Chris Manton

In fairness, this is more what we would typically expect. About a super - and a - half. Osr has done pretty well. Bees are a bit tired (as expected)

We're about 50% down on last years Spring crop. Last year was stunning, admittedly, but I didn't expect it to be this stark. Best site last year 70kg AVG this year around 35. Averages down across the board.

We all like to believe our children are beautiful but the reality is not all children are beautiful. Some are ugly. I think this is much the same with bees. You get used to working with 'mongrel' bees typical of the locality you're working in. It's only when you try something like Danish Buckfasts that you realise, yes my children ARE ugly. 320 down to 280 and falling...

@ApidaeHoney How are you getting along with your nifty clip speaker? Has things stopped with you? Beans doing a bit (i think) but one site was doing naff all. A lot of the flowers have gone early I think this year.

@ElmTreeBees Northern Goldilocks zoner here ...2 commercial supers filled this week on the OSR, crop will be passed it in a week though. Not seen OSR so tall since I was a kid! Winter beans and hawthorn just starting. After that looking a bit scary unless we get a rain 🫣

I don't mean to complain... it's absolutely beautiful out there... but... it's dusty dry & the bees aren't putting on much weight (I'm suprised). Flowers mid way through. There may not be a Summer flow & the borage already looks bazookaed.

Deep into June gap territory here. Swarming has stopped dead & queens backed off. Probably 2 weeks ahead of 'normal' what ever that means nowadays. Similar to last year but it's colder. Hawthorne has passed.

A warming trend next week is confirmed as high pressure advances from south next Wednesday. Calm area of high pressure is expected with nights probably not balmy, likely to become very warm by day in strong sunshine. Second half of next week geared to be ☀️👍📈

@thesussexbee Crikey! Thats saying something with all the news at the moment! 😬

@ElmTreeBees This could be one of the most negative pages on the worldwide web 😂

@GlenHeathrHoney My point (badly explained) is it's very early, very dry & plants look like they're on the verge of shrivelling up and dying.

@ElmTreeBees Is horse chestnut a barometer for your summer or do you consider it a summer producer? Our horse and red chestnut are flowering now, so for me it's a spring crop, as we harvest spring in June. Although I rarely see them working it.

@GlenHeathrHoney Neh the Spring crops fine.

@ElmTreeBees Spring crop?

OH BOIIII....! Usually appears 1st June! And the plants look SHIT! Prepare your colonies, friends, because by the time your splits come online it'll be OVER

I'm not surprised, we have the same problem here and have many more people in the area to call on (being next to big population hubs like milton keynes, northampton etc) I fear it's going to be very difficult for you guys in Scotland to get local people. 95% of honey haulers are men (very few women can handle the weight of boxes) of those 50% will not tolerate being stung of those 80% will want holiday in peak times of those 70% will want 50k and above of those 65% will be aged 60 and above with no real prospect of a long term play etc etc. You're basically left with about 5 in 5 million or 1 in a million

@ElmTreeBees Just to confirm what you said Chris. We have several vacancies. UK applicants NIL. Like totally NADA. Applicants we cannot hire due to electoral fear of Reform (and that's what is is) of last two governments...over 50.

We currently have vacancies for seasonal staff from now through to August, involved in day to day hive management and migration work. Beekeepers and unskilled assistants required. Send any note of interest to info@denrosa.com or complete the contact form on our website.

At that sort of price we'd go bust, thankfully we get a bit of a boost because of the 'local' premium. How long that last for with the squeezed british consumer who knows? We're one of the fairly efficient producers as well (still poor by world standards) I'm kind of hoping we get a currency crash so we become semi-competitive again. £10k will get you an experienced beefarmer in China. £25k will get you maybe someone who will turn up for a few days, kick around a bit & then probably leave. As well as other huge costs. How can we compete in this environment?

@trihyc2 @ElmTreeBees At local market level it is.

COMB TO STONE This is exactly what we DO NOT NEED A pulse of fine weather when the rape seed is in full bloom and the cold weather comes & sets our comb to stone before we can extract it.

Looking at the forecast & the stage of the Spring flowers I estimate that 80% of the Spring crop has already passed. So in other words, an early June gap. Definitely down on last year. Since I demareed my queens half to death last season and I'm doing the same this season I'm getting significant queen losses. Colonies are big and have Summer potential but are inherently unstable. I estimate I'll bring in 20T this year, down from 30T. Still not bad. I can split more at the end of the season if I feel optimism, but the more bees you create this year, the more problems you have next year.

@trihyc2 I've demareed them down the bottom but they are unstable. But who cares? if she flops she flops, the bees come back. In which case leave 1 cell. Simple

@ElmTreeBees How do these not swarm? They would be incredibly unstable hives in Ireland and you'd guarantee a swarm by doing this

I'm engineering some whopping great colonies by process of eliminating naff queens and combining. If Summer comes good I'll be on a very healthy yield average. Already it's been decent (20kg avg so far?) It's HIGHLY likely it'll be over even earlier than last year (late June).

@GwenynGruffydd Best bees are built when there's a moderate flow of nectar & pollen. Too much and it fucks them. It's what we see on the borage. You lose a super the following Spring.

The weather has been outstanding for honey production! Spring wildflower honey is pouring in to the colonies thanks to the Dandelion & Hawthorn. However when it comes to nuc making this honey flow has the opposite effect! The bees fill their brood boxes with honey instead of eggs and brood…..running out of space and triggering their swarming instinct! You can’t have it both ways unfortunately 😅. #beekeeping #beekeeper #honey

Brambles 3 days ago about ready to bloom.

The bee inspectors will insist you wash your hive tool & maintain good hive hygiene etc. Fair enough. BUT If you get a case of EFB you can BLOW the bees off the supers. As in all those young bees with a gut full of bacteria, without orientation flight, slung next to neignbours Which is has more chance of cross contamination? Correct me if I'm wrong. This is what I understand.