Shropshire is still a sea of yellow, but some of our apiaries are like beaches! The soil is so sandy and dry that our farmers have began irrigating their crops already. This is starting to affect how our bees are behaving. They are walking around the hives like bored teenagers and trust me I have 2 teenagers so I know!!
They are also looking at swarming, as there are swarm cells noted in some colonies throughout our inspections.
Some of our apiaries are producing fantastically which shows how bees react to different surroundings and foraging options. Our Chimney house apiary is bringing nectar in so fast we can't get the supers on fast enough!
We have also been busy preparing our apidaes ready for some queen rearing in a couple of weeks. With the issues of importing Queens from abroad, we felt that it was time to have a go and with Wendy recovering from major shoulder surgery still, she is limited with what she can lift so has been tasked with attempting some cell grafting and queen production.
It did also mean that Wendy had another painting session, but this time it was a bit more colourful!
We have also been busy renovating our supers and frames so that they are ready to go out into the apiaries now that we have had a small amount of rain and our bees are getting busier!
Wendy has also been busy learning new techniques as part of her apprenticeship scheme, she has learned how to use travelling screens and install hives into new apiaries. She did have a moment of disappointment when she opened a parcel from Gwenyn Gruffydd Bee Keeping supplies and saw 50 Spanset lever lock hive straps...........Wendy hates these with a passion!!! However, she is managing to get the hang of using them!
We are now busy preparing for our next few weeks of markets. We can be found at
* Whitchurch Farmers Market on Saturday 7th May in the Bullring in Whitchurch, Shropshire.
Wendy can also be found alongside the fabulous Shropshire crafters and producers at
* Made In Shropshire Artisan market on Saturday 14th May in the Square in Shrewsbury.
As we are now into May, our next recipe card has now been released, so pop along, buy a jar and get the next free recipe card in our collection!
As well as the markets we also have our online shop selling our delicious varieties of honeys and our local stockists.
Happy Bee Keeping and Honey Eating from John and Wendy at Hedgerow Honey.
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