeeping in the Loire Valley in France, where his apiary was the target of heavy predation by Asian Hornets. You can view the lecture on the show’s YouTube Channel. |
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Alan Baxter giving tips on helping bees to get fit to fight |
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Alan also joined us for a chat during the 2024 show, which you can still see on our YouTube channel under the ‘Live’ tab. |
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The ‘live’ videos from previous shows, featuring interviews with interesting people on various aspects of the show, are still available to watch on the National Honey Show YouTube channel: |
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Don’t forget to ‘Subscribe’ to the channel, it costs nothing and is a great help to the show. |
The Schedule for classes 2025 was available to collect from our stand at the BBKA Spring Convention, and is now available on our website. There are six new trophies and 12 new classes this year. These will (please note) affect the numbering of most of the classes, so most class numbers will be different from those in 2024. Clarification of some of the rules should help, particularly for the Shop Window class. Additionally, a document is in preparation for the web site to show where to affix labels for the various classes. |
International:
- Digital photograph |
Open Classes:
- 4 matched pairs of different types of honey
- Wax block 200-255g
- Beeswax flowers, 1-5 stems
- One sheet of BS National Brood foundation made by the exhibitor
- One bottle of mead (any style) must be commercially available
- A Decorated Beehive
- An Informative video, 5 minutes in length (subject Beekeeping and Hive Life)
- A Short Digital Presentation, suitable for the general public |
Junior Classes:
- A Painted stone (under 11 years of age)
- A Matching pair of Moulded Beeswax Candles
- An Informative video (5 minutes) open to individuals and groups (my/our first hive and the challenges I/we encountered) |
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To encourage our younger bee enthusiasts we invite teachers and group leaders to book for our schools day visit on Saturday 25th October 2025. George from the Thornes team has compiled a video from the Schools Day visit 2024 which you can view. |
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We look forward to seeing you at this year’s show:
National Honey Show Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th October 2025 at Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9RT, UK. |
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SAVE THE DATE – The Big Give Green Match – Conserving Forests Through Beekeeping |
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The Green Match takes place soon and is open to charities working on environmental issues – Bees for Development are fundraising to support the forest-dwelling Batwa people of Kisoro District in Uganda. They face many challenges having been forcibly removed from their ancestral forests and are confined to small plots of land with no access to traditional honey collecting sites or land to set up beehives. |
With the money raised we will:
- Educate the Batwa community in the importance of forest conservation
- Establish new land agreements for Batwa beehive sites
- Train additional Batwa people in beekeeping and hive making
- Improve market access for Batwa honey |
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Make a donation between 22–29 April 2025 and all donations will be doubled! More details HERE |
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A deep-dive into the Bees for Development traceability system |
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Over the past few years Bees for Development has been refining a traceability system designed to work in remote areas with no internet connection but that can give near live traceability data to honey buyers looking to buy honey produced through our projects. |
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Traceability is an important part of any food production system. Knowing where problems originate, ensuring quality and being able to demonstrate the provenance of your products are crucial when selling food to a customer. Read the full blog HERE |
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Bees for Development at RHS Chelsea May 20-24 2025 |
Bees for Development is thrilled to announce that they will be exhibiting at RHS Chelsea from Tuesday, May 20 to Saturday, May 24. This year, they’ve created a unique Balcony Garden inspired by the profound connection between people, bees, and biodiversity. |
Designed as an urban retreat, this garden is a sanctuary for pollinators. It beautifully combines elements of both English and African beekeeping traditions, offering an uplifting and practical message: we can all make a difference for pollinators, even in the smallest of spaces. |
Named “Making Life Better with Bees,” the garden has been made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of EH Thorne, London Honey Co., and Protek, with design by The Humble-Bee Gardeners. |
Bees for Development looks forward to welcoming you to this inspiring space! |
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The Cavity Compromise
A Sustainable System
By Adrian Quiney |
How to integrate mite control, swarm control, honey production, and the overwintering of nucleus colonies in a northern climate using biotechnical controls and leveraging the bees’ own abilities. |
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Northern Bee Books (1st ed. 2023)
Paperback
86 pages
£15 |
Reviewed by Tina Sebestyen
(American Bee Journal, June 2023) |
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This very enjoyable book begins with the author describing his journey into beekeeping, and the progression of his adventure. He has a nice way with words, and his adventure begins like so many of ours, starting out slowly, beginner’s luck, getting some education, and getting “bee-fever.” I really appreciated his starting out right up front with a graph showing his successes and failures as percentages over the years. He humbly shares his failures and discoveries, and we can see that his ideas have merit by his growth. |
In this book the author is describing how he took management cues from Mel Disselkoen and Michael Palmer and combined that with Dutch Drone Trapping techniques. He came up with a system that allows treatment-free beekeeping and still produces honey crops and overwinter survival by timely splitting and moving between 10-frame deep boxes and 5-over-5 Palmer brood factory nucs. One of the nuggets I gleaned from this book was that mites can out-reproduce bees when a colony can raise nine brood cycles without interruption. This makes the timing of brood breaks of supreme importance. |
I read with interest how he learned “biotechnical” mite control, what we call Integrated Pest Management, or IPM. Especially interesting was his description of Dutch Drone Brood Trapping, which I had never heard of. I don’t want to give it away here, but learning this technique is worth the price of the book. This creates a special way of splitting colonies, and doing so at the right time allows full-season mite control. |
Mr. Quiney also has good reasoning as to why wintering in 5-over-5 nucs makes sense, and his success rate is very good in this type of hive. He has dialled in his expectations of what parent and daughter colonies can produce as far as the honey crop and bee populations, so that he manages them properly to maximise their capabilities. |
With success rates like his in Palmer nucs, buying replacement bees can become a thing of the past. As he so aptly states, mites that endure constant treatments in commercial settings and survive are not going to be controlled with miticides, and the viruses out-of-state bees bring with them are risks we would be better off avoiding. His overwintering survival rate of colonies in 10-frame boxes still isn’t great, which makes me think that some more tweaking of timing of manipulations will be needed. It might also have something to do with the way he equalises colonies in fall. |
Nevertheless, these ideas have great merit, and the way the author describes the bee biology that makes things work along with his reasoning means that we can take his ideas and adapt them into our own methods and climates. |
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Newburgh Industrial Estate, Cupar Road, Newburgh, Fife, KY14 6HA |
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Oakley Green Farm, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 4PZ |
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Chilbolton Down Farm, Chilbolton Down, Stockbridge, SO20 6BU |
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Quince Honey Farm, Aller Cross, South Molton, Devon, EX36 3RD |
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Beehive Business Park, Rand, Lincolnshire, LN8 5NJ |
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