What a 'bee day!'

Bee Musical, extraction, beeswax wraps & drone culling... what a bee day!

Today we covered just about everything practical!  The 'new-bees' (fuelled by some smashing bee shaped bee shortbread, thank you Corey!) Extracted our first lot of Heron Hill Honey... Mr Tett, our beekeeping buddy is taking it to The Great Yorkshire Show soon for our entry into their prestigious honey show. So fingers crossed, we will keep you posted!
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It is a fact... beekeepers love cake and biscuits... And our beekeepers are skilled bakers!

As part of our Integrated Pest Management to control the dreaded Varroa mite in the hives, we cull some of the drone brood to count the mites present... It is a horrible job to do, but the best and only way mid season to see if the level of Varroa in the hives is below the level to cause harm to the bees....Any Varroa is bad news as they spread nasty viruses which can harm and kill our bees, so Varroa management forms a central part of how we care for our bees. helping us keep our bees healthy. 
The children were AMAZING today... They used an uncapping fork to 'pull out' the drone brood where they checked each larvae for evidence of mites. 

Though not a bee team production...Year 3&4 performed the most wonderful Bee Musical today... I can quite honestly say it was the most amazing show!! Not only did every child sing, act and dance their hearts out, but so many important mesages were shared about the plight of bees were shared with the audience... Well done, superb!!