Winter care

A little about the hives this winter. The bees in this low season are very different from their summer buzz, they are quietly waiting in their frames for the spring to return. We picked a bright, warm winter day to peek at a few hives to see how they were getting on, and to show you what's happening. 

Bees are cold-blooded, so cluster to stay warm. They generate heat by flexing their wing muscles and take turns being on the outside of the ball. The queen is in the middle of the cluster, protected by worker bees surrounding her. She will not leave this cluster for several months.

Bees are very good housekeepers and like to keep their hive clean. On warmer winter days when the temperature rises above 14C they will quickly fly out to get water and begin to clean the hive. We've seen ivy pollen carried in by the buzzy ladies.

During the winter the bee cluster will slowly move around the hive and consume their stores. If the bees become disconnected from their food stores they may starve.

Unfortunately this winter and spring our apiaries had some hive losses. Late winter is a difficult time of the year for bees, there is not a lot of forage for them, and they can be under stress from other environmental factors.

We have now sourced some native black bee nucleii from a great beekeeper, and are splitting some existing hives too. 

Not only bees- flowers and lamb too!

Organic grassland with lakeshore herbs is an important part of our farm. We know that grassland is important for biodiversity, wild hares and other animals love our meadows. Also the grassland grows wildflowers for our bees. And where there is grass, we have a small flock of store lambs. Our sheep have a wonderful life, gambolling on the meadows and playing 'king of the castle' on boulders.